Jaigarh...7

The Ruins of Jaigarh....

Jaigarh Fort on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri district in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India.

The Sahyadri mountains border Ratnagiri on its west.

History : In 1731, Jaigarh came under the control of Satara kings; subsequently, the British gained control in 1818.

Earlier, one of the Bijapur rulers Potu Shri Chenna Reddy had built a fort on a headland near the harbor of Ratnagiri, and Maratha King Shivaji had strengthened it in 1670, serving as an important base for the Maratha navy. The fall of the hereditary Angre admirals also meant the decline of Ratnagiri as a naval base of any military.

Jaigarh, also known as Ratnadurg, or Bhagwati, fort is situated about 220 km south of Mumbai.

The fort, easily accessible by road, comprises three fortified peaks. The largest, to the south, is called Parkot and supports a functional lighthouse on its western edge. There are hardly any traces of the middle peak, Peth fort, but the Bale Kila, or citadel, is still well preserved and houses the famous Bhagwati Temple. Beyond the temple is a cliff with a sheer drop from where it is said that condemned prisoners were thrown to their death.

There are also some old caves on the western face of the cliff.

Thibaw, the last king of Burma, was exiled by the British to Ratnagiri in 1885 and put under house arrest in a palace specially built for him.