Amboli, situated on the banks of the Sahyadri in the Sindhudurg district, has been a place for the cool flow of air in the Sawantwadi Sansthan. There are certain places to see the natural beauty of Sahyadri and one of them is Mahadevgad Point. But the tourists who come here are not even aware that this Mahadevgad was once a fort. Amboli is 506 km from Mumbai via Kolhapur and 32 km from Sawantwadi. After coming a little further from Amboli village towards Sawantwadi, you can see such a signboard displaying Mahadevgad point at a distance of 2 km to the right from here. There is a paved road to reach Mahadevgad Point. Mahadevgad fort is the hill trunk at the bottom of the Mahadevgad point. From the 50-60 steps of Mahadevgad point, you can see the hilltop of the fort which is spread far and wide. ... But if you want to reach the fort, you have to go down through the iron arch of Bandeshwar Devasthan near the parking lot of Mahadevgad Point. From here, keep the hill of Mahadevgad Point on the left, take a detour down to the trunk which connects Mahadevgad and the recent hill. This path is very narrow and at the beginning, we reach the foothills of Mahadevgad by crossing a few steps and then half an hour of the slippery path. If you go down a little from here, you can see the temple of Lord Mahadev in a small cave. The cave has a small pond carved in the rock with perennial water. This cistern contains potable water throughout the year. This cave and cistern are dug in the hills of Mahadevgad. Except for two dilapidated cisterns and the remains of a structure at the foot of the hillside, no remnants of the fort can be seen. The next path which goes to the very end of the fort can be crossed walking. The passage of Mahadevgad can be seen from the hills of the fort. Spread from east to west, this fort is located at a height of 2080 feet above sea level and its exact location cannot be ascertained as to its gates and ramparts have been destroyed. Manohar-Mansantosh is a fortified fort to the west of the fort and the Konkan area could be seen spread far and wide below, as well as the passage of Parpoli Ghat attracts our attention. According to Chintamani Gogte's book, ‘Maharashtra Deshatil Kille’, published in 1907, the fort had two gates on the east side in 1830 and three bastions to protect them. Spread over 20 acres, the fort was not very strong. The way to the fort was difficult and narrow. But today nothing but this narrow road exists. 2 hours is enough to explore the entire fort. Mahadevgad and Narayangad forts can be easily seen in Amboli within a day. Although there are many wharves to descend from the Sahyadri ghat to the Konkan, Ambaghat, Bavadaghat, Fondaghat, and Parpoli ghat were the four important wharves. The Parpoli Ghats are characterized by the forts of Mahadevgad and Narayangad at the top and the fort of Manohar-Mansantoshgad at the base. The goods unloaded at the Konkan port used to go to the markets on the wharves through various ferries. Mahadevgad fort was built between 1709 and 1738 by Anasahev Fondsawant of Sawantwadi Sansthan to keep an eye on Parpoli Ghat. During 1772-73, Jiwaji Vishram, the caretaker of Sawant conquered Mahadevgad, Narayangad, and Rangana. In 1805, Karveerkar Chhatrapati conquered Mahadevgad but soon returned it to Sawant. In 1810, Fondaswant Tambulkar was appointed as the fort keeper at Mahadevgad, but he was later removed from that post. In 1828, Fondaswant Tambulkar revolted against Sawant and took possession of the fort. In August 1829, Colonel Morgan, a British officer, conquered Mahadevgad and destroyed it on a large scale to prevent the rebels from taking refuge in the fort again.
© Suresh Nimbalkar