Malhargad Fort (Sonori) Trek: The Last Fort the Marathas Ever Built

Introduction

Most Sahyadri forts are old. Malhargad is the opposite problem. It is the youngest of them all, and that is exactly what makes it interesting.

The Malhargad fort trek, also known as the Sonori fort trek, takes you up a small square hill fort above Sonori village near Saswad in Pune district. It is widely recorded as the last hill fort built in Maharashtra by the Marathas, constructed by the Peshwa artillery chiefs of the Panse family in the second half of the 18th century. Fort building in this landscape stretches back to the Satavahana period. Malhargad is where that tradition stops.

You should also know two things that get printed wrongly about this fort. It is not in Nashik. It is in Purandar taluka, Pune district. And it is not a technical trek. It is one of the easiest fort climbs anywhere near Pune, roughly 30 to 45 minutes of walking, on a hill you can drive to the base of.

Come here for the history and the Dive Ghat view. Do not come expecting a challenge.

Table of Contents

1. Where Malhargad Is
2. The Construction Dates, Honestly
3. Why Malhargad Matters
4. Later History: Umaji Naik and Vasudev Balwant Phadke
5. The Layout of the Fort
6. What You See on Top
7. The Trek Routes
8. Difficulty and Timing
9. How to Reach Malhargad
10. Best Time to Visit
11. What to Combine It With
12. Food, Water and Stay
13. Budget Breakdown
14. Practical Tips and Safety
15. Common Mistakes
16. Frequently Asked Questions
17. Conclusion and Sources

Where Malhargad Is

Malhargad stands in Purandar taluka, Pune district, about 30 km from Pune and roughly 6 km from Saswad. It sits on the Bhuleshwar range, the same east-west ridge that carries Sinhagad, Purandar and Vajragad, on the far side of the split in the Sahyadri from the branch holding Rajgad and Torna.

The base village is Sonori, which is why the fort is commonly called Sonori fort. Historical records including the Peshwa Daptar use the official name, Malhargad, named for the god Malhari, better known as Khandoba.

The fort was built to watch Dive Ghat, the pass on the Pune-Saswad road. Stand on the ramparts and the logic is immediate. You can see the ghat, you can see Saswad, you can see Purandar, and on a clear day you can see Jejuri and Parvati Hill in Pune.

A road runs right to the base of the fort. That is not usually a sentence you get to write about a Maratha hill fort.

The Construction Dates, Honestly

Sources disagree on this, so here is the disagreement laid out rather than papered over.

Wikipedia gives 1775, citing James Burgess's Lists of the Antiquarian Remains in the Bombay Presidency (1885), and names the builders as Bhivrâo Yashvant and Krishnaji Mâdhavrâo Pânsê, a Peshwa sardar who was chief of the Peshwas' Tofkhana, the artillery establishment.

Durgbharari gives 1757 to 1760, and names the builders as Krishna Rao Mahadev Panse and Bhairav Yashwant Panse, again the Peshwa artillery chiefs.

Both agree on the family and the office. They differ on the decade and on the exact rendering of the given names, which is unsurprising for 18th century Marathi names passed through 19th century British transcription.

The honest position: Malhargad was built by the Panse family, hereditary artillery chiefs under the Peshwas, at some point between approximately 1757 and 1775. Do not quote a single year as fact. Anyone who gives you one without a caveat has picked a source and not checked the other.

There is a supporting datapoint that helps bracket it. Durgbharari records that the Peshwa Daptar shows Madhavrao I visiting the fort around 1771-72, and that the Peshwa sanctioned an annual grant of ₹3,000 to Panse for the fort's upkeep. A visit in 1771-72 sits comfortably with construction in the late 1750s and awkwardly with completion in 1775, which mildly favours the earlier date. Mildly. Not conclusively.

Height: durgbharari lists the fort at 3,130 feet above sea level, roughly 954 metres, with the summit noted in its text at 3,140 feet. The actual climb from the base is only about 492 feet, around 150 metres. That is the whole trek.

Why Malhargad Matters

Because of where it sits in the sequence, not because anything famous happened here.

Hill fort construction in Maharashtra runs from the Satavahana period through the Yadavas, the Deccan sultanates and the Maratha empire. Malhargad is the end of that line. Durgbharari is precise about the claim and its limits: Malhargad was the last hill fort (giridurg) built in Maharashtra, which is not the same as the last fort of any kind. The British built St George's Fort next to Bombay Castle in 1769. But within Maharashtra's tradition of fortified hilltops, Malhargad closes the book.

It is also a fort built by artillery officers, in an era when artillery was making hill forts obsolete. There is something quietly poignant in that.

The Panse family's own presence is still visible in the landscape. The grand entrance gate of Sardar Panse's mansion stands on the path from Sonori village towards the fort, and much of the mansion in the village survives in ruins.

