Raigad fort is located in Maharashtra, India. It served as the capital of the Maratha kingdom under King Shivaji in 1674. The fort sits at an elevation of 820 meters above sea level on a hill in the Sahyadri mountain range. There are approximately 1400 steps leading up to the fort, though a ropeway now provides access. Ruins at the fort include the queen's quarters, the main palace foundations, watchtowers, and an execution point. The fort also has ruins of the old market area and structures that allowed for shopping from horseback.

1. र
रायगड
ड Elevation 820 m (2,700 ft)
m (2,700 ft)
Location Mahad
Raigad – The Capital of Shivaji

2. Raigad
Raigad is a hill fortress situated in the modern day Raigad district of
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Maharashtra, India. The Maratha king Shivaji made the fort his capital in
1674 when he was crowned King of a Maratha Kingdom which later
developed into the Maratha Empire eventually covering majority of
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modern day India.
The fort, which rises 820 metres (2,700 ft) above sea level, is located in the
Sahyadri mountain range. There are approximately 1400–1450 steps
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leading to the fort, though today a rope‐way exists to reach the top of the
fort. The fort was looted and destroyed by the British upon siege.
Shivaji Maharaj had seized the site, then the fortress of Rairi, from the royal
Shivaji Maharaj had seized the site then the fortress of Rairi from the royal
house of the Chandarrao Mores, a junior or Cadet dynasty descended from
the ancient Maurya imperial dynasty. The last More king (or raja) was a
feudatory of the Sultan of ijapur. Shivaji renovated and expanded the
feudatory of the Sultan of Bijapur. Shivaji renovated and expanded the
Fortress of Rairi and renamed it Raigad (the King's Fort), the name he gave
it when he selected it for his capital when he founded the Maratha empire.
Raigad, a hill fortress situated in Raigad District of Maharashtra, India was
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capital of Shivaji's kingdom.

3. Raigad
The fort's ruins today consist of the queen's quarters, consisting of six chambers,
with each chamber having its own private commode with plumbing. The main
palace was constructed using wood, of which only the bases of pillars remain.
Ruins of three watch towers can be seen directly in front of the palace grounds
overlooking an artificial lake called Ganga Sagar Lake created next to the fort. It
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also has a view of the execution point called Takmak Tok, a cliff from which the
sentenced prisoners were thrown to their death. This areas is now fenced off.].
The fort also has ruins of the market, and it has such structure that one can shop
even while riding or sitting astride a horse.
even while riding or sitting astride a horse
The king's public Durbar has a replica of the original throne that faces the main
doorway called the Nagarkhana Darwaja. This enclosure had been acoustically
designed to aid hearing from the doorway to the throne. A secondary entrance,
called the Mena Darwaja, was supposedly the private entrance of the royal ladies
of the fort; it leads to the queen's quarters. The erstwhile main entrance to the
fort is the imposing Maha Darwaja. The convoy of the king and the king himself
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used the Palkhi Darwaja. To the right of Palkhi Darwaja, is a row of three dark and
deep chambers. Historians believe that these were the granaries for the fort.
A statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji is erected in front of the ruins of the main market
avenue that eventually leads to the Jagdishwar Mandir and his own
avenue that eventually leads to the Jagdishwar Mandir and his own
Samadhi(tomb) and that of his dog Waghya.

7. Kedareshwar
Temple
Gangasagar Talao
Darbar

8. Market place
Gangasagar
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Shivaji Statue
Rani Mahal
Mena Darwaja
MTDC
Trolley way
Rope way

10. Time for a break

12. Suhas and Amar

13. Dharap, Sandesh, Suhas and Amar

14. Dharap, Nagesh and Suhas

15. Rajeev, Avinash,
Yuvraj and Heramb

17. Anil, Srinath, Sandesh, Nagesh (window), Amar, Avinash, Heramb, Dharap(inside)
Mini Bus which
carried us from
Powai to Raigad
and back

18. Long view of
Raigad in clouds

20. Jijamata's (Shivaji's
mother) samadhi at
Pachad, a a village
at the foothills of
Raigad

22. Ropeway to Swarg?

23. Route to Raigad

26. MTDC dormitory at Raigad
Suhas, Yuvraj, Nagesh and Anil
AVINASH AMAR

27. Dharap and Srinath

28. Morning tea
AVINASH
DHARAP
SRINATH
ANIL
SANDESH

30. Young girl from the
village who's
mother arranged
dinner, morning tea
and later breakfast

31. Group leaving MTDC for
Raigad darshan

34. Mena Dawaja

36. Nagesh

37. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

40. Dharap

41. Hot bhajiya and tea

42. Bhajiya preparation
in full swing

44. Omlet bread, Bhajiya bread at a tapari on Raigad

45. Yuvraj, Avinash, Amar, Danish, Papori and Suhas
Heramb, Dharap, Nagesh and Srinath

46. Rajeev, Yuvraj, Papori, Sandesh, Danish, Suhas
Anil, Amar, Dharap, Nagesh and Avinash
Heramb

48. Mahadarwaja
(main entrance)

49. Nagesh

52. A late lunch in restaurant on
Mumbai-Goa highway

53. Dharap, Nagesh
and Srinath

54. Visit to Raigad in summer
by rope way

56. Ropeway

57. Top end of ropeway

58. Trolley upto raigad
top for elderly
people

59. Rani mahal

60. Watch Tower (total 3)

62. Artificial lake -
Gangasagar

63. Watch towers and
Rani mahal (behind)

64. Nagarkhana
Darwaja
Sound made at Nagarkhana Darwaja can be
heard from this place where Shivaji would sit

65. Nagarkhana
Darwaja

66. Bajarpeth (market place)

67. Symbollic name of
a trader - Nagappa

68. Jagadishwar Mandir

69. Jagadishwar Mandir

70. "Sewechiye Tatpar, Hiroji Indulkar" carved on
a step of Jagadishwar Temple

71. Hanuman Satue inside Jagadishwar Temple

72. Jagadishwar (Shiv)

73. A man playing sanai,
just great

74. Shivaji's smadhi
(tomb)

77. Walls of the fort as
seen from Takmak tok

78. Mahadarwaja

79. Rani Mahal and Watch
Towers as seen from
Takmak tok

81. Potalyacha Dongar (hill) from
where Raigad was attacked by
Englishmen

82. Early morning view
of mountains
around Raigad

83. Un spoilt
Un hurried
Un touched
Un confined
Un expected
Un conquered
Un paralleled
Un paralleled
Un matched
Un stressed
Un stressed
Un limited
Standing as silent sentinels to history are the 350‐odd forts of Maharashtra. Beaten by
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the sea waves, lashed at by the torrential Deccan rains, or scorched in the blazing sun,
stand imposing ramparts and crumbling walls , the last lingering memories of
Maharashtra's martial times. Nowhere in the country would you encounter such a
profusion of forts. And such variety. Sited on an island, or guarding the seas or among
the Sahyadri hills, whose zig‐zag walls and rounded bastions sit like a scepter and
crown amidst hills turned mauve.