Panhala Fort, Hill fortress in Panhala, Maharashtra, India.

Panhala Fort is a fortress in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, with a perimeter of 42 miles and walls up to 32 feet high built from dark stone. Its ramparts include a large round tower and a lower wall with a rectangular opening, as seen in photographs. The fort contains the Tarabai palace, the Sajja Kothi, granaries, and the Someshwar temple.

Raja Bhoja II of the Shilahara dynasty built this fort between 1178 and 1209 to control trade routes between the coast and the interior. Later, the Adil Shahi sultans and then the Marathas under Shivaji took over and expanded this military base.

The fort's name is explained by a legend of the sage Parashar, who cursed the nagas that disturbed his meditation; the place became known as Pannagalay, 'home of serpents'. The fort is also called Panhalgad, and its zigzag shape earned it the name 'Fort of Snakes'. The Somale lake lies beside the Peth, and the Someshwar temple on its bank received jasmine and champa flowers from Shivaji and his thousand Mavlas.

Visitors enter through Teen Darwaza or other main gates and can walk along paved pathways connecting the different structures. On clear days, the outer walls offer wide views of the surrounding lowlands and neighboring ridges.

The Teen Darwaza gate is three storeys high and was built with poured lead in its construction, a detail visitors can still examine. The Rajdindi path descends from the fort and was the route Shivaji used to slip through Siddi Johar's siege in 1660, covering 45 miles to reach Vishalgad.