Offbeat Vairaatgad trek

I was looking for an offbeat trek with medium endurance and I came across Fort Vairaatgad. I decided to visit the fort on Saturday.
Friend Vishal and Ashutosh with his son Aarush joined me for the trek.

Vairaatgad Fort

About Vairaatgad 
Vairaatgad is located 8km away from Wai town. Base village for the fort is Vyajwadi. Fort was used by King Shivaji as a military station. Fort area is small

To reach the base village is Pune - join Mumbai-Bangalore National Highway - cross Khambatki Ghat section - drive till Panchwad village located on the national highway- take right under the bridge - take left at GPS (17.901404, 73.929159) - Vyajwadi village.
Another route is Pune - Join Mumbai-Bangalore National Highway - cross Khambatki Ghat section - take Right for Wai - take left in Wai for Wai-Satara road - take right at GPS (17.901404, 73.929159) - Vyajwadi.

Vairaatgad Fort

29 July 2017: Vairaatgad Fort
              Trek was planned on Friday night so it was not possible for us to leave in the early morning. We left at 7:30 AM by car. There was less traffic on highway considering monsoon weekend. We took breakfast break at Shriram Wadapav Center. It is the famous hotel for Wada Pav, Missal, and other snacks.
             After breakfast, we reached Vyajwadi village. There are 3 routes to climb for. Two are from Base Village Vyajwadi and one from opposite side of Vyajwadi. The third route is a longer route with multiple hills to climb before the main fort. We decided to climb fort via Vyajwadi.

Vairaatgad Fort View From Base

               If you are facing towards fort from base village then two routes are from the Left side of the mountain and from right side mountain. Both routes joined before final climb for the fort. There are multiple narrow routes available to climb the fort. We started Climb and after a 60-75 min, we reached the entrance gate. Entrance gate area is in ruined state but you can see bastion and water tanks. After few steps, we reached the top of the Vairaatgad fort.

A way towards Fort entrance...Vairaatgad Fort

Vairaatgad Fort entrance

               Fort top area is very small and can be explored less than an hour. There is small chapatdan Hanuman Temple. It named because of Lord Hanuman's pose to slap the devil that is at his feet. There are around 3-4 small lakes and 1-2 Water trench. There is some ruined fortification available on the fort. View from Fort is breathtaking.

Shiv Temple on the Fort

Lake on the Fort

Lord Maruti Idol

               You can see newly built Shiv temple. There is big shelter to take some rest. We spend around an hour and left the less visited the beautiful vairaatgad fort. It took around an hour to climb down. Few patches are a bit slippery in monsoon but manageable with proper care. We reached home by 5 PM safely ending pleasurable trek in monsoon.

View from Fort

Lake and Shiv Temple view

View from Vairaatgad Fort

Things to carry for Vairaatgad Trek:

• A water bottle to carry at least 2 liters of water. (Water in lake is available during monsoon)
• Some dry food, in case you didn’t find any suitable food stall 
• Windcheater/jacket / Barsati during monsoon trek.
• Do carry instant energizers like Glucon-D or Tang.
• A towel or napkin and 2-3 old newspapers
• Camera to capture best nature movement
• Better avoid wearing Gold and other ornaments. No need to carry heavy cash.

Our Expenses:

• Car Petrol: INR 800-1000/-
• Toll: INR 120/- (Returned)
• Snacks at Shriram: As per Dish (Missal: INR 50, Vada Pav: INR 30 per plate)
• No Parking charges in Village
• We had packed food on fort and milk share during the return journey

Village view from Vairaatgad Fort

Thanks for reading this Travel Blog. Happy traveling. 

Pritesh Kulkarni

Pune