Mohangad Fort Trek lies in Pune district in Maharashtra. It is often spoken about as a twin of Kavlya fort. It lies at an altitude of 3608 ft in the Varandha Ghats. The Mohangad fort trek is also known as Jaslodgad fort trek. The fort goes by two more names, Jaslodgad and Durgadicha Killa or the fort of Janani hill.
Mohangad fort was built for the protection of the ghats that were the important trade links back in hostory. During the war of Pratapgad, Shivaji Maharaja wrote a letter to Bajiprabhu Deshpande informing that the Jaslodhgad fort which was unused for a long period must be repaired and renamed as Mohangad and a garrison of 5 to 25 soldiers should be stationed. In 2008, the letter of Sachin Joshi of Pune discovered that the Durgadi/Janani hill is none other than Mohangad itself.
The difficulty level of Mohangadh Fort Trek is medium. It is a hill fort, located in the Pune district of Maharashtra. Varandha ghat was one of the most important trade route which connected Mahad in the Konkan region to Bhor. The base village of Mohangad is Durgadi. The fort itself was known as Durgadi fort and the mountain is named after Goddess Janani.
There is a Janani Mata temple on the fort. A trail descending next to the temple takes you down to three water cisterns carved into a rock. Out of the three tanks, two are covered in soil and the third one contains water. The temple can accommodate four to five people.
At the back of the temple there is a waiting area to go to the top. Apart from these and a small square hidden in the grass at the top, there are no other remnants on the fort. Hirdus Maval, Rajgad, Torna, Mangalgad, Kavalya and Rayareshwar plateaus are visible from the top of the Mohangad Fort trek.
Reach the Hanuman Temple in Durgadi village. A dirt trail on the right side of the road leads to the Janani Devi temple on the hill behind the village. The villagers have recently built a temple of the Goddess on the fort on this hill. This distance is about 1.5 km. You can reach this temple by private vehicle. This reduces the climb to the fort by half an hour.
A trail from back of the temple leads you to the top of the Jaslodgad fort trek or Mohangad fort trek. The trail is well paved as it is in use by the villagers. Once you gain some height in this trail, you can see the spread of the fort. The trail eventually meets the trail from Shirgaon. The trail ascending to the fort is unmistakable and has stone steps in certain places.
If attempting this trek from Shirgaon, the route is well marked. There are markings on the trees. The trail from here passes through two or three plateaus.
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