A Day Trip to the Sajjangad Fort

I was visiting Satara on some business and wanted to spend some time at Sajjangad. I have heard good things about this one. Sure enough, there are plenty of other forts all over the state, but the tourist guides all said that this one was not to be missed. So naturally, I didn’t want to miss it as well. I knew that my business would be over in just a day. So I planned my schedule in such a way so that I could spend a day more at Satara, to visit the fort.

“The fort of good people” or Sajjangad is located very close to the city of Satara in Maharashtra. It was just about 15 kilometers from the city, and so I was confident that if I could leave early, I would be able to see everything and come back to my hotel before evening.

I wanted to see the gates in the fort, the two lakes, and of course the Samadhi of Sri Samarth Ramdas Swami. Sri Samarth Ramdas was Shivaji’s guru, and naturally, I wanted to pay my respect at the Samadhi. Morning prayers are held here every morning. I didn’t want to miss them, and so had to leave my hotel quite early. It wasn’t the Ram Navami, and so, I wasn’t expecting too many visitors though. The gates of the fort close in the evening. So I had to see everything and come back before that. And anyway, I had to take that train back to Mumbai in the night.

Anyway, I had booked a car to take me from my hotel to the fort premises. It looked an imposing structure. The walled area wasn’t clearly the biggest I have seen, but it was still impressive. I climbed the stairs to visit the final resting place of the Swami, who by the way was a great teacher and social reformer of his times. However before that, I did spend some time loitering around the historical structures of the fort. I reached the top soon enough and could see the Ajinkyatara fort at a distance.

Happy with what I saw, I then moved on to the main attraction here. I reached the temple and the Samadhi soon enough. There is a small eatery close enough. But I had no plans to have my food here. Prasad is better any day. I decided to sit in the small temple for some time to introspect on where my life was taking me. Let me tell you, this is so peaceful.

I was told that I should visit the backside of the temple to catch a glimpse of the Urmodi Dam. I did that. It was 4:30 in the afternoon, when I finally began to walk back to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Dwar.