Shivneri fort a birth place of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

Friday, May 22, 2015 0 Comments A+ a-

Shivneri Fort

Type                                                           Shivneri is a hill fort.        
Difficulty level                                          Shivneri fort is medium trek.
Height                                                        Shivneri is 3500 ft. (1066 meters) above sea level.       
Base village / District / Taluka                Junnar / Pune/Junnar, Maharashtra,India.

History of Shivneri Fort

Shivneri is the fort on which the birth of Shivaji Maharaj took place. He spent his childhood on Shivneri fort. There was a Shivai Temple on the fort by which Shivaji Maharaj was named as 'Shivba'.Shivaji Maharaj learnt his fighting skills on this fort. The Shape of the fort is like an arrow and triangular which is pointing towards north.
First Entrance of Shivneri fort
First Entrance of Shivneri fort
Shivaji Maharaj retained the fort from the fort granted to Shivaji's grandfather Maloji Bhosale and he passed it to Shahaji Bhosale in the year 1599 AD, eventually Shivaji Maharaj was born on Shivneri fort. The fort was built to Guard the Junnar City and Naneghat.
South side of the fort has a wide base of the fort whereas on the north side has a narrow point, on the fort there are seven gates(Darwaja) in which fifth gate is armoured with anti- elephants spikes. There are many ponds and cisterns on the fort, From which two largest cisterns are named as Ganga and Jamuna, but nowadays only few of them are remaining on the fort.
Shivneri Fort Entryway
Shivneri Fort Entryway
On one side of the fort there is a mosque of mughals whereas ruined stable on other side of the fort. The houses were restored again and the statues of Shivaji and Jijabai called 'Shiv Kunj' are also restored where Shivaji Maharaj was born in February 1630 AD. Before this fort was built by Sathavanas and was called as Shivneri hills.
Three sides of the fort were included with rock caves proving as they are Buddhist related. Fort was with the Yadavas, Bahamanis and the Mughals after Satavahanas. In 1632 Shivaji Maharaj left the fort through which Mughals gained the fort and Shivaji Maharaj couldn't take back the fort.

Time to reach the top
1 hour is more than enough to reach the fort from the base village.

Minimum Duration
1 day.

Best time to visit the fort 
Any time you can visit Shivneri fort.
  
Water Availability
Yes, water is available near Shiv Kunj. 

Accommodation Availability
Yes available in shivkunj and in Ambarkhana.

Places to visit on the Shivneri Fort

Shiv Janmasthan, Kadelot point, Shivkunj, Kamini Masjid, Ganga and Jamuna cisterns, Koli Chauthara, Ambarkhana.

Lets find How to reach to Shivneri Fort

Way from Pune to Shivneri Fort

Pune to Shivneri By Bus
From Shivaji Nagar there are ST (State Transport) buses available hourly to Junnar. Local transports are also available from Pune Station to Khed (Rajgurunagar), from Khed ST buses are available to Narayangaon and from Narayangaon to Junnar local transport are available.

Way from Mumbai to Shivneri Fort

Mumbai to Shivneri By Bus
From Mumbai via Malshej Ghat or via Khandala Ghat you can reach Junnar, but mostly prefer Malshej ghat because it takes less time reach Junnar, buses are available from Kalyan to Junnar hourly From Mumbai Junnar is around 100kms.

Places to visit nearby the Shivneri Fort


Shivneri Caves
At the north side of Junnar Shivneri caves are situated around 3 kilometres from Junnar city. It is located on Shivneri hills.

Lenyadri Caves
Lenyadri caves are approximately 6 to 7 kms from shivneri fort. They are the series of the Buddhist caves. In the caves there is the famous temple of God Ganesha one of Ashtavinayak Ganpatis.