Jivdhan, Mountain fort in Junnar taluka, India.

Jivdhan is a hill fortress in the Sahyadri range near Ghatghar, rising 1,145 metres above sea level. Its broad flat-topped mass of layered dark grey and brown rock ends in a sheer upper cliff, with stepped ledges and spurs below and a long sloping ridge on the left. The gate is cut into the rock face, and the summit holds the Kalyan gate, a Goddess temple, five granaries and water tanks.

Jivdhan originated during the Satavahana era and guarded the Naneghat trade pass. In 1635 Shahaji rescued the boy king Murtaza Nizam Shah III from captivity here and declared him ruler at Pemgiri. In 1818 Colonel Prother of the East India Company captured the fort and destroyed parts of it.

Local people call the Gajalakshmi carving just inside the west gate the "Kothi". South of it stand the collapsed remains of the Jivai Devi temple, and five grain storehouses inside the fort carry carved lotus motifs; ash from the 1818 fire is still visible in them.

The easiest route starts at Ghatghar via the Junnar road and takes about two hours, with a rope useful for the steep rock-cut steps. The Naneghat approach crosses a plateau, two streams and a rock wall; the British blocked its western branch in 1818. There is no lodging on the fort, so bring food; tanks hold water year-round.

The pinnacle beside the fort, Vanarlingi or Khada Parsi, stands about 350 feet high and looks small from the approach but grows as you near it. Reaching it needs rock climbing equipment and a day or two, and climbers scout for beehives first. The rectangular fort's west gate path was sealed with masonry by the British in 1818.