Place - Pune
Aayrah got off the bike after Shivansh parked it at the base of Sinhagad fort. She removed her scarf and looked up to the top at the orange flag standing proudly. She smiled coming here while feeling the coldness in the air as she moved her gaze at the small vendors around who were asking them to eat something at their small stalls before they go up at the fort. Chirag and Ahana followed them after parking their bike.
They sipped Chai's at an old lady's stall before starting the journey towards the fort. She smiled at them and took a promise that they will eat at least a plate of kanda bhaji, which is the Marathi name for onion pakora, when they come down again. Aayrah being the sweetest agreed readily and made everyone promise the same to her. The old lady smiled through her wrinkled face happily. Aayrah adjusted her stuff in Shivansh's backpack already when he went to pick her up along with Chirag in the early morning. To his surprise, the girl was already ready at 7 in the morning. Chirag had a lot of things to take care of as he had a flight in the next 2 days but he wanted to enjoy with the other three before taking off to not see them for a couple of years at least. Shivansh again took the sick leave so he could be with Chirag.
The squad hopped the rough stairs up to the fort. Singhagad Fort belongs to the mighty Bhuleshwar range which is 3900 feet above sea-levels. Pune, being the cultural capital of Maharashtra has a variety of ancient monuments which have places of historical importance, temples and ancient building which hold important artifacts from the past. It proudly tells the history and bravery of the Marathas & Peshwas.
Sinhgad being one of those forts which are roaring the bravery of Marathas even today. Earlier known as Kondhana Fort, Sinhgad Fort is located amidst the Sahyadri Mountains. The name Sinhagad symbolizes the strength and brilliance it beholds. The most famous battle on Sinhgad was fought by Tanaji Malusare, general of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj of the Maratha Empire in order to recapture the fort on March 1670. There is an anecdote that upon hearing of Tanaji's death, Shivaji expressed his remorse with the words, 'Gad aala, pan Sinha gela' translated as 'The Fort is conquered, but the Lion was lost'. And that's how Kondhana Fort became Sinhgad, The Lion Fort.
Aayrah along with Shivansh, Chirag, and Ahana walked through the shops selling local eatables. The rush to the fort was still high and it wasn't even 8 o'clock yet. It was a weekend and this fort has been Punekar's weekend getaway for years. The squad thought of walking to the end of the fort and roam around in nature a bit before having their famous Matka Dahi and Zunka Bhakar along with Thecha.
Sinhgad has two colossal gates, Pune Darwazaa which faces the north-east, and Kalyan Darwaza in the southeast. The top of the Fort encompasses few historical monuments like the tomb of Rajaram, Tanaji memorial, and Kali Mata temple with gates. Ahana and Aayrah, especially Aayrah hadn't been here in years. The last time she remembered was in school so that was long and she remembered this surrounding just roughly. They took a stroll visiting all the main places and while remembering the memories of being here in their early days. Though Shivansh and Chirag used to visit here often when they were in college but lately, the job took most of their time away and some other faraway places took the place for their weekend gateways. Now as they are here again, they realized how much they missed this fort.
They reached the very end of the fort which was Kalyan Darwaaja which means Kalyan Door. Ahana got seated on one of the stairs while Chirag took a seat beside. Aayrah just followed till the very end and climbed the buruj or tower. The rainy season might have been over a month back but there were still frequent visits made by those dark clouds to shower on this historical city. The recent rains made sure to spread greenery around and thus, the view was beautiful from the top. The lush greenery was spread everywhere in the surroundings as the Sahyadri ranges smiled back at them. Today was no different as well with dark clouds still up in the sky while hiding the sun and its warmness. It might be raining at any moment. The cold breeze was rushing past them as they all just stared at the stunning surrounding and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
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Mᴀɴᴍᴀʀᴢɪʏᴀᴀɴ | #RoadTripSeries ✓
Fanfiction❝Because greatest part of road trip isn't arriving at your destination. It's all the wild stuff that happened along the way.❞ ♡♡♡♡ First book to the road trip series.
