Gandharvgad Fort is located in the Chandgad taluka of Kolhapur district. Situated on a plateau about 10 km from Chandgad, the village of Gandharvgad is located. When traveling from Kolhapur to Chandgad, there is a village called Walkoli about 10 km before Chandgad. On the left side of the road, there is currently an arch standing on a plateau that leads to Gandharvgad. This arch leads to the Walkoli village below the fort. By walking for about an hour from this village, you can reach the fort, or if you have a four-wheeler, you can drive up to the hill and reach the top in 10 minutes. Before entering the fort, there is an old temple of Hanuman on the eastern side of the steps, with a broken idol of Maruti next to it. From here, as you proceed further, you can see the main entrance of the fort and two broken bastions adjacent to it. ... From here, the road leads to the settlements inside the fort, passing through the Chaloba temple. Near the main entrance of the temple, there is a sculpture of a snake and the foundation (chauthara) of old structure. There are some unique and ancient remains of Shiv temples in the temple complex. In the rear part of the temple, there is an ancient well, the water of which is still used by the people of the village for drinking. This well has a stone structure for water conservation. After seeing this well, you should proceed towards the southern rampart of the fort. Along the rampart, you will find two toilets and a small gate on the rocky edge. The villagers have made steps to descend from here to the other side of the fort's second side. On the eastern side of the fort, there are some old bastions, one of which has a well. Most of the fort area and parts of the fortification have been used for agriculture, resulting in the loss of many remnants within the fort. From the top of the fort, one can see Mahipalgad and Kalanandigad as well as the gorge of the Tamraparni River. It takes about an hour to complete trek of the entire fort. According to the records of the sabhasad in Bakhar, Gandharvgad is mentioned in the list of forts built by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. However, according to the gazetteer, it is mentioned that this fort was built by Nag Sawant, the son of Sawant in 1724. On January 15, 1666, with the intention of taking Panhalgad, Shivaji Maharaj marched with 5,000 soldiers from the vicinity of Gandharvgad towards Panhalgad. The letter of July 28, 1687, mentions that Desai of Kakati Karyati & Hukkeri the renowned commanders, had taken Gandharvgad from the Marathas on Mughals demands. For this work, the Mughals had offered them Ajmanagar/Belgaum and Chandgad provenance and post of Aajra Desai, the chief of Gandharvgad, along with an elephant. The fort was in the possession of Herakar Sawant Bhosale, who was close to Adilshahi for many years. In 1787, Nizam's commanders besieged the fort against Kolhapur and captured it along with other forts. However, in 1793, the fort was again handed over to the Sanvadikar by the Shinde. Sadashivrao Bhau used to stay here for some time while going to Karnataka. Later, in the 1844 siege, the British demolished most of this fort.
© Suresh Nimbalkar