Solapur in a day | Part 4 | Naldurg Fort

We were done with Siddeshwar Temple and Solapur Fort aka Bhuikot.( you can click on the links to read about our earlier journey) The next destination on our card was Naldurg Fort, which is situated around 50 kms away from Solapur.

We started to walk from Bhuikot Fort to Solapur Bus stand which is hardly 1-1.5 kms away from the fort.Walking through the local markets we reached the Solapur Bus stand. Finding the bus at Local bus stand is always a challenge however we were lucky we were guided by a local person and we boarded the bus going towards hyderabad. As the bus was starting from here so we had empty bus for ourselves, As usual I jumped to grab the window seat and for our time-pass we bought cucumber which felt so refreshing in this heat.  

Kakdi (Cucumber) khane ka apna hi majja hai...

My co-travellers Nikhil and Pooja took a cat nap while I was doing my videography, Boss window seat aise hi toh nahi li thi...The bus journey lasted close to one hour and  soon we reached Naldurg bus station.

At Naldurg Bus Stand

One can have glimpse of Naldurg fort from the Bus stand. Hence we started walking toward the fort, We had to  walk for 15 minutes on the highway and then thru the village to reach the fort. 

Glimpse of the Naldurg Fort from the Highway 

Finally we were at the gate of the Famous Naldurg Fort.

I feel it is mandatory that we should have some knowledge about the history of the fort. Toh chalo dosto now chota sa history lesson


History:
There are different version about the construction of Naldurg Fort. One belief is that it was built By Nalraja, Hence the fort and the place got the name Naldurg. Then there is another belief that the Chalukyas of Kalyani built this fort.This fort was also known by the name Yeral, when it was under the Bahamani Sultan from from 1351-1480, Later it was handed over to Mughal Empire. Later the Adilshahi rulers constructed the massive impregnable wall of the fort in the year 1558. In simple words what we see today of Naldurg fort the credit goes to Ibrahim Adilshah II (1556-12 Sept 1627).

Upon reaching the fort entrance we were informed that we had to buy entry tickets. As ASI is maintaining this fort so tickets are issued by them.We bought the tickets, here we also came to know that you are charged for carrying DSLR camera. Mobile phones are allowed for free. Another interesting thing is that there is a luggage room too near the entrance of the fort where by paying a nominal charge you can keep your bags.

The moment you enter the Main Gate of the Fort you can see that the efforts are been made to clean up the fort. The beautiful pots are lined up along the ramp  as you pass through two gates viz Hurmukh Darwaza and Hathi Darwaza to enter the fort. We come out of Nagarkhana to see huge view of the fort from inside.

We come from here...The Nagarkhana (Pic source Internet)

Once you reach inside the fort it opens up a huge view of the fort area with fountains.Lots of efforts has been made to beautify this fort.

View from inside the fort

Upon entering what I was surprised by the neatness of the place. Well kept gardens and then there was a structure on the right side after coming out of the Nagarkhana

Structure on the right side after entering the fort

Fort Adoption Scheme:
Few years back this fort was quite neglected however a initiative was undertaken to adopt forts and this fort was one of them. Where adoption of Red Fort by Dalmia group raked up controversy on other hand the initiative by Maharashtra govt to adopt 371 heritage sites proved to be a big flop show with only 2 forts been taken up for adoption. The reason been for the flop show was that there was not much incentives for the corporate in terms of gate money or the icon use and also many of the sites been fort and temples charging entry fees was little difficult.

Anyways as this fort is adopted so let us enjoy the views.

Structure on the left side and
our resting place for having lunch.

Green lawns and few ancient structures are the inviting sights for a traveler like me. It was almost 2 pm when we reached here so we decided to have our lunch sitting under the shade of the tree. We generally carry our lunch so in no time we were done and moved on our exploration.

We started from the right side because I had heard so much about the Nav Buruj. It is said to be  a nine petal lotus kind of Bastion. This bastion is unique because it has two floors within it.

View of NavBurj from outside

The view from this bastion was amazing. We explored a bit on the top and as usual stole a moment to click few of our pictures. After all the hard work of climbing up and down photo toh banta hai bhai.