Later History: Umaji Naik and Vasudev Balwant Phadke

Malhargad's most interesting chapter came after the Maratha empire ended.

Durgbharari records that during the uprising against British rule, Umaji Naik and Vasudev Balwant Phadke both took refuge at this fort. Phadke's revolt in 1879 operated out of exactly this belt of country south-east of Pune, and a small, road-accessible, largely ignored fort above Sonori was a sensible place to disappear into.

That is a better reason to climb this hill than the view.

The Layout of the Fort

Small, tidy, and unusually intact for its size.

The fort has a triangular overall layout divided into two parts: the machi, the outer fortified area, and the balekilla, the citadel. The whole fort spans roughly 5 acres, of which the square citadel occupies about 2 acres.

Three spurs descend from the fort towards Sonori, Kalewadi and Zhendewadi, and each carries a gate. The main gate, the Mahadarwaja, sits on the eastern spur facing Sonori, built into a bastion with a second bastion beside it.

There are nine bastions on the outer walls and five within the citadel. Sections of wall have collapsed but most of the fortification survives.

Water features: a dried-up well near the entry platform, a stone-built tank with steps along the southern wall of the citadel accessible through a small passage, and a further well on the path towards the Kalewadi bastion. The tank water is mossy and unfit to drink. The well may hold potable water but you would need a rope to draw it. Carry your own.

Just before the Sonori-side entrance, look for a small nedhe, a natural cave hollow in the rock near the bastion.

What You See on Top

Enter through the Mahadarwaja, past guard chambers, and up a set of stairs that runs between two fortification walls. That brings you to a platform with the citadel wall ahead.

Walk the outer machi first, anticlockwise, before entering the citadel. You pass the wells, the stepped tank, the Kalewadi bastion with its chor darwaja, the hidden gate used by those coming up from Kalewadi or Zhendewadi, then ruins of various buildings, then the northern bastion facing Zhendewadi with the fort's third gate below it.

Inside the citadel stand the two temples, side by side. The larger is dedicated to Mahadev, with a stone courtyard and a memorial platform, a samadhi. The smaller is dedicated to Malhari, Khandoba, the deity the fort is named after, and it houses an equestrian idol of Malhari with Mhalsa and a few smaller idols nearby.

Also within the citadel: remnants of residential structures, the foundations of a wada, a carved rock-cut cistern, and a small exit gate on the northern side of the citadel wall.

Durgbharari puts a full tour of the fort at about an hour. That is accurate.

The Trek Routes

There are three approaches, matching the three spurs.

1. From Sonori (the standard route)

The main and easiest route. From Sonori village the path passes the Panse mansion gate on the right, then a large stepwell, a barav, in a thicket on the left, and another barav near the base of the fort. From there it climbs to the Mahadarwaja on the eastern spur.

Roughly 30 to 45 minutes of climbing, about 150 metres of ascent. As you enter Sonori village you can already see the fort's bastions, walls and temple spires above you, which makes navigation trivial.

2. From Zendewadi

The second base village, reached from the Pune-Saswad road after Dive Ghat. The village sits roughly 2 km off the main road. This route brings you up the northern spur to the third gate below the Zhendewadi bastion.

Slightly less used, similar effort.

3. From Kalewadi

The third spur, entering by the chor darwaja on the Kalewadi bastion. The least travelled of the three.

None of these are difficult. There is no scrambling, no exposure worth naming, and no route-finding problem.

Difficulty and Timing

Easy. Genuinely, unambiguously easy.

Some older topic listings describe Malhargad as a technical trek. That is simply wrong. There is no technical section, no rock climbing, no rope requirement and no exposed traverse. A road reaches the base. The climb is around 150 metres.

Stage	Time
Sonori village to Mahadarwaja	30 – 45 minutes
Full tour of machi and citadel	about 1 hour
Descent	20 – 30 minutes
Total on the hill	2 – 2.5 hours

Add driving time and you have a comfortable half-day out of Pune. This is a good first fort for children, for older family members with reasonable mobility, and for anyone testing whether they enjoy trekking at all. If you want a proper introduction to the hobby with a bit more in it, our beginner safety checklist is worth reading first.

How to Reach Malhargad

By private vehicle from Pune

The straightforward option, and the one most people use.

Head out of Pune towards Saswad via Hadapsar and Dive Ghat. After crossing Dive Ghat, watch for a narrow left turn roughly 1.5 km further on, marked by a few shops and a small board reading Malhargad. Take it and follow the road to Sonori.

Roughly 30 km total from Pune, around an hour depending on where you start and how the Hadapsar traffic behaves. A road runs directly to the base of the fort, so the drive-to-walk transition is unusually painless.

By ST bus

Two legs.

Pune to Saswad: frequent state transport and PMPML services run from Swargate to Saswad through the day. This leg is easy.

Saswad to Sonori: ST buses run from Saswad depot to Sonori village, but only a handful a day. Confirm the timings at the Saswad depot counter when you arrive, and confirm the return timing before you walk up the hill. This is the leg that strands people. If the timing does not work, a shared auto or a local vehicle from Saswad covers the 6 km easily.

By train

Nearest railhead is Pune Junction. From there take a bus or auto to Swargate and pick up the Saswad service.

From Mumbai

Roughly 180 to 190 km, three and a half to four hours via the Expressway and then round Pune to the Hadapsar side. Malhargad alone does not justify the drive from Mumbai. Combine it with Purandar or Jejuri and it becomes a reasonable overnight trip.

Best Time to Visit

October to February. The obvious answer and the correct one. Cool weather, clear long views to Jejuri and Parvati, and the Bhuleshwar range at its best.

Monsoon (June to September) turns the approach green and gives the Dive Ghat view real drama. The trail is short enough that rain is not a serious hazard here the way it is on steeper forts, but the stone at the gates gets slippery and the road up from the Saswad turn-off can be rough. This is one of the safer monsoon options near Pune precisely because it is so short. Standard monsoon precautions still apply.

March to May is hot and the hill is exposed with almost no shade. Go at sunrise or skip it.

Time of day: early morning is best for the view towards Pune, when the haze over the city is thinnest. Late afternoon works well for the Dive Ghat side.

Crowds are not a problem here. Malhargad remains genuinely quiet compared with everything else within 30 km of Pune.

What to Combine It With

Two hours on the hill leaves most of your day. The sensible pairings, all within easy reach:

• Purandar and Vajragad, on the same range, considerably bigger and more demanding. The classic combination.
• Jejuri, the Khandoba temple town, which is thematically perfect given that Malhargad is named for the same deity. Visible from the fort.
• Saswad itself, with its old temples and the Sopandev samadhi.
• Dive Ghat, which you drive through anyway.

If you want harder forts on the same side of Pune, Torna and Rajgad are on the other branch of the range and both are a completely different order of effort. Our one-day treks near Pune list sorts them by difficulty.

Food, Water and Stay

Nothing on the fort. No stalls, no vendors, no tea.

Sonori is a small village and you may find basic refreshments, but plan on carrying everything. Two litres of water per person minimum, and more in summer, because the hill is exposed and the water sources on the fort are not reliable. The stepped tank is mossy. The Kalewadi-side well needs a rope.

For a meal, Saswad is 6 km away and has proper eateries. Pune is an hour back.

There is no accommodation at the fort. The temples in the citadel are places of worship, not shelter. If you need to stay in the area, Saswad has basic lodging and Pune has everything.

Budget Breakdown

Two people, day trip from Pune.

Item	Approximate Cost (₹)
Fuel, Pune to Sonori and back, own car	350 – 500
ST bus, Swargate to Saswad to Sonori, round trip for two	200 – 350
Shared auto or local vehicle, Saswad to Sonori, if bus timing fails	200 – 400
Entry fee	No documented entry fee
Water and packed food	250 – 400
Meal at Saswad on the way back	300 – 500
Total, own vehicle, two people	approx. 900 – 1,400
Total, public transport, two people	approx. 750 – 1,250

We found no official notification of an entry fee or permit for Malhargad. It is an unticketed, uncommercialised fort.

Practical Tips and Safety

• Take the Sonori route unless you have a reason not to. It is the clearest, and you get the Panse mansion gate and the two baravs on the way.
• Look for the board at the Dive Ghat turn-off. It is small and easy to overshoot. If you have driven more than 3 km past the ghat, you have missed it.
• Carry all your water. This is the single most common problem on this fort, because people treat a 45-minute climb as not requiring supplies and then spend two hours walking the ramparts in the sun.
• Sun protection matters more than rain gear here for eight months of the year. Hat, sunscreen, and start early.
• The ramparts have unprotected drops. The trek is easy; the fort wall is still a fort wall. Watch children near the bastion edges.
• Do not drink from the cisterns. The tank water is described as mossy and unsuitable.
• Snakes are present in the grass on the machi in and after monsoon. Watch where you put your feet and hands, especially around ruined structures.
• Basic first aid should be in your bag regardless of how short the walk is. See our first aid kit list.
• Check the forecast before a monsoon visit using the approach in our pre-trek weather check guide.
• Carry your rubbish back down. Malhargad is clean because few people come. Keep it that way.

Common Mistakes

Believing the "technical trek" label. Some listings carry it. It is wrong. Malhargad is an easy walk.

Looking for it in Nashik district. Also wrong, and also circulating. It is in Purandar taluka, Pune district.

Quoting a single construction year. The sources give 1775 and 1757-1760. Give the range.

Missing the turn after Dive Ghat. Slow down and look for the board.

Taking the Saswad to Sonori bus up without checking the return. Services on that leg are limited. Get the return timing before you climb.

Bringing no water because it is short. The climb is short. The visit is not.

Skipping the outer machi and going straight into the citadel. You miss the chor darwaja, the baravs, three of the gates and most of the bastions. Walk the outer ring first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Malhargad fort located? Above Sonori village in Purandar taluka, Pune district, roughly 30 km from Pune and 6 km from Saswad. It overlooks Dive Ghat on the Pune-Saswad route. It is not in Nashik district, despite some listings placing it there.

Who built Malhargad fort and when? It was built by the Panse family, hereditary chiefs of the Peshwas' artillery. Wikipedia, citing Burgess (1885), gives 1775 and names Bhivrao Yashvant and Krishnaji Madhavrao Panse. Durgbharari gives 1757 to 1760 and names Krishna Rao Mahadev Panse and Bhairav Yashwant Panse. Treat the construction as falling approximately between 1757 and 1775.

Is Malhargad really the last fort built by the Marathas? It is recorded as the last hill fort, giridurg, built in Maharashtra. That is a narrower claim than "the last fort of any kind" — the British, for instance, built St George's Fort beside Bombay Castle in 1769. Within Maharashtra's hill fort tradition, Malhargad is the final one.

How difficult is the Malhargad fort trek? Easy. The climb from the base is only about 492 feet, around 150 metres, and takes 30 to 45 minutes. A road reaches the base of the fort. There is no technical section.

How much time does the whole visit take? Roughly two to two and a half hours on the hill: 30 to 45 minutes up, about an hour to tour the fort, and 20 to 30 minutes down.

What is the height of Malhargad fort? Durgbharari lists it at 3,130 feet above sea level, approximately 954 metres, with its text also referring to the summit at 3,140 feet.

Is there an entry fee for Malhargad fort? No entry fee or permit requirement is documented. It is an unticketed fort.

Is Malhargad suitable for children and beginners? Yes, it is one of the better first forts near Pune. The climb is short and there is no exposure on the trail. Supervise children near the rampart edges on top.

How do I reach Malhargad by bus? Take a bus from Swargate in Pune to Saswad, which runs frequently, then an ST bus from Saswad depot to Sonori village, which runs only a few times a day. Confirm return timings at the depot before you climb.

Conclusion

Malhargad will not test you. It will not exhaust you and it will not frighten you on a ledge. What it will do is put you on the last hilltop the Marathas ever fortified, built by the men who ran the Peshwas' guns, at the exact moment when guns were making hilltops pointless.

Nine bastions on the outer wall, five more in the citadel, two temples side by side, and Dive Ghat laid out below exactly as the builders intended you to see it. An hour's walk. Barely anyone else there.

Go in December, take the Sonori route, walk the whole outer ring before you enter the citadel, and then drive on to Purandar or Jejuri with the rest of your day. That is a very good Sunday.

Call-to-Action

Planning a Purandar and Malhargad double? Drop a comment and we will help you sequence the day. If you have taken the Saswad to Sonori bus recently, share the timings — that route is badly documented and other readers will thank you.

Image Alt Text Suggestions

1. Mahadarwaja, the main gate of Malhargad fort above Sonori village
2. Square citadel walls and bastion of Malhargad, the last Maratha hill fort
3. Mahadev and Khandoba temples side by side inside Malhargad citadel
4. Equestrian idol of Malhari and Mhalsa in the Khandoba temple at Malhargad
5. View of Dive Ghat from the ramparts of Sonori fort
6. Stepwell barav on the trail from Sonori village to Malhargad
7. Ruined entrance gate of Sardar Panse's mansion in Sonori village
8. Chor darwaja hidden gate on the Kalewadi bastion of Malhargad
9. Purandar fort seen from the top of Malhargad
10. Stone-built water tank along the southern citadel wall of Malhargad

Sources

• Malhargad, Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malhargad
• Malhargad, Durgbharari — https://durgbharari.in/malhargad/
• James Burgess, Lists of the Antiquarian Remains in the Bombay Presidency (1885), p. 82, cited by Wikipedia — https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.536352
• "Pune travel special: Inside Fort Malhargad", Mid-Day — https://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/travel/article/Pune-travel-special--Inside-Fort-Malhargad-15770183

Verification status: fully verified for district, taluka, base village, height, fort layout, temples, builders' family and office, and later use by Umaji Naik and Vasudev Balwant Phadke. Construction date is partially verified and deliberately presented as a range of approximately 1757 to 1775, because Wikipedia (citing Burgess, 1885) and Durgbharari give materially different years. Saswad to Sonori bus frequency is not officially published and is described here only in general terms.

Last checked: August 2026. Confirm bus timings at Saswad depot before travelling.