The Shaniwarwada Fort – Haunted Fort Of Pune

On every new moon night in the Shaniwar wada Fort, local people hear a sound of a 16 years old boy uttering the words "KAKA MALA VACHWA" meaning "uncle save me" from this fort. Every person should once in their life must visit this fort in pune.

Shaniwar wada Fort is located near to Baji Rao road near Abhivnav Kala Mandir in Pune, Maharasthra, India. Shaniwar Wada fort was constructed in 1732 then Peshwa were the rulers.

The foundation of Shaniwar Wada was laid by Peshwa Baji Rao 1 who was succeeded by his son Peshwa Balaji Bajirao, commonly known as Nanasaheb Peshwa. Nanasaheb Peshwa had three sons: Vishwasrao, Madhavrao and Narayanrao. His eldest son Vishwasrao died during the third battle of Panipat against Afghan armies and hence, Nanasaheb Madhavrao succeeded as the 4th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire which he remained until his death in 1772.

After death of Madhavrao, Narayanrao, the youngest of Nanasaheb’s son, took over as the 5th Peshwa. He was only 16 years old at the time of his brother Madhavrao’s death and became the youngest Peshwa ruler ever.

This succession however was highly challenged by his own uncle, Raghunathrao, brother of Nanasaheb. It is said that Raghunathrao had been fighting for power for the longest time. Even Narayanrao disliked his uncle very much as he believed Raghunathrao responsible for assassination attempts on his elder brother, Madhavrao’s life. Narayanrao’s arrogant, immature and impulsive behavior led to differences between them. These differences soon reached their peak and Narayanrao finally ordered a house-arrest for Raghunathrao. This moved proved disastrous and finally led to Narayanrao’s death.

It is believed that Raghunathrao never wanted to kill his nephew and only asked Gardis, highly trained assassins for hire for help in order to get out of captivity. Gardis were originally a hunting tribe. According to popular legend, Raghunathrao had sent a message to Sumer Singh Gardi to capture Narayanrao. His message read “Narayanrao la dhara” where dhara means to capture.

Raghunathrao’s wife Anandibai, furious over her husband’s arrest, seeked help of the Gardis. The message was intercepted by his wife Anandibai who changed the letter dhara to make it read as maaraa or ‘kill’ . The miscommunication led the Gardis to chase Narayanrao and finally kill him. On the last day of Ganesh Festival on 30th August 1773, several Gardi guards, led by their captain, Sumer Singh Gardi, entered the palace and started creating a commotion. They then charged towards the sleeping Peshwa’s chambers, killing a clerk on the way. Narayanrao, seeing the Gardis and sensing trouble, ran out of his chambers towards his uncle’s quarters, screaming “Kaka! Mala Vachva!!” or “Uncle! Save me!”. The Gardis followed Narayanrao to his uncle’s chamber and a menial pulled him while Sumer Singh Gardi cut him down. Narayanrao’s body was hacked into so many pieces that they had to carry the pieces in a pot. Narayanrao’s corpse was cremated secretly by the river at midnight.

 

In 1828, a massive fire broke out on this expansive estate, complete with huge gardens and fountains, that raged on for 7 days. What caused this fire is still unknown but the entire fort was destroyed in it. The fire burnt for seven long days and after it was extinguished, only the huge walls and gates remained, everything else was destroyed. The fort was abandoned after the fire and no one has lived here ever since.