While exploring Pune and Ahmednagar districts, one can find many forts and fortified mansions along their shared borders. Some of these are well known, while others remain completely obscure. In the Shrigonda taluka of Ahmednagar district lies such an unfamiliar Peshwa-era fortified mansion (gadhi) in the village of Rajapur. Known as the Jahagirdar’s Gadhi, it is so unknown even to the locals that they only refer to it as "Brahmin's Gadhi" and have no further knowledge about it. When asked about the owner of the mansion, the villagers cannot provide a definitive answer—some claim it belonged to the Deshpande, while others say it was owned by the Kulkarni. This Gadhi in Shrigonda taluka is located 52 km from Shrigonda itself and about 12 km from Shirur in Pune district via Hingani Dumala. ... On the way to Rajapur Gadhi through this route, one can also see two gates of Hingani Dumala's old fortification (Nagarkot) and the Pawars’ own Gadhi. At the entrance of Rajapur village stands a temple of Govind Maharaj, within whose premises is a traditional cow statue (Dhenugal). The Rajapur Gadhi is built atop a hill above the village, while the village itself originally lay below on the banks of the Kukdi River. Due to the construction of a new dam on the Kukdi River, the water level rose, and the village had to be relocated near the Gadhi on higher ground. The descendants of the Gandhi’s original owners left the village and the fort long ago, leaving the place abandoned, though it still stands in reasonably good condition. Before entering the Gadhi, one sees a small temple or shrine built with bricks—possibly a Shiva temple—with a spire on top and a Shiva lingam installed inside. The main entrance and adjacent bastion are built using well-shaped stone with lime mortar, while the remaining fort walls are built with rubble masonry. Facing west, above the entrance gate stands a strong brick-built structure for a Nagarkhana (drum room), which also features decorative carvings on its façade. The entire Gadhi spans roughly one acre and contains a total of eight bastions. The entrance gate is flanked by two massive bastions, while the remaining six are distributed along the perimeter wall. As the Gadhi has been abandoned, its wooden doors have vanished. Upon entering the Gadhi, one finds guard rooms on either side of the inner entrance. From here, there’s an enclosed staircase within the wall that leads to the Nagarkhana above the gate. This upper chamber, too, is overgrown with vegetation. The view from here underscores the strategic importance of the Gadhi’s location. The central mansion inside the Gadhi has completely collapsed, leaving behind just a mound of earth. Dense vegetation has grown both on this mound and around it. As one weaves through this overgrowth, they come across a square-shaped well filled with green water. Near this well, at the midpoint of the Gadhi's walls, a bastion contains a small door used for exiting during emergencies. Before this door, another small, subterranean escape door (chor Darwaja) lies almost buried under debris, with only its upper frame and a few steps visible. Once you exit through the bastion door, the tour of the Gadhi concludes. At the base of the village, towards the Kukdi River, stands a medieval-era Shiva temple. On the way to this temple, in a medium-sized stone shrine, is a Peshwa-era idol of Hanuman, depicted with a moustache and shown crushing the demon Panuvati underfoot in a commanding posture. Slightly upstream from the river, the temple premises include a Nandi Mandap (pavilion with Nandi idol), and beside it, some hero stones (virgal) and idols have been placed. Though the temple wall contains an inscription, erosion has rendered it illegible. With the visit to this temple, the journey through Rajapur village comes to an end.
© Suresh Nimbalkar