Some playful time

Talking of Bastions you would be surprised to know that there are around 114 bastions on the fort and the fort wall is almost 3 kms long'

After climbing down from the bastion I captured few nearby structures which are scattered outside the fort wall

One of the structure outside the fort wall.

We were given to understand that Naldurg is a huge fort hence one requires lots of time to cover its each nook and corner. Personally I felt that if you are a serious fort lover then you need a full day to cover every square inch of this fort.

Another structure outside the fort wall

We started to walk along the path made and came across ancient structures but due to the paucity of time we gave them a casual looks and moved on from  this the point and....

Reached a location  from where would see a huge  lake!

Lake within the fort 

 Yes this Fort has a lake and that too is huge, I was left open mouth with OMG written all over my face. I have visited many forts in Maharashtra but never seen something as amazing as this. 

Breathtaking view of the lake

 One can take boat ride, Banana ride, Water scooter and many more water sports activity. This is perhaps one of those few forts which offers such delightful water sports.

Variety of water sports 

A little walk further we came across another interesting structure. This structure is perched as a watch tower kind of thing. In other words this structure is the highest portion of the fort and is called Upali Buruj.

Upali Buruj

 There are close to 70-75 steps to climb to the top and Pooja and me raced on these steps with Nikhil shooting us on the camera. These silly antics keeps us going and we find our fun in them.

Pooja and myself racing to the top

70 plus stair of upali buruj and fun time for us

Upon reaching the top we saw two cannons, quite a long one. This bastion was made for keeping watch and  to oversee everything, I can vouch for this, because I could see the highway from the fort with the vehicle movement on it.

View from the Upali Buruj of Highway

This bastion is at the centre of the fortification of the fort.Due to which one can have a bird eye view of the entire fort from the Bastion.

View of the fort from the top.

Upli Buruj has two cannons on it-- though historians believe that during the Adil Shahi period, there were three cannons. One of the cannon had a crocodile face kind of mouth, hence is called Magar Toph 

Magar Thop or cannon.

 For a history lover these cannons are something to be proud of and sacrosanct in a way, but its sad to note that for people who just come to spend an outing here, its a place of fun, and these canons are a resting place, a magical broom kind of thing to sit on. Parents without realising I feel are giving wrong indications to their children when they make them sit on the cannons just to enjoy. Please respect the historical past.

This 21 feet long canon is reduced to a garden bench..sic

We spent some time at the Upli Buruj enjoying the cool breeze and enjoying the mesmerizing 360 view of the fort. Clicking pictures from vantage point is always so delightful.

Talking selfie on the edge can be edgy 😅 

From here we moved on the one of the most unique structure on this fort and it is called Pani Mahal.

Actually in 1613 AD, Ibrahim Adilshah II built the weir or dam on the river Bori and constructed Pani Mahal. This dam itself is an engineering marvel of its time. This Dam is 90 feet tall, 275 metres long and approx 31 metres in width.

View of the Dam from the top

Pani Mahal is an interesting structure whereby when you come on the dam section there are stairs going down  and you come across a floor kind of thing. Not much is left today to see here though. One can catch the glimpse of the gushing water of the dam from the window of this section. This floor was made in such a manner that though this palace is on the wier yet the water never passes through it. Isn't it an amazing architectural marvels of yesteryear.

Me enjoying the view on the top of the Dam

The sun was coming down and the breeze was getting all the more cooler so we thought to chill out on the top of Pani Mahal. The river water was glittering in the evening sun and the view looked mesmerising.

Good Bye Solapur...and Naldurg

It was now time for us to say goodbye to this lovely Fort and begin our journey back to Solapur Station from where we were to take night train to Mumbai.

How to reach:
From Solapur: Naldurg is situated around 50 kms from Solapur. The fort is situated on the Solapur -Hyderabad highway in Naldurg Village. There are regular State transport buses plying from Solapur to Naldurg.

Click on the link to have video journey of our entire Solapur trip 

Weekend wanderer at Solapur Vist


Traveller Tip: 
If you are visiting on Sundays park your vehicle somewhere on highway and take a walk to fort. Sunday is market day and its too hard to drive four wheeler in narrow lanes with lots of roadside stalls and crowd.

