Raigad: The capital in the clouds
The Raigad Safarnama is a 11 km round trip across 8 stops, from Pachad up to Samadhi of Shivaji Maharaj and back, part of the Sahyadri Forts Trail. See the whole trail.
Pachad
Pachad is the village below Raigad, near Mahad. The climb up is about 1,737 steps; since 1996 a ropeway has also carried visitors up, rising about 400 metres in four minutes.
Hirkaniwadi
Hirkaniwadi takes its name from Hirkani, a milkmaid in the fort's most famous story. Shut inside when the gates closed at sunset, she climbed down the sheer cliff in the dark to reach her child. The bastion built above that cliff is still called Hirkani Buruj.
Maha Darwaja
The Maha Darwaja is flanked by two bastions around 20 metres high, and was traditionally closed at sunset. The fort was built up between 1656 and 1674 by the architect Hiroji Indulkar.
Raj Sadar and the throne
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was crowned at Raigad on 6 June 1674, and the fort became his capital. In the royal court a replica throne faces the Nagarkhana gate, and the hall was built so that a voice from the throne carries across it.
Market lane
The ruins of the market lane on the plateau are a reminder that the fort was a working capital and not just a stronghold.
Jagadishwar temple
The Jagadishwar temple has the architect Hiroji Indulkar's name engraved on its first step, so that everyone entering would step past it.
Samadhi of Shivaji Maharaj
Shivaji Maharaj died in 1680, and his samadhi stands here near the temple. Raigad remained the capital under his successors, and in July 2025 it was inscribed as part of the Maratha Military Landscapes UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Back at Pachad
Back down all the steps to Pachad. From Shivneri, where he was born, to Raigad, where he was crowned and laid to rest, you have walked the whole arc of the story.