It was during the “Navarathri” holidays we planned a trip to Visapur fort and Bhaja caves. Our team consists of five people Me, Akhil Javad, Rabin S Dev, Navas, Abdul Rahoof all of us belonging to same batch . We was actually curious to see the historical places that we are going to see.
We planned to go by train to Malavli, which would reduce our expenses. In fact Malavli has the shortest distance of 55km from Pune and much more from our campus. So going by taxi would coast a considerably high amount and bus is not at all a better option as it consumes more time and obviously it would make us tired. So the best fitted option is to go by a local train.
We left the campus about 5AM morning and reached Shivaji Nagar railway station which is nearest to the campus. But unfortunately two of us who had left before us was reached on Pune Jn railway station due to error in navigation of the cab driver. But anyway it wasn’t a big problem. After collecting the tickets we headed to the local train. The train was quite comfortable and little different than a normal train compartment.
After about 1-1:30 hours of journey we’d reached Malavli railway station which was nearest to those places.We decided to go to Bhaja caves at first. We started walking instead of calling a taxi as we didn’t have a hope that we would get online taxi service at that place. Then we met our seniors who were going to Lohagad fort. Both of those forts are made by Maratha Empire.
Malavli isn’t that much developed place. It is considered to be a small town but we felt it is a good village. By the time when we reached there, small restaurants which setup alongside with houses only started preparing breakfast. But we was lucky to get a plate of poha , but that isn’t a great deal as a breakfast. The scene of the street looks like many years old. The roads aren’t well maintained and there are stores like small rooms in both side of the road but less in number. There was only few restaurants which was similar to tea shops. But the scene brilliantly mixes into the green shades in the background.
After sometime we started our journey to Bhaja caves. The caves are well protected and for reaching there there arestone pawed steps. Among them we could find some kind of crabs, tiny one to big one. But we couldn’t find any sign of water nearby. And there was a ticket counter and for each person they will charge 50 rupee for entry pass, and there is no extra charges for photography.
After 5-10 minutes we’d reached at the entrance of the caves. We could notice that there are 3-4 security officers who was just preparing to go into their duty, as they was polishing their shoes while we was heading towards them inside one of the small caves. They checked our passes and returned to their seats.
The cave 12 with stupa
These caves are very ancient, dating back to second century BC, located in Pune district, above the village of Bhaja. We could see a marble plate which has the details in front of the caves. The caves as actually located in a trade route, even though no one would believe it today. Today it is protected as a “monument of national importance” by archeological survey of India. This settlement actually belongs to Hinayana Buddhism. The cave was mostly made up of rocks and there are some usage of wood.
We was actually wondered watching the architect of those caves which had made over 2000years ago. The biggest part of the cave looks like a big hall with a kind of horse shoe ceiling. And there is a stupa according to the Buddhism at one end of the hall. It was the Chaityagraha(cave 12), with many pillars supporting the semicircular wooden structures on top of it. But how did these wooden structures survived? And the caves was so calm which makes it a perfect place for meditation.
There was also small room like structures in the sides of the big hall. It almost look like a room, instead of bed there is a projected piece of stone from the floor. And between those rooms we could find some common spaces. And there is some other rooms which looks like as it is used for bathing. There was also plenty of water in some underground chambers.There was also plenty of green shaded water in some other chambers except one outside the chamber. We followed small steps made out of rock to the upper part of the caves.There also we could find similar kind of chambers. There was many stupas at one side of the cave, some of them had deformed as the survivors of a long past.
And other interesting thing we could find in the caves was inscriptions on the floors and walls and also the statues that handcrafted on the walls. We could also find some small pits which was about 2-3 inches in diameter repeatedly on the floor.
The statues on the wall 
steps 
Despite of all these technicality and explanations Bhaja caves was a splendid example of peacefulness and nature fusing into one. I felt like those old monks still meditating in that atmosphere. Those chambers are plenty of fresh air and filling joy in our hearts. Mostly they aren’t decorated and it is a perfect place away from the annoying noise of the city.
Our next destination was Visapur fort. For that we’ve two options. Either we could go by the road or we could directly climb the hill. We looked at the road which could be seen from the caves. It was many folded and have a much longer distance. We decided to climb the hill, but I never had such an experience before. So I made a decision that I will sit there waiting for them until the evening, which was later proven to be a foolish one. But my friends forced me to follow them. Near the entrance of the caves someone had written “Visapur” in Hindi on the rock. There was also an arrow drawn pointing upside of the hill. As we doesn’t have any navigation or map and the security of the caves also mentioned about this marking we just started following it.
It was about 12 noon. The burning sun is right above our head, but we’d our water bottles full. After climbing some distance we could reach a plane, but no sign of anyone else there. Fortunately we could find a shed made of sheets and a small house nearby. There was some cows inside the shed and also there was a board written “Maggie”(A noodles brand) on it. We thought that there might be someone there. So we decided to wait for sometime. Then a teenager came asking what we wanted. We asked about the snacks available there and there was only lime juice. We entered into the small shed which has roughly the height of a person. He was piercing the cover of a soft drink powder and there was a cow lying on the floor nearby. He collected water from a bucket and mixed the powder. But for us only thirst matters then and the drink was quite good. As we don’t have proper navigation e asked him about the way to the fort. We was happy to hear that he was willing to guide us. He ran to the house which was located some hundred meters away from the shed. Then we noticed the dog which was along with us all the way from the Bhaja caves. The cunning dog was actually finding some shortcuts before us. We walked for some distance with the boy and then he said that ” You could directly go this way up” and returned. We was wondered why, may be he was tired or advised not to come with us.
