About 125 km from Pune on the Solapur highway, there is a fork leading to Bhigwan Karmala. Karmala is a village which is 60 km up from there. In this village there is Karmala ground fort which is not known much and neglected by the people. Being on the border of Solapur, Nagar and Pune districts, Karmala fort is of great historical importance. The Jahagir held by Sardar Ravaramba Nimbalkar of the Nizam of Hyderabad included the territories of Beed, Osmanabad, Jamkhed, Kharda, Bhum, Karjat, and Karmala. Karmala city is the main village of Rambhajirao Nimbalkar in Jahagir. Sufi saint Karamemoula lived in Karmala. It is said that this village got its name Karmala from the name of this Sufi saint Karamemoula. Rambhajirao alias Ravaramba was a great devotee of Tulja Bhavani of Tuljapur. ... Deciding to build a grand temple of this Adisakti, Ravarambarao and his son Janojirao Nimbalkar built the Kamlabhavani temple and the Karmala fort along with this temple 1727-1730 in the east of Karmala village. This oval shaped fort facing south-east is spread over 15 acres and there are total twenty one bastions like nineteen circular and two octagonal bastions near the main gate. There are beautiful brick walls on the fort bastion and on the ramparts. The ramparts of the fort have taken the entire village in its fold but the village inside the fort has the population growing and has collapsed the ramparts of the fort. As the stones of the fort were used for the construction of houses and the size of the village continued to grow, the remains of the fort were disappearing day by day. Since the ramparts of the fort have collapsed to a large extent, it is not possible to walk continuously on the ramparts and one has to go round the side of the ramparts. Although the fort looks strong from the outside, inside, the ramparts and bastions are crumbling. If you want to see the fort properly, you should start from the area known as Ves by the locals. Entering the fort through the eastern gate in the gate, a little further on the right hand side, a pushkarni with carved niches can be seen in the wall. After seeing this Pushkarni, one enters the fort through the east-facing door in the outer wall of the fort. On entering, there is a temple of Maruti in front of the gate. Near this temple, some ruined ancient idols, broken Virgal and two carved stone can be seen. Opposite the Maruti temple is the north-facing entrance of the fort built in stone and above it there are 3 brick-built embrasure for cannon firing. The wooden door of the fort and its iron nails still remain today and there are octagonal bastions on either side of the entrance. A citadel is designed outside the main fort here to provide more protection to this part of the main entrance of the fort. On the right side of this citadel you can see the temple of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Kholeshwar). Among them, the temple of Brahma has been converted into a mosque, the temple of Vishnu is of recent times and the temple of Shiva is medieval. The outer side of this citadel is a closed ditch and now it has been converted into a sewage drain. Earlier the entire fort must have had a moat but it has been destroyed in the course of time. The outer road on this side of the fort is known as Khandak Road. On entering the fort there are steps leading to the door on the right side. There is a flag pole and a large number of bushes are grown here. From this area, the ramparts and bastions of the village situated in the fort can be seen. Since most of the remains of the fort are near the ramparts, one could have seen the fort just by taking a walk from the ramparts, but it is not possible as the ramparts have collapsed at many places. After stepping down from the door and walking to the right, there is a large building bar. There are stairs on both sides to get down to this well and there be a small palace with arches on the edge. This palace must have been built underground next to the water to cool down in summer. It is said that there is an underground passage from this palace to Janojirao palace. At present, this well is used for dumping garbage and for Ganesha immersion. After seeing well and walking further along the road, there is a palace built by Ravaramba Nimbalkar and currently there is a court building and other government offices here. This rectangular palace has a well in the central courtyard. There is a small door leading out from the back of the palace. Proceeding from here, we reach a fortified gate at the other end of the fort. There is a double rampart here and the door in the outer rampart has been completely destroyed. Coming out of the gate and walking along the ramparts, you can see a well in the moat and a secret door. Due to the houses and filth in the fort, one has to walk around the ramparts and bastions to see the rest of the fort. Many of these bastions have rooms inside and internal staircases leading to the bastions. One and a half hours is enough to see the fort completely. Apart from the Karmala fort, the village has the Kamlabhavani Temple, wells and memorials to visit.
© Suresh Nimbalkar