Qualla: Raigad Fort https://qualla.com/raigad-fort en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:31 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/t/e/h/p/raigad-fort-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Raigad Fort https://qualla.com/raigad-fort Raigad Fort: Introduction https://qualla.com/raigad-fort/ Photo credit Vivek Takawale, CC BY-SA 4.0. In 1674, the English trader Henry Oxenden climbed to the top of Raigad and recorded what he found: "We arrived at the top of that strong mountain about sun set, which is fortified by nature more than art, being off very difficult access." He counted roughly 300 buildings, a raja's court, houses for ministers of state -- and noted that the mountain was "impregnable except the treachery of some in it betrays it." Oxenden was there to witness something extraordinary: the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as king of the Maratha Empire. Raigad was not just a fort. It was a capital city in the sky.

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Image: Vivek Takawale | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/e/h/p/raigad-fort-wp/tehp-raigad-fort-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Raigad Fort: A Capital Carved from Cliff https://qualla.com/raigad-fort/ Photo credit Omi2394, CC BY-SA 3.0. Raigad rises 820 meters above its base in the Sahyadri range of the Western Ghats, accessible only by ascending 1,737 steps carved into near-vertical rock. Shivaji and his chief engineer Hiroji Indulkar transformed what had been known as Rairi fort into a fortified capital after ...

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Image: Omi2394 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/e/h/p/raigad-fort-wp/tehp-raigad-fort-a-capital-carved-from-cliff.mp3 0:06 2 full Raigad Fort: Doors for Kings, Queens, and the Condemned https://qualla.com/raigad-fort/ Photo credit Nitin Darekar, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Maha Darwaja -- the Great Door -- was the only main pathway to the fort, flanked by two massive bastions and locked at sunset each evening. But Raigad had several entrances, each with its own purpose and story. The Mena Darwaja on the south side served as the private entrance...

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Image: Nitin Darekar | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/e/h/p/raigad-fort-wp/tehp-raigad-fort-doors-for-kings-queens-and-the-condemned.mp3 0:06 3 full Raigad Fort: The Milkmaid and the Bastion https://qualla.com/raigad-fort/ Photo credit Haripriya 12, CC BY-SA 4.0. Among the fort's legends, one stands out for its unlikely hero. A milkmaid named Hirakani from a nearby village had come to sell milk to the fort's residents and was still inside when the gates closed at sunset. Hearing her infant son crying from the village below, she climbed do...

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Image: Haripriya 12 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/e/h/p/raigad-fort-wp/tehp-raigad-fort-the-milkmaid-and-the-bastion.mp3 0:06 4 full Raigad Fort: Memorials on the Mountaintop https://qualla.com/raigad-fort/ Photo credit Mvkulkarni23, CC BY 3.0. The ruins of Raigad's main market avenue lead to the Jagdishwar Mandir, where Hiroji Indulkar's name is engraved on the first step -- the engineer honored alongside the king. Nearby stands the samadhi of Indulkar himself, and beside it, the memorial to his dog Waghya, whose devot...

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]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/e/h/p/raigad-fort-wp/tehp-raigad-fort-memorials-on-the-mountaintop.mp3 0:06 5 full