The rest of our journey was little more difficult as the heat was increasing and we don’t have a way. The only things we had was the sight of the fort and desire to reach there. After some more distance we could find some steps made out of stones, but the water we’d was almost over. But the thirst provided the thrust to reach up. At the beginning of the steps there was a small which we could identify as that to worship Hanuman, as Hanuman is considered as the God of strength and courage and it was usually found in such old forts. Water was constantly flowing through those steps. But after some distance the way became more rough as the step lead to some big random rocks. We actually have to climb those rocks carefully and also it was already heated by the sun.
The view from the fort is astonishing. But we was wondering that there was actually only some remnants of a good old fort. We could see only a big field at first and about ten people around us. Actually I expected a little shop there where we could buy some drinks and also expected a guide. But unfortunately the place wasn’t well maintained. After resting sometime we continued walking. There we could find some walls made out of stones and some big ponds which would be probably used by the royal family or the officials in the past. By further investigation we could find a cannon located nearly the pond, but not mounted in a firing position. That gave us a conclusion that even it was a fort made by Maratha Empire it might be used by the Britishers for sometime in the past.
The hill fort is near the Visapur village in Maharashtra, and is a part of Lohagad-Visapur fortification. Actually one could see the Lohagad fort from this fort. The fort was built during 1713-1720 CE by the first Maratha emperor Balaji Vishwanath. Even though the fort is much younger than Lohagad, the history of both of them are linked. But actually Lohagad was known as the treasury of Maratha kingdom which lead the British rulers to attack and occupy Visapur fort to attack Lohagad. As it was located at higher elevation than Lohagad the British troops could effectively use their cannons, one of which we had already seen. And in 1818 AD Visapur-Lohagad was placed under the command of Colonel Prother. So there is a warm history of battles associated with this ancient fort. But I was wondering that Visapur fort is already destroyed and Lohagad is almost intact even though the British cannons had made impacts on it.
Despite of these technicality and history this high altitude fort would give us plenty of scenes and would fill us with joy. Only after reaching there we could see the heights and distances we had climbed. We could see the clouds kissing the nearby mountains. One part of the hill was too steep, and watching those big untidy rocks I make a comment that the fort must be destroyed due to a flood or land slide which made others laugh. Fortunately we could find a person selling bottled water on our return.
Climbing down was more difficult than climbing up as we choose a more steeper way to reach down more quickly. The way was full of rocks, some with even 3-4feet eight. And we was not sure that even the rocks will fall down or not. We didn’t have to spend more time to find a way as someone had already put “ohm” signs on the rocks indicating the way, and the dog had already gone somewhere.
The time was already 2PM and the rock got enough heat to make our journey difficult. It was very difficult to touch those rocks with hand, and we cannot simply walk down through the rocks. Actually I was slowly sliding down and my friends have to wait for me for some more time. We’d already finished half of the water we had while reaching the base of the hill, which looks like a small forest.
We reached the other side of the road and there was some Tata Sumo and Jeeps to carry people to the railway station.But the charges was too much as they would charge 300-400rupee per person which is quite too high. We decided to look out for food or vehicle. We could find a nearby road and walked to one side where we could find a small restaurant. But there was nothing to eat. We asked about getting a vehicle and the shop keeper replied that his vehicle which was a goods carrier was at town then and called another person. After sometime another person came with a carrier vehicle, but he was also charging almost the same amount. We decided to walk, but we’ve to eat something before that.
On the other side of the road there was a small village settlement where we could get some food. The roads are almost good, but the shops looks like pretty old. We entered into a shop near to a house and asked for some snacks. But for washing our hands we had to go to the backside of the shop through the kitchen which changed our decision to eat from there. we could find a nearby shop which looks good, but we had to wait about half an hour to get the snacks and the shopkeeper was charging more than the MRP and arguing by the dificulty in transportation.
The village we’d reached is almost near to the entrance of Lohagad fort. From our observation we could find that the other fort is a tourist place and quite well maintained. But it was still difficult to get a taxi. Even auto rikshaw had charged more than a car and we cannot expect Ola or Uber there. So we started walking to the railway station.But fortunately we could share a Tata Sumo with less charge. We’d reached Lonavla railway station about 5PM. But the next train to Pune will be there only at 6PM. And that was most boring moments of the day. By the time when we reached Pune it was past 7PM, and we quickly went to hostel.
Actually this trip was awesome with the history of the places we’d visited, which was a mixture of peace, war and nature. And mostly it was a nice experice for which I would thank my friends who forced me to climb.
(All the photos given in this description is collected from my friends with their permission and none of them are from any online source)
abstract thoughts 
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