Forts hold their own during Diwali

This year, the theme was ‘Ajinkyatara’, a fort in Satara, from where Tarabai, King Rajaram’s wife, ruled for seven years after his death

MUMBAI: Celebrating Maharashtra’s vibrant heritage and its landscape studded with ancient fortifications, local communities are outdoing themselves this Diwali with elaborate fort-themed Diwali tableaux.

Mumbai, India. Oct 21, 2025 - Children of Shiddheswar chawl in Prabhadevi gather to celebrate the festival. Building a miniature of historic Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj`s forts during Diwali has long been a tradition. Mumbai, India. Oct 21, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde)

“Legend has it that Shivaji Maharaj built a fort using mud as a part of the Diwali celebrations, so that those who had never seen a fort could imagine what it looked like. Villagers continued the fort-building tradition, and it has survived to this day,” said Milind Khot, president of the Swarajya Prabhodini Pratishta, Maharashtra, a Lalbaug-based organisation that organises fort-building competitions during Diwali every year.

In Sector 1 of the Matoshree Gruhnirman Sanstha in Charkop, fort replicas now stand 20 ft x 15 ft tall. They’ve been doing it for 12 years. “We start on Anant Chaturdashi, the last day of the Ganesh festival, when we decide which fort to replicate,” said Swapnil Hande, a resident of the locality.

This year, the theme was ‘Ajinkyatara’, a fort in Satara, from where Tarabai, King Rajaram’s wife, ruled for seven years after his death. “To make the presentation more realistic, we travel to the fort and get a local guide to brief us on its history. We also read up as much as we can,” explained Hande.

And it shows. The fort in Charkop has been built with exquisite details, including hidden passageways, a temple, a water tank and more. The replica is exhibited for two weeks, during which time even school teachers bring their students to the site,” said Hande.

Most importantly, he reveals, the replica is made of construction debris, shadu clay, sand and jute, a creative nod to sustainability and conservation.

At the other end of the city, residents of Shivneri building in Dadar east have built a replica of another important Maratha fort, Shivneri. “This is the third generation building a fort, and they constructed the Shivneri Fort at the entrance. “Our choice was influenced by UNESCO world heritage status being granted to our forts this year,” said Sunil