Markinda Fort

(Representative Image)

Markinda

Type:Hill Fort

Region:Nashik

Height:4384 feet

The resemblance of sound has given rise to a local story that the hill is called after the sage Markandeya who lived on it and persuaded Devi to punish Bhimasur and other demons who were attacking Brahman recluses.

Under the name Mayur Khandi, Markinda appears as the place from where several grants were issued by the Rashtrakuta king Govinda III. If not a Rashtrakuta capital, it must have been an out-post or at least a place of occasional residence [Ind. Ant, VI 64; Dr. Burgess' Bidar and Aurangabad, 32.]. Under the Peshvas a garrison was kept on the hill. The hill-slopes used to be cultivated in olden days.

Places of Interest 

There is a peak on a tableland on the top, and to the south of it is a pond near an umbar tree called Kotitirtha. It is also known as Ramkunda. People come in large numbers to bathe here on no-moon Mondays or Somvati amavasyas.

There is another pool or tirtha on the summit called Kamandalu or the waterpot, which is said to have been built by the Moghals.

East of Kamandalu are two under­ground magazines or granaries. To the west of the magazines is a perennial reservoir with excellent water called Motitanki. The old name of the hill is Mayur Khandi or the Peacock's Hill.

How to Reach
Markinda, a hill-fort in Kalvan, 4,384 feet (1,336.28 metres) above sea-level, stands opposite the sacred hill of Saptashring or Chatarsingi. Captain Briggs, who visited Markinda in 1818, described it as a small barren rock rising out of a flat hill. It faces the Ravlya-Javlya hill, and between the two, over a low neck of hill, runs the pass leading from. Kalvan to Khandesh. From this pass two roads strike in opposite directions, one to Markinda and the other to Ravlya-Javlya. The ascent to the fort is very difficult. At the top is a door and a wall both in ruins. The water-supply is ample, but the fort never had a place for storing guns except thatched houses.

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