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PLACES
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BHUDARGAD
Bhudargad (Bhudargad T.), one of the Kolhapur forts which, in 1844, were dismantled under the advice of the Bombay Government, stands on a bluff rock thirty-six miles,south of Kolhapur. It is 2,600 feet from north to south and 2,100 feet from east to west, and is enclosed by a broken stone and mortar wall with two gateways. It has a small habitation. At the foot of the hill are two hamlets in one of which every Monday a small market is held.
History.
Before the repairing of the fort (1667), the hill of Bhudargad
had shrines sacred to Kedarling, Bhairav, and Jakhrubai, with a hamlet ax the foot of the hill inhabited by the priests who performed the service of the deities and managed their festivals. In 1667 the fort was repaired and put in excellent order by Sivaji. Shortly after, it was captured by the Moghals. About five years later the fort was retaken, and the standard colours of the Moghal general who was killed in the conflict were presented to the temple of Bhairav where they are still kept. About the close of the eighteenth century Parsuram
Bhau Patvardhan took the fort by bribing the garrison and held it for about ten years when it was retaken by the Kolhapur State. Subsequently Parasuram Bhau and Gopal Pant Apte the chief of Icalkaranji forces made several vain attempts to win it back. During this war, of the five hamlets which formerly clustered round the fort three were destroyed. In 1844 the garrisons of Bhudargad and Samangad revolted and closed their gates. On the 13th of October, 1844, Bhudargad was taken by British forces and dismantled.
The chief object of interest is the temple of Bhairav which is about 3,000 feet square and consists of a stone and cement shrine, a hall, and a northern verandah. In front of the hall stands a stone and mortar lamp-pillar. The temple has about twenty ministrants supported by a yearly cash allowance of about Rs. 560 and land valued at a yearly assessment of about Rs. 130. Every year from the dark first to the dark tenth of Magh or January-February a fair is held attended by about 4,000 people and with a sale of goods worth about Rs. 2,000.
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