Lohgarh Fort and Pawna Lake

Strewn with blue patches of the myriad lakes and dams amidst mystic green mountains, the Pawna lake stands out of the lot. Similarly, of several forts built by Shivaji, Lohgarh fort is most easily reachable till the base by car and the climb made easier by later made steps, though these are also worn out in three places and ascent here needs some caution.

It was a challenging climb up the mount where Shivaji's Lohgarh fort was located but was real fun in the company of groups of college students from nearabouts. Catching up on the latest music and technology while facing mild passing showers of the seasonal rains, the hike up, though steep, was smoothened by the breathtaking sights at each level, and of course continuous clicking!

Pawna Lake View while climbing up to Lohgarh Fort

Lohgarh Fort and the Darwaza, as you climb

Closer to the top and along the steps a few remaining canons
from those days have been set up for viewing, though with the climate of the region I would have preferred them to be carefully preserved in a museum. The fort at the top has a few interesting remnants of walls of those days, though the obvious sign of the Moghul override is clear in the prominent presence of the maqbara of an Ummr shiv, said a local elderly catching some breeze there.

Maqbara atop Shivaji's Lohgarh Fort

The interesting remnants include three main darwaza (or doors), entrances to the fort at various levels, two of which are the Ganesh darwaza and Hanuman darwaza. Several strategically placed holes in the fort walls allow for a clear view of the entire stretch of ground that approaches all sides of the fort.

Canons, Lohgarh Fort

Through most of the curves climbing up you can't miss this huge lake that once atop clearly spans and curls a good 270 degrees around this mount. Other lakes and Shivaji's Visapur forts are also visible in the distance.

The Pawna lake is not just huge but it gets overwhelmingly fantastic as you climb down to the base of the mount. The sheer pleasure continues as you drive your way down from the base to the lake level. (Refer to 'how to get there'). The sun weaved it's way through the clouds while the mountains smoked away peacefully on one side. As the sun lowered I caught a patch of Pawna Lake water in an unbelievably bright, absolutely unrealistic, aquamarine blue while the peak behind it was sunny and the neighbouring peak was dulled by clouds. And no! I rechecked, I didn't have my sunglasses on then!

Sighing and wishing to genie-it-into-a-bottle, a speed boat ride at Pawna lake and a peacock dance display at the private dock that runs the service, was an experience topping my holiday!

Good to know:

• Days of intermittent rains and before the rainy season sets in, the local auto/ taxi walas are the best judge of when and which peaks will be open for views. So don't go by the hotel list of tourist spots, as most of them are peaks!

• Boating is provided by MTDC at and by this one other private entity at Pawna Lake, as I pleasantly discovered. MTDC is hmm..well a government body, and so off and on, so call in the day before you go. The private provider at Pawna lake is definitely good, but Pawna Lake is deep and the waves become very high during rains and heavy winds, so you need to plan the trip for the sunny/light drizzle part of the day.

• Many hotels have the word "resort" attached to their names, though they are just hotels! So if you're looking for fun family time at a resort, don't go by the name or fancy pictures on online booking sites.

How to get there:

• On the old Mumbai-Pune highway, as you drive away from Lonavala/ Mumbai, at a 20 minutes' distance, crossing the Wax museum, Kinara Dhaba you meet a crossroad where you can see an archway on your left that says "Ekvira Devi temple". Take the right turn there and proceed to Pawna. If you're a history buff, you can catch the "Bhaja caves" Buddhist caves from 2nd BC, though it has a climb and you need to plan a good 2 hours for this location also in your day. This route leads you to the end of the Pawna Lake with the boating deck.

• The alternate way is to keep driving on the old Mumbai-Pune highway up to "Khamset", which takes about 25-30 minutes and you get a crossroad where you will a non-imposing building labelled "Khamset hospital" on your left, you take a right there, asking your way to "Bhedse" village, a good 14kms' drive on sections of bad roads, ghats, where you will see boards for Pawna Lake. Incidentally, on this route is yet another set of Buddhist caves called Bhedse caves. It's a smaller ascent up to these caves and takes lesser time than the Bhaja and the Karla caves. But this is less known and not frequented by tourists, so you may have to go it up alone. Nothing to fear at all if you're moderately fit and are carrying some drinking water. Very doable safely on your own.

Khidr- Interesting learnings about Aya Sofia, Istanbul

Reading about Islam, the concept of Khidr, an immortal spirit that can travel great distances and manifest in different forms; one that’s been identified as the servant of God in the Quran and linked to a companion of Moses was a revelation to me!

Firstly, I was intrigued that it's similar to the Hindu concept of one central immortal spirit and secondly, that it is deeply woven into Christian and Islamic psyche too; deep enough to influence the construction and decor of the monumental Aya Sofia and other important structures with such unwavering faith and devotion.

All those who have already done a trip to Turkey, please find a reason to go back at least to Istanbul to reexamine this spirit at work! It was an absolutely stunning read about the developments, so I am going back!

When Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) was run over by Ottomans (Muslim Turks) In 1453, the sultan then, Mehmet II established Istanbul as the capital, moving away from Edirne and was faced with the task of rebuilding the church of Aya Sofia built by the Byzantine (Roman) rulers. As per the account of Mehmet II’s biographer, Ottoman writers studied the earlier manuscripts to figure out about the construction and the aura around Aya Sofia. They then wrote their accounts in which Muslim martyrs, heroes were mentioned. But in all the reads and writes about the awe of Aya Sofia, the central figure of the enigmatic Khidr was given pride of place, in the choice of location and the final form.

The biographer of the first Ottoman ruler, Mehmet II, writes that the Khidr had urged Justinian, the Byzantine emperor to build the church at this site, slated to be the site of an ancient temple to show the victory of Christianity (the Romans) over paganism (indigenous polytheistic practices of the place run over). And that the plan of this great church was revealed to Khidr and handed over to the architect.

The special majestic qualities and sacred status of Aya Sofia made it very difficult to transform it into a church and a later date into a mosque. Both Romans and Ottomans believed Aya Sofia to be divinely inspired. This inspired some of the mosaics in certain key places inside the church. The doorway in the south-west vestibule which was used for processions during Byzantine rule has an important mosaic of the Virgin and Child with Justinian and Constantine. Constantine holds a model of the city of Constantinople while Justinian offers a miniature Aya Sofia to the Mother of God. Yet another inspired mosaic showing innate respect to the higher power in the construction of Aya Sofia is located above the central door leading to the main nave which shows an unnamed emperor bowing to an enthroned Christ.

This architectural triumph of Aya Sofia was built over an older religious construction that was built here after the Nika riots of 532 AD. It was a symbol of a double victory of Christianity and the Byzantine empire.

And yes, its not just Babri Masjid that we need to be fighting and killing each other over. Most holy places that were run over by another tribe/ clan of different faith, each of them definitely felt the need to redefine the older religious structure and make it relevant to their faith. This, so that the reestablishment of the now new faith is made easier, and transformation from the earlier faith becomes easier for people who have long been worshipping at the place, either reluctantly or by force now. Climb upto the fort at Lonavala and find a makbara on top is just one of such example. But let me emphasize this- whatever the faith of the victor, deep down faith, respect and an innate fear of God ensures that the central sanctum sanctorum was never disturbed. That was considered to unleash the wrath of God.