About Mandangad Fort

The visit to the fort takes not more than three hours from Mandangad village. The hillock is quite densely forested and a mud trail winds up the fort in one hour through these thickets. A lake called as ‘Thorla’ Talav (Thorla means Bigger in Marathi), a recently renovated Ganesh temple standing next to the Throla Talav, a Darga, a magazine, tanks, few ruins of bastions and remains of fort walls are the only structures that one can see atop Mandangad. However, the recently renovated Ganesh temple stands majestically on the small hump near the Lake is a beautiful place to stay, if one wishes to stay on the fort. From the southern end bastion, one can sight the hill fort of Palgad standing opposite to Mandangad.

It is said that Mandangad was built by King Bhoj. In 1661 it was under Jaswantrao Dalvi, an Adilshahi Sardar. He was the person who had besieged Vishalgad during Shivaji Maharaj’s daring escape from Panhalgad. When Shivaji Maharaj defeated Kartalabkhan and was marching towards Dabhol, Mandangad was on the way. Hearing this news, Jaswantrao ran away to Shringarpur and Shivaji Maharaj got it without a fight. It was with Angres and Siddis for some time. The British captured it in 1818.

There are 2 summits for the mountain on which Mandangad is built. On the higher one there is a water tank. The fortification is seen on the lower and more flat part. The entrance is destroyed, but the bastions stand. The Ganesh temple here is reconstructed. We can see Savitri River, Raigad and Varandha pass on a clear day.