Shivneri Fort

En un regard

Le château en bref

Shivneri Fort crowns a hill with steep flanks overlooking the town of Junnar, in Pune district. Its triangular silhouette, surrounded by cliffs on all sides, guarded one of the major trade routes between the Deccan Plateau and the ports of Kalyan and Thane, which explains a very early occupation attested by Buddhist caves dating from the 1st century. The site is above all venerated as the birthplace of Shivaji, son of Shahaji Bhosale and Jijabai, who spent his first years there. Access to the summit passes through seven successive gates with angled approaches, whose exceptional character the UNESCO management plan emphasises. On the plateau, visitors can see the Shivkunj and the building where Shivaji was born, adorned with statues of the child and his mother, the small temple of the goddess Shivai, the Badami Talav tank and two springs called Ganga and Jamuna, elements of a system of cisterns and wells that made the fortress self-sufficient in water. Every 19 February, Shivaji's birthday is officially celebrated there.