If you wish to have drone tour of this place click on the link I have shared below.

naldurg fort from drone 


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Vipassana Golden Pagoda : Mumbai Darshan Series

Our Journey:

We often visit temple on 1st Jan being the start of the new year to seek blessings of the almighty. This year however I thought I'll make a slight change and visit the Pagoda instead of a temple at Gorai near Borivali.

I gave a shout out to few friends, if they would like to join and the result was that my friend Pooja and Femina joined us.

My ever ready  friends

We had decided to start early in the morning hence we had fixed our meeting time at 7 am at Malad Station. However when I checked about the ferry timings I came to know that the first ferry to Pagoda from Marve Beach leaves at 9:40 so the whole program had to be rescheduled and we decided to meet at 8:30 am. 

At Marve Beach

We all met at 8:30 am at Malad West side of the Station and from there a little walk of 100 metres and you come down to the Bus stop of Bus no 126 fortunately for us the bus was at the stand so we all quickly jumped in. Marve Jetty or beach is the last stop so we took tickets for the last stop. a ride of 25 minutes and we were at the Marve Beach. Here again the ferry boat to Pagoda/Esselworld was almost leaving we were the the last passenger to get in.

The happy passengers

The ferry ride through the stinking water of the creek is not what you would like to see but then to seek better views one has to cross such hurdles.

Got to cross the stinking waters,
 to reach the beautiful Pagoda

Here again the ride lasted some 25 minutes odd. We were busy shooting the pictures of each other in the boat, Femina met some old office colleague so she was busy chatting with them.My wife was feeling the morning chill stinking water not withstanding , Pooja and myself we were clicking pictures of the approaching Pagoda.  

Upon reaching the other end of the creek we see along jetty This long jetty takes you to the land mass and for a second you are confused that by mistake the ferry guy has dropped you at the entrance of Esselworld amusement Park instead of Pagoda. Well don't worry the entrance is common to both however one needs to take left to go to the Pagoda.

Esselworld or Pagoda...Who cares

We started to walk on the road leading to the Pagoda. Our Ferry tickets were checked at the entrance of Pagoda road.A little walk of 5-7 minutes we were at the entrance gate of Pagoda.

 There were lots of cars parked outside the Pagoda gate, I was confused how come these cars are here, Well I was informed that there is also a road route which comes from Mira-Bhayander Road. I will give you information of the same at the end, So chill and come and explore this Pagoda.

You will ask me what's so special of this Pagoda...well here I go

Pagoda-Gorai  (Pic Source Internet)

The reason why you must see Pagoda :

World's Largest stone dome in Mumbai!

The center of the Global Vipassana Pagoda contains the world's largest stone dome built without any supporting pillars. The height of the dome is approximately 29 metres, while the height of the building is 96.12 meters, which is twice the size of the previously largest hollow stone monument in the world, the Gol Gumbaz (Click on the link if you want to read about our journey here) Dome in Bijapur, India. The external diameter of the largest section of the dome is 97.46m and the shorter sections, is 94.82m. The internal diameter of the dome is 85.15m. The inside of the pagoda is hollow and serves as a very large meditation hall with an area covering more than 6000 sq m (65,000 sq ft). The massive inner dome seats over 8000 people, enabling them to practice the non-sectarian Vipassana meditation as taught by Mr S N Goenka, and now being practiced in over 160 centres in more than 60 countries.

Bird eye view of The Pagoda ( Pic source internet)

Trivia regarding the Pogoda:

1.The shape of the pagoda is a copy of the Shwedagon Pagoda (Golden Pagoda) in Yangon, Myanmar.

2. 8000 people can meditate in the main hall.

3.The spire is covered in real gold

4.The main doors to the pagoda are wooden and hand-carved in       Myanmar (Burma).

5.The Buddha bone relics were offered by the government of Sri Lanka and the Maha Bodhi Society in India in 1997,

Now back to our journey :

One look at the Pagoda I felt like I was in china , That huge entrance door which I had seen for the first time in the movie 36 chamber of Shaolin. I was in college in those days and today here I was face to face with something I have never seen before. Visiting this Pagoda is an experience you must not miss.

