Shirgaon Fort, Coastal fort in Palghar district, India

Shirgaon Fort stands in Shirgaon village in Palghar district, about 6.5 km from Palghar town. Its rectangular enclosure measures roughly 200 feet by 150 feet, with ramparts about 35 feet high and 10 feet thick. The east entrance gate is followed at a right angle by a second gate, near which the year 1714 is inscribed. Four octagonal bastions mark the corners and a circular one stands at the entrance.

Shirgaon Fort was built in 1225 under the Yadavas of Devgiri. It passed to Gujarati Muslim rulers in 1432, then the Bahamani dynasty and briefly the Ahmednagar Sultanate. The Portuguese took forts near Vasai between 1520 and 1533. A Maratha attempt in late 1737 failed, but after the siege of Vasai the Marathas captured Shirgaon on 22 January 1739 and repaired it in 1772. The British took it in 1818.

Every year on Shivajayanti the fort hosts a torch festival, now running for about ten years. A procession carries a ceremonial torch from the Bhawani temple in Dhansar village to the fort, where around 230 torches are lit at dusk after recitations, powada singing and dance-drama.

From Palghar, buses run every half hour to the Shirgaon stop, a 15-minute ride; shared ten-seat rickshaws also serve the route. From the stop, walk five minutes south to the fort. The fort has no drinking water, and the whole circuit takes about an hour.

The fort's inner stairways to the bastions are no longer in use, but they can still be seen through the windows of the bastions. A second gate in the western rampart has been completely sealed. The rampart walk gives a view of the beach to the west.