Mahabaleshwar Musings -2

 Pratapgad is a fort in the Sahyadris, near Mahabaleshwar, built by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. 'Pratap' is a Hindi word and it means victory, light, power n majestic all rolled into one. Our idea of victory is not to make a pile of skulls or collect Janeu from the killed people and make a bonfire. The fort is not controlled or run by ASI. It is on the top of the hills with dense forests all around even now. It has a bird's eye view of the whole area, the hill tops, the plains, the valley, the villages beneath n the rivers. It has access to three districts of Maharshtra. Shivaji commissioned the fort in 1655. It was ready in 1657. In 1659, Ahmed Shah Abdali sent Afzal Khan with a huge army to kill Shivaji Maharaj.  Then the story some of us  studied in our History books,  Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Afzal Khan had a meeting near Pratapgad and Shivaji killed him with tiger claws. Shivaji Maharaj's army defeated Abdali's army in the Battle of Pratapgad.

Garh or Gadh means fort. When it is Pratapgad, it means Pratap fort. But because so many of us do not know our mother tongue and the colonial hangover, we call it Pratapgad Fort. This means the word fort is used twice. To say, Pratapgad is stunning, is an understatement. Google gives not so nice reviews and some weird things like find the parking lot first. There is no fee to enter the fort. The ticket is if you want to hire the guide . For one hour, the Guide charges are 600 . The receipt is a weird one where Govt of India or State Govt is not mentioned. It says Nehru Khel Sankul. Found this strange. The Guide had no explanation for it. Our Guide's  thirteen generations of ancestors have lived inside the fort. They took care of the temple and played Tutaari in the Mandir. They were the ones appointed to carry the Tulja Bhawani Palki every year. Tulja Bhawani temple stone has come from Nepal. The Shivling made of Spatik is also from Gandaki river in Nepal. The black stone to build the fort was dug from the same place where the fort is. . The walls of the fort are still intact. The small high footpaths made for the soldiers who are guarding the fort with eye holes at appropriate height are fascinating. The secret doors, we went down and saw deep valley view. The Shiva  temple is under repair or rather re construction.  Shivaji used to come on Tuesdays or Fridays to Pratapgad to pray to Tulja Bhawani. He used to also go to the Kshetra Mandir. He has done his mother's Tula Daan in gold in the Mahabaleshwar Mandir. Tula Daan is a very fascinating thing of our culture. I saw it at the GSB Ganpati at King Circle, Matunga. There is a big  traditional weighing scale with two big pans . The person who is doing the Daan sits on one side. On the other 'Palda' you put the stuff you want to do 'Daan' of. So earlier , the Kings used to do Daan of their weight in gold. Nowadays, people do 'Daan' of Banana or coconut, fruits which are auspicious, for us. This is my basic knowledge of Tula Daan. I have seen it happening and it is divine. The fruit is then distributed by the Mandir/ Temple. 

There are lot of houses and eating joints inside the fort. They serve fresh local cuisine of Junka, Bhakri, Pitla, Vange chi Bhaji etc. The jungle berries, Kokam sherbet and Sol Kadhi are also available along with Ganna  juice.  The monkey menace is there. People living inside the fort are angry with tourists who feed the monkeys The pond inside the fort has dirty undrinkable water because of the monkeys. The monkeys do not go to the forest anymore. They just steal from the homes inside the fort and from the eateries. Most eateries are near the houses. Some 20 odd families have been living inside the fort for generations. During Lockdown, they had locked the gates of the fort. No one was allowed inside. Once in ten days, one guy used to go down to the village to grind the wheat and get the Atta/ flour. One vegetable vendor was allowed to come up the fort. The locals have lot of ways to cut across the forest to go the villages at the base of the fort. They are comfortable carrying groceries or other household stuff up the hill through the dense forest. All villages in Wai, Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar had shut their doors to outsiders. No new person was allowed to enter. Corona never touched any of these villages. Hygiene, they were always good and natural with. Indian Food is anyways fresh and well balanced. Immunity is good in villages with simple thinking and high living. 

Last two years,  Mahabaleshwar has got more rains than Cherrapunji. But the water shortage is there due to the hotels. There is no way yet to conserve this water as it flows down the hills. Nine years ago, we had been to Mahabaleshwar, to experience the monsoons. For a Mumbaikar used to heavy rains, Mahabaleshwar rains were still in a different league.  It came with fog, clouds and cold weather. Visibility was not even 2 metres. It was a place submerged in clouds. Despite so many new hotels, getting a good room on a long weekend is difficult. The valley views are fantastic from most places. Some people like the hotels with a lake view. The markets have strawberries and cream, lots of footwear. Earlier it was known for winter clothes, Sarees and Kolhapuri Chappals. 

Farmhouse Bistro in Dreamland Hotel, is the best place to eat Western food. It has the Farm to the Table concept. The food is fresh and doesn't compromise on the quality. The place has a spunk to it which is very uber compared to  the old and laid back air of Mahabaleshwar. My compliments to the Chef and the staff. Talking of staff, since most hotels are spread out in huge land, they have to do a lot of hard work. The hotel, we were staying in, was catering to all their nearby sister hotels from the main hotel kitchen. Every property was spread out and located up and down the hill. One week and I saw not oner order delayed or missed. Not just the kitchen and service staff, even the Housekeeping has a mammoth task ahead. The hotels opened in September post Lockdown. Two months were spent on cleaning the property, painting it and getting it back in shape. Most hotels then opened to Public in Diwali which was mid November 2020. Cannot imagine how quiet Mahabaleshwar would have been for six months minus their tourist traffic and shuttered hotels. Am sure the locals would have never experienced the place to themselves before. Reminds me, that Jharia Dhanbad, never had any tourist traffic. I know the Jains from all over India used to go to Parasnath. Parasnath is one and half hours away from Dhanbad but now most long distance trains stop in Parasnath.