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Ratangad is a hill fort near Ratan Wadi, This time we are going to ascend Vai Sandhan Valley and this is going to be exciting. “Ratan” means Jewel in Hindi. This hill fort is indeed jewel in all the hill forts here in Sahyadri. Geographically Ratangad is on the banks of Bhandardara lake in Ahmednagar district at a height of 4255 feet above sea level. With views of lake and highest mountains in Sahyadri looks very much lost in time.
A 1000 years old temple of Lord Shiva, the Amruteshwar Temple at Ratanwadi, is an absolute paragon of high class architecture of our ancestors, is at the base of this fort. Ratangad has still the remains of fortress with bastions and stone walls. Caves on the top is cut from the rock face and can easily accommodate 25 people at a time. Water cistems are usually filled with water throughout the year and trekkers use them as water source. Eastern side of the fort has some fortification left; one can see Rani Mahal here. From the southern side on can see Katrabai and Ajoba fort very close. This side has also some fortification left, but most of it is damaged. Climbing up on the northern side, one can see natural orifice (hole in rock, locally called nedhe) in the rock face, mostly made by wind. Strong winds can be experienced at this orifice. Decend to the western end of the fort leads closest to the Khutta Pinnacle via Trimbak Darwaja.
