Built by the powerful Satvahana dynasty during the peak of their reign, the Hadsar Fort is one of the ancient sites in Maharashtra. The fort offers a number of beautiful views and even if the fort is in ruins, you can imagine the bygone glories this fort must have witnessed.
The fort is a part of the various other forts that are located in the Junnar area. It was constructed with an intention to protect the ancient trade route that went via Naneghat. As this was built around 1st century BCE, the fort’s architecture is made with marvellous carvings and parts of the place have monolithic structure.
The major attraction is the fort’s entrance. It’s an elaborately carved monolithic structure, which is pretty much intact and looks really beautiful as you enter. The fort has a water tank in its premises and there is also a huge lake on the top. You will also come across a temple of Mahadev, Hanuman and Ganesh. This temple’s construction period still seems disputed among historians. Other than that you can also come across sentries (rooms where soldiers were kept on stay). These rooms over here are made bigger, compared to other forts since this protected a major trade route that needed more forces in case of an emergency.
There are two major ways through which you could approach this place. The easiest way is to go by car. If you don’t have a car, you can take a bus (state transport) to Junnar and from there Hadsar village is 13 kms away for which you might have to rely on local drivers, which we’d advise against. From the village the fort is easily accessible. The fort allows trekkers to climb through its southern gate, which is the most comfortable way to go here. Another way is to go via the fort’s north gate. The north entrance also provides naturally cut rocks that provide sockets for you to hold and climb up. If you are a rock climber with all the necessary equipment, you will definitely have a great time here.
