Achala Fort - Fortress in Jamale - Nashik, India

Achala is situated near village Bilwadi, which is 30 km from Vani, and 26 km south of Saputara, Gujarat (This is spelled as Anchala in Google maps or Achalaa in wikimapia). Bilwadi is the base village of Ahivant fort. A trail leads to a ridge which connects Achala and Ahivant. Bilwadi is to the east side of the ridge. There is a small temple located here, from where we can walk on the ridge towards right and reach the top of the fort.

Ways To Reach : Achala is situated near village Bilwadi, which is 30 km from Vani, and 26 km south of Saputara, Gujarat (This is spelled as Anchala in Google maps or Achalaa in wikimapia). Bilwadi is the base village of Ahivant fort. A trail leads to a ridge which connects Achala and Ahivant. Bilwadi is to the east side of the ridge. There is a small temple located here, from where we can walk on the ridge towards right and reach the top of the fort. The trail curves to the right of the crest and leads to rock cut steps. Similarly, Pimpriwadi or "Dagad Pimpri" is the base village of this Achala fort and on the other side of the ridge towards the west side. It takes an hour from both villages to reach the temple and about an hour and a half from the temple to the top.

Moderate grade trek. Lot of ski and no big trees on the trek route makes it little challenging to climb after 10 am. It takes approximately 1 to 1 and half hr to reach the top. The view from top is amazing.

Dagad Pimpri is the base village of Achala fort, please do not start your trek from Jamale Vani Village even if Google map suggests you. The Trek is a medium level trek with a narrow top. Though this fort has a total of 16 water cisterns, not a single water tank has potable water.

Must visit place if anyone love expedition. Very nice place. Do carry your eatables alongwith

Although Achala and Ahivant are neighbors, Ahivant has a broader plateau unlike Achala, which takes almost a full day to explore it. There is a cave in the north-east direction of the fort, but it is not suitable for a stay. Whereas a cave in the southern direction is suitable for a stay. Almost 10 min. away from this cave, is a water tank. If you come from Dare village, you will find devastated structures of two big entrances. In the nearby area you will find remnants of many old palaces, which shows that this fort was well equipped with a defense base. You will also find Shivling at many places. While coming on the fort from this side one can find many caves You can find two to three lakes while roaming on the fort. There is a temple with a statue which resembles Saptshrungi. Ways To Reach : There are two ways to reach Ahivant. Via Nashik : From Nashik one has to go to Vani. From Vani, along the Nanduri road you can have a good view of Ahivant fort. 1 k.m before Vani Nanduri road, there is a way to the left side which takes you to the foot holds of Ahivant Fort,within an hour. One can then easily climb over the valley and reach Dare village. And then it takes an hour to reach the fort. Via Pimpripada-Achala : This is a comparatively long route. One has to reach to pimpripada first from Vani via pimpriachala route. From Pimpripada go to the temple, the way to the right of it will take you to the Bellwadi village within half an hour and left side route will take you to the Achala Fort. From Bellwadi you can reach Ahivant fort in two hours. Drinking Water Facility : Available in winter ( till February ) Time To Reach : From Dare village it will take almost 2 and a half hour, and from Bellwadi it takes 2 hours to reach

away. As a benchmark to achieve or beat, we reached the top in 50 mins. The plateau offers a breathtaking view of Taulya, Ahivant , Saptashringi, Dhodap, Hatgad etc. Go all the way as near as you can towards Taulya to get a feel of Taulya's majesty. Several water tanks can be seen. The fort ramparts are no longer vividly visible. We spotted a lot of birds viz Perigreen Falcon, Kingfishers, Oreoles, Swift , Peacock, Sparrow Hawk etc. A treat for nature lovers.

Achala Fort / aclaa killaa is a westernmost fort in the Satmala hill range. It is located 55km from Nashik, in Nashik district, of Maharashtra. This fort is adjoining the Ahivant Fort. The three forts Achala, Ahivant, and Mohandar are very close by. The Achala and Mohandar forts were constructed to guard the Ahivant fort.Captain Briggs has described it as a large hill, whose ascent is very easy till it reaches the top where it is very steep History: In 1636 this fort was under the control of Adilshah. The Moghul Emperor Shahjahansend one of his General Shaista Khan and entrusted to win all the forts in Nashik region. Alivardikhan was cavalier of Shaista Khanwho won the Fort. In 1670 king Shivaji won the fort from Moghuls. The Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb sent his chieftain Mahabat Khan to win the fort. Mahabat Khan and DilerKhan opened battle front from either side of the fort. The attack was so fierce that the Ahivant fort was surrendered to Moghuls. Subsequently, the Achala fort was also surrendered. In 1818 the fort was surrendered to Colonel Briggs along with other 17 forts after the fall of Trymbak fort... Places to see: The Achala fort is occupied on a small hill. There are few ruins of buildings, store houses and water tanks that can be seen on the fort. It takes about half an hour to encircle the fort...