For me it looked like I am in China

We enter through a huge gate and start to climb broad stairs but this been modern times , so you can't simply jump into the temple. One has to undergo security check.

Huge entry gate with the stairs leading to Pagoda

I was very disappointed when I was told that I had to deposit my camera as it is not allowed inside. My world came crashing down, I had visualised that I'll click from various angle. I argued with the security guard that earlier they were allowing cameras inside. He said from 20, Nov 2018 No Cameras inside the temple,however one can carry mobile. Small mercies ! 

Trying my best to capture pictures with mobile phone camera

The stairs are divided into two parts one to go up and the other section to come down.As soon as the stairs get over you see Two huge elephants in sitting position and right in front of that the huge Pagoda. the Golden Pagoda. 

Two separate section of stairs

The pagoda consists of three sub-domes. The first and largest dome was completed when bone relics of Gautama Buddha were enshrined in the central locking stone of the dome on October 29, 2006, making it the world's largest hollow stone masonry structure containing relics of the Buddha. The relics were originally found in Bhattiprolu, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, South India. They have been donated by the Mahabodhi Society of India and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to be kept at the Global Vipassana Pagoda. The second and third domes, along with an auxiliary dome adjoining the second dome, sit atop the first dome. Construction of the third dome was structurally completed on November 21, 2008.(Source internet)

One Sub dome next to the Main dome of Pagoda

We spent some time clicking pictures. Then visited the exhibition hall too. As you come down through those stairs you are guided to enter the souvenir shop and from there to the main entrance.

Beautiful Pillars of the Pagoda

There is a restaurant or food plaza also with in the Pagoda complex. 

Lots of Meditation courses are conducted here. 10 days Vipassana Meditation being the most popular one. Some people also go to Igatpuri Vipassana Meditation centre.

We again walked back to the entrance where the Ferry had left us in the morning. We soon boarded the return ferry and reached Marve Beach where we had delicious mumbai special Misal Pau for lunch and then boarded the bus back to Malad Station from where we took train to our respective destination.

Back to Marve beach 

Visit to Global Pagoda can be done in half day, One can club visit to Gorai beach also.

click here to watch our journey in 3 min  video

Information you can use:

Timing:

Monday to Sunday, 9 am - 7 pm.

( Entry timing will be till 6.30 pm only )

Entry inside the dome:

Please note only old Vipassana meditators are allowed to enter the dome and meditate. All other visitors can view the inside dome from visitors' gallery.

Identity Proof for foreigners:

Identity Proof is mandatory for foreign visitors. (Passport/ driving licence/ certificate from respective embassy)

How to reach:

There are 3 ways to reach-

From Borivali:

1.Nearest Railway station Borivali.

2.Take a bus from the Borivali railway station and reach Gorai creek or jetty. (Bus no 247 and 294)

3.Take ferry from Gorai Jetty to Pagoda/Esselworld (Ticket:Rs 50 to and fro).

From Malad:

1.Nearest Railway station Malad.

2.Take a bus no 123 from the Malad railway station and reach Marve Beach or jetty. 

3.Take ferry from Marve Jetty to Pagoda/Esselworld (Ticket:Rs 50 to and fro).

From Bhayander:

1.Nearest Railway station Bhayander

2.Take a bus from the Bhayander railway station West side and reach Global Pagoda directly.(Bus no 4)

3. There are Autos also plying to Pagoda . They charge around Rs 200-250 (2018 price).

4. In case if you are coming by car then the route is little longer. 

a) If coming from Andheri, Borivali side then you drive on the western express highway and take a left from Mira-Bhayandar crossing, turn Left towards Mira-Bhayandar. The crossing has a statue of Shivaji Maharaj positioned at the centre. From here onwards the signboards will guide you.

b) In case if you are coming from Thane/Virar/Gujarat then you need to take right turn from Mira-Bhayandar crossing, turn Left towards Mira-Bhayandar. The crossing has a statue of Shivaji Maharaj positioned at the centre. From here onwards the signboards will guide you.

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