Type: Hill Fort
Height: 3238 Feet above MSL
Grade: Easy
District: Nashik
Region: Igatpuri
Base Village: Tringalwadi
Shelter: Pandav Leni or Cave atop fort
Water Avaibiltiy: All through year in water tank near cave

Tringalwadi fort, with its weird and unlikely name, is located at a distance of about 7kms from Igatpuri. A small yet magnificent fort, Tringalwadi still has most of its stone structure standing.The door leading to the fort is intricately carved with the images of gods and goddesses. The fort also offers one the opportunity to explore some ‘Secret Doors/Routes’ from the fort.

Sightseeing:

• Once you reach atop the fort, incase you took the Chor Darwaja way turn left else right to move towards the cave which is located towards your left while you move towards the other end of the fort. A nice view of Tringalwadi dam can be seen to your right. A little further after the cave… you will find the water tank which has potable water all through the year. Several remenants can be seen on the fort and many water tanks are filled with mud and no more serve their purpose. The hillock atop the fort has nothing significant to see but gives a nice view of the surrounding area.

• Pandav Leni: Another attraction of this fort is the ‘Jain Caves’ at its base which unfortunately are lying in ruins. The entire periphery of the hillock is lined with caves of different shapes and sizes which are worth exploring.

A peep in the History

Although the exact period of construction of this fort is not known, however, by virtue of ‘Jain caves’ near the foothills, one can roughly estimate the fort to be in existence since 10th century. However, during the year 1688; Mughals took control over the fort by perfidy. The Histrory of Marathas has only few references to this fort and one of them is : Shahaji, who fought long in the broken North Konkan; but after a long chase by Khan-i-Zaman, a general of Shah Jahan and Randulla Khan his Bijapuri ally, the Maratha chief was forced to capitulate at Mahuli about end of October, giving up to the Moghals his puppet Nizam Shah and his royal property, seven forts (Junnar, Trimbak, Tringalwadi, Harsgad, Jivdhan, Cavand and Hadsar), with all his territories in Maharastra except his small jagirs in the Poona district–which he was to hold merely as a revenue-paying vassal of Adil Sah. His new over-lord made to him a formal grant of the Poona jagir, on 25 Feb. 1637.

The aerial view of the region can click on this link:

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=19.733341&lon=73.539476&z=14&l=0&m=a&v=2