I had heard the stories of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj from my mother as a kid. Shivaji, who took on the powerful Mughals and carved a "Hindavi Swaraj". Shivaji, who never lost on Battle-field. But then, history is filled with great warriors who never lost on battle-field...Achilles, Alexander, Changez Khan, Napoleon, William Wallace, Sun Tzu and so on...But how many times do we come across a Warrior who never lost the love of his people during and after his time?I had dreamt of his battles, his forts. I wanted to see the "gad" for which Maharaj fought for. Wanted to see the places hallowed by Maharaj.
We traveled to Pune, the capital of Peshwas, from Bangalore by train. Pune, from where the last Maratha, Baji Rao, ruled. The once magnificent 7 storeyed palace of teak and lime in Shaniwar-Wada does not exist anymore. Only the rock fort and its ramparts do. The fort was burnt down by a fire, by British. This incident was to inspire future heroes like Vasudev Balawant Phadke.
We next traveled to "Simha-Gad" fort which is at a short distance from Pune. I had read of "Simha-Gad" from a chapter in school titled "gad Aaya par Simha Gaya" much before I read books like "Yugavatar"
Shivaji is ordered to win the fort by Jija Mata. Shivaji entrusts winning the Gad from Uday Bhan, the mughal ruler, to Tanaji Malusure. Tanaji puts aside his sons wedding to win the fort. He climbs it using Iguanas and is mortally wounded in the battle with Uday Bhan. The marathas however go on to win the fort and the "Bhagawa" is unfurled in the morning to the pleasure of Jija Mata. (adjacent pic is the bust of Tanaji Malusure atop Simhagad)The next day, we traveled to two places - Bhima-shanker & Shivaneri - and came back to Pune.
Bhima-Shanker is one of the "jyotir-lingas". It is here that Lord Shiva is said to have slain Tripurasura. Not far from this place is "Shivneri". The birth-place of kalyuga's Shiva, the mightiest warrior of Santana Dharma.
Shivneri is a tough fort to trek for elders. Only me and my sister made it to the top. The fort is in ruins and that is distressing.
As we climbed up, as it often happens in Indian travels, we met up with a big herd of school kids. They were in high spirits and it seemed more so because they were away from school.
There is a newly built Memorial at the hill top. At a slight distance away from it are the remains of the old fort where Shiv-ba was born(top-pic). The memorial has a beautiful bronze statue of boy Shiv-ba being moulded by his mother.The next day we traveled to Mahabaleshwar. Mahabaleshwar is a popular hill station in the Sahyadris with many boarding schools and Strawberry farms. The back-waters of the Koyna dam are close by. We went boating there and I was surprised to see populated island-villages in the waters.
Close by is the Pratapgad fort. This fort stands witness to one the most spectacular encounters of Maharaj - Afzal Khan, a Bijapuri general, is deputed to defeat Shivaji. Khan is a beasty man of close to 6'1/2 feet while Maharaj is nearly a feet shorter. Khan surrounds pratapgad and waits but the siege does not yield. He decides to kill Shivaji by deceit and asks for a personal meeting at the foot of pratapgad. Maharaj arrives with a trusted lieutenant and so does Khan. Khan tries to embrace Shivaji at the first sight and while doing so pulls his dagger out and stabs Shivaji in his side. But fortunately, the dagger hits Shivaji's steel vest. At this, Maharaj, who used to were "Vyaghra-nakha" (claws of lion, so called due to resemblence but actually steel) jabs it into the stomach of Khan and tears his bowels open. Khan and his lieutenant are killed and the Bijapur army flees.
This incident has always fascinated me due to its resemblence with the story of "Narasimha-avatar" of the Hindu pantheon.
We stayed that night in Mahabaleshwar and went on to "Rai-Gad" - the capital of Shivaji - the next day morning. Raigad was chosen by Shivaji due to two easily identifiable reasons - (1) Its an almost vertical peak, which makes climbing by a invading army impossible (2) The top of the hill itself is quite vast and habitable by a significant populace. The tourists are obviated the treacherous climb by a ropeway. But the ropeway itself is not a very encouraging sight, with only 2 pillars (one at the peak and one down-hill) supporting the whole steel-rope. But then, the company manages it well. They also have a small museum of Maharaj with various articles and portraits of his times.
We reached Raigad in the evening and decided to go up immediately. As with all the other forts, this fort too is in ruins.
Whatever might be the historical reasons for these forts falling to disuse, the current "proud" Maharashtrian people and Govt should be ashamed of the present state.Shivaji was coronated in Raigad. People bestowed the title of "Chatrapati" on him. A "pancha-loha" statue of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj resides at the site (first-pic). The people of a nearby village trek everyday to Raigad to garland the statue. Such is the adoration of Shivaji Maharaj by the people
Raigad has elaborate palace and public quarters. The main entrance of the fort has the symbol of Lion taming 3 elephants. Lion symbolizes the Marathas and the elephants - Qutubshahi, Adilshahai and Mughal. There is a small lake inside the ramparts to which the sacred water from the various rivers of Bharat were brought for Shivaji's coronation.
Shivaji had brought a baby-elephant during his youth to Raigad and tamed it. Its impossible for a grown elephant to climb the hill. He rode this very elephant after many years (when it had grown up) during his coronation ceremony.
Our local guide proudly told this to us, venerating the farsightedness of his hero.Downhill, we next went to samadhi of Jija Mata. "Rashtra Sevika Samiti" the women's wing of RSS has renovated and continues to maintain it.
On our way back we went to Goa, to its popular beaches.
To me, this trip in December 2004 is still very fresh. I hope more people go to these places. Also as I see the movies of Achilles and Alexander, I wonder, when our modern cinema would take a break from its infinite love stories and decide to cast real heroes.
