Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach

Tripoto
Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach by Gunjan Deshmukh

Base Village: Vanjale

Fort State: In Ruins, Destroyed

Difficulty level: Easy

Endurance level: Easy

Things to carry: Sports Shoes must, A liter of water,

How to Reach: Follow Google Maps

Time to reach the Top: 15 minutes

Madgad fort is located 10 KM away from Diveagar in Raigad district. It is on a small hill near to sea shore. This fort is completely in ruins and it is impossible to find any traces apart from few fallen structures. It could have been used as a watchtower to keep an eye on activities in the sea and surrounding areas. History states that it was with Peshwa. Siddis of Janjira fort destroyed this fort in year 1830.

I and Kedar were escorted to Vanjale village at 7 AM by our driver. We wanted to explore it early in the morning and then visit the beach with family.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 1/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh
Gate leading to the village
Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 2/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

Just after we crossed this gate, we saw Vanjale village. There is a Goddess Vanjalaidevi temple on the right side and government office on the left side. Ahead we could see villagers collecting water from the well. We inquired about the fort. They said there is nothing left to see and wondered what was our intention to visit. We could not explain our zeal to explore the forts.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 3/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh
Wanjaladevi temple
Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 4/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh
Village government office

There is absolutely no path to reach the fort. It is made up of some boulders and land. It should be really difficult to climb this fort in the rainy season.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 5/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh
Path to fort as seen from road
Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 6/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

Someone did a great job in placing direction boards on the way.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 7/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

We did not face any problem when climbing up but we were sure getting down would be a tough task. We got to the top of the hill in 15 minutes. As we reached up, we could see dense forest blocking the sun, overgrown bushes, pile of dry leaves covering the ground, monkeys whooping and jumping as if we had trespassed. We took left turn and started exploring.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 8/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh
Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 9/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

We saw a hole in the rock, could have been used to hold pole for a door or gate.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 10/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

Remains of the room.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 11/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

A brick. As we were moving ahead, got some bruises. Be careful of the thorns.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 12/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

A plinth. We had to be very vigilant while walking as the way was completely shrouded by leaves.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 13/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

Steps made up of rock.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 14/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

Just like fort, this tree also depicts its bad state

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 15/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

A well made of stones.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 16/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

Snake's outer layer of skin shed. We also saw few burrows of the snakes.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 17/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

View of Diveagar and coast blocked due to trees and overhead foliage.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 18/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

A saffron flag on top of the tree.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 19/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

A structure on the northern side of the fort.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 20/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

Bird's eye view of Vanjale village from the top.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 21/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

It took us 45 minutes to roam and come to the starting point. We started descend. We could not get any grip and were slipping on the slope. We had to hold on to trees and bushes to keep balance.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 22/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

We came down in 20 minutes. Our driver came back from the hotel to pick us up. We headed straight to Diveagar beach.

Diveagar is a small village and has long history. Unlike Alibag, You will not find much crowd here. The beach here is clean and has white sand.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 23/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

A banana boat ride. There are other water sports available like sleeper ride, motor ride. I had decided to do parasailing but came to know that it is not available because of issues getting permit from Police.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 24/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

A stray crab on the beach.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 25/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

Some people sell Ukadi che Modak, for ₹ 20 a piece. It is an Indian snack, prepared from rice flour stuffed with sweet stuffing and then steamed.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 26/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

There are numerous coconut and betel nut trees.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 27/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

Ripe betel nuts.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 28/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

Dried betel nuts on rooftop. Knows as Ritha Supari in Marathi.

Photo of Madgad Fort and Diveagar Beach 29/29 by Gunjan Deshmukh

We also visited Suvarna Ganesh temple and Rupnarayan temple both at a walking distance from the beach.