Sindhudurg Fort

The Sindhudurg Fort was constructed using huge rocks on the Kurte Island in the Konkan region of Maharashtra. It is believed that this fort was built in 1664 by Chhatrapati Shivaji and covers an area of around 44 acres. More than 3000 labourers, numerous skilled artists, 500 stone splitters and around 200 blacksmiths were engaged in the construction of this fort.

The fortification of this fort is around 10 m long and 3 m wide. There are three triangular and three grapnel-shaped stone anchors near the fort entrance, which are actually cemented on the platform of a jetty. It also has a small temple called the Shree Shivchhatrapati Temple that was built by Rajaram in honour of his father Shivaji.

The temple has small shrines dedicated to Lord Hanuman, Goddess Bhavani and Jarimari. This is the only Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Temple famous for celebrating festivals like Shivaji Jayanti, Ram Navami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Mahashivratri and Janmashtami.

In the ramparts of the Sindhudurg Fort, there are three sweet water reservoirs that have water during the summer season. The fort has a hidden passage that goes under the Malvan Island for over 3 km and under the sea for around 12 km. This passage further extends over 12 km, up to the nearby village. The hidden passage or the tunnel was used by Maratha women to escape if the enemy entered the Sindhudurg Fort.