Let’s start this travelogue with a short episode from Maharashtra’s history. There is a fort called Vasota that nestles in the green mountains deep inside the Koyna Sanctuary in the southern part of the state. Protected by deep gorges all around and guarded by ferocious tigers that roamed the valley, it was almost inaccessible. Though Raja Bhoj built this structure, the Marathas conquered it later.

At the peak of Maratha power, a few Englishmen were kept prisoners here. Subsequently, the Marathas lost the Anglo-Maratha War of 1818. But the news of defeat took two years to travel to this fort. The poor Englishmen had to continue their life as prisoners for two long years despite winning the war!

Once a dam was built at the confluence of the Koyna, Solshi and Kandati rivers, the floodgates to the inaccessible forest were open because the backwaters of the dam, stretched for 65 kilometres, encircled the mountains like water snakes.u00a0Circa 21st century. These days, it’s possible to enter this sanctuary by boat from Shivsagar Lake. We set off from our base in Tapola, and took the necessary permission from the Range Officer in Bamnoli. Forest Guard Gore accompanied us on our 45-minute boat journey to reach this historic, verdant sanctuary.