Gadchiroli district which has “Gad” in its name has many forts throughout the region, but except for one or two forts like Surjagad, Vairagad, no one knows about other forts. Naxalism is spread here till date and Naxalites are taking support of these forts, but the government not keeping a record of these forts and the apathy towards these forts at all levels is the reason behind all of this. These forts have lost their identity as many people and scholars have left this area as it is known as a Naxal-affected region. Although Naxalism in this area has died down now, trekkers are not often seen roaming in this area. As this part of Vidarbha is sparsely populated, private passenger vehicles are also not seen much in this area. Therefore, one should use a private vehicle for both travel and safety while visiting the forts in this area, otherwise it is difficult to see even one fort in a day. ... As we read that there is a fort named Bhowragad near Dhanora taluka, we decided to visit this fort in our Gadchiroli fort expedition. Dhanora is a taluka place in Gadchiroli district at a distance of 36 km from Gadchiroli city and from Dhanora to Sode village there is a fork. There is a government ashram school for girls at a distance of about 3 km on the way to Sode village. From this school there is a dirt road leading to Bhowragad. Apart from this, one can reach Rajoli village from Lekhamendha village before Dhanora and from there by unpaved road to the foothills of Bhowragad, but this distance is long. The unpaved road leading from Ashram school and the unpaved road coming from Rajoli village are the same and there is a fork in this road leading to the Shiv Mandir at the foothills of Bhowragad. Directional arrows on electricity poles are the signposts that show the way to this temple. Bhowragad is famous in this area because of the Shiv temple at the base of this fort. Although the fort is easily visible from a distance, as there are no settlements in the vicinity of the fort and the unpaved road passes through dense forest, one should take the local person from the village with them as guides. We reach the foothills of Bhowragad in about half an hour from the dirt road. As pilgrimage is held here on Mahashivratri, a hand pump has been installed at the base to provide drinking water and there are other constructions. From here steps are built in cement leading to Shiva Mandir. After starting to climb this way, we reach the Shiva temple in half an hour. We had read that there is a path to go to the top of the fort from this temple but there was no trace of the path anywhere due to the dense vegetation around the temple. As we came directly to the fort from Dhanora, we could not take a local guide with us and that was our big mistake. We had to turn back after seeing the Shiva temple. As this trek of ours was partially completed, it could not be ascertained whether Bhowragad is a fort or not, but it is known as a fort among the locals. Unlike many other forest forts in Gadchiroli district, there is no reference or information available about Bhowragad as a fort. Since this fort in Vidarbha is not known to anyone, the history of the fort is obscure, but seeing the influence of the Gond dynasty on this region, it seems that the fort was built by the Gond kings. This fort under the rule of the Gond kings has lost its identity today. Locals say that this is one of the forts conquered by the Gond kings from the Devgad region when they entered Gondwana in Vidarbha. He said that the way to the fort is from the temple and no one except the Pujari goes to the fort. Although Bhowragad is not named in the history, some documents mention that there is a fort at Rajoli. Bhowragad fort is near Rajoli village and Lekhamendha fort is also at the same distance. So it cannot be said with certainty which is the exact fort at Rajoli.
© Suresh Nimbalkar