Dhodap Fort

The Sahyadri mountain range has many forts from the period of Moghuls and Marathas. I learned about a very old fort named Dhodap and decided to go there for a hike.

The drive to this area was about just over an hour, the road was in good condition. The four of us started at 5:30am. After waiting for a quick session of tea, we proceeded to the town of Dhodambe.

Around 7:15am, we were in the small village, and the morning was very foggy. It was a new area to hike for all of us and we wondered if we could find a guide to show us the way.

The village had a small population of 100 or so, and we asked around to the few people awake that were out and about for a guide.

Luckily we found a slender fifty-something willing to take us to the fort and the hike for a fee of $6 and he predicted that the hike will take us about six hours. It was cloudy with low visibility and that did not stop us from really admiring the mountains and the landscape.

After starting the hike, we came across a small alcove with a Hanuman temple.

The climb was pretty steep in the beginning and the guide was walking pretty fast. We did our best to keep up. The view kept getting more and more expansive and we could see many hills in the distance.

The steep path was surrounded by cacti. We were enjoying the climb and had popular Hindi songs playing on youtube to keep us all motivated.

The clouds and the altitude made for interesting photo opportunities with the local flora.

Soon we were at a spot which looked like a cenote.

The well also had a Ganesha deity in it.

A placard showed us that the hike culiminated at an elevation of 4,959 feet.

We saw an ancient well with an elaborate set of stairs, ornate door openings and detailed stonework.

The well had two entrances and skylight like openings which made it look very pretty.

As we continued, the steep path was well paved with rocks.

We encountered a metal stair which was a replacement for steps carved originally in the rock face but had since deteriorated.

As we neared the fort, we saw the rocky mountain, which was one huge piece of granite, had steps carved out of in on the side.

In the ruins, some original intricate carvings were visible.

From the main entrance, the path turned 90 degrees. It revealed the daylight and continuation of the other structures of the fort.

At the main entrance, we could see the stone had Urdu characters carved presumably from the Moghul period.

Now we were at the main area of the fort and the ruins of the main building were visible. The many water ponds carved out of the rock were seen as well.

The sheer wall rock face was very impressive and there were caves carved in its base.

The numerous caves were elaborate, deep and had many rooms in each cave.

Some caves had deep dugouts which were filled with water and some could have been used as spaces to hold treasures.

One cave had a small temple with a colorful deity in it.

As we came to the end of the hike, we reached the iconic needle mountain that was shrouded in clouds.

After a few minutes, the wind blew the clouds and the needle along with the beautiful hillsides covered with lush trees was visible.

As we started the return journey, the huge rock face which hosted the caves looked enigmatic and engulfed in the clouds.

From the nealy 5,000 feet elevation, we could see the distant valley and lakes, as well as the sun rays trying to break trhough the clouds.

A few glances back gave us more photo opportunities.

The fort was constructed in the huge granite mountain.

The contrast between the rock and the green shrubs and trees was pretty.

Our return hike was quite fast and to the big surprise of the guide, we completed the hike in two and a half hours overall compared to his estimate of six hours. He said that many people come to hike who are out of shape and he expected us to be in the same category.

We were happy to have done the walk and enjoyed seeing many local colorful birds. I was delighted that I could take a picture of one bird on a faraway tree with 20x zoom on the phone.