FORT RATNADURGA

 Ratnagiri Fort or Bhagvati FortRatnagiri, also known as Ratnadurg, or Bhagwati, fort is situated about 220 km south of Mumbai. The Bijapur sultans built the fort in the sixteenth century but it was renovated by Shivaji in 1670, serving as an important base for the Maratha navy.

The fall of the hereditary Angre admirals also meant the decline of Ratnagiri as a naval base of any military significance.The fort, easily accessible by road, comprises three fortified peaks. The largest, to the south, is called Parkot and supports a functional lighthouse on its western edge. There are hardly any traces of the middle peak, Peth fort, but the Bale Kila, or citadel, is still well preserved and houses the famous Bhagwati Temple. Beyond the temple is a cliff with a sheer drop from where it is said that condemned prisoners were thrown to their death. There are also some old caves on the western face of the cliff. Thibaw, the last king of Burma, was exiled by the British to Ratnagiri in 1885 and put under house arrest in a palace specially built for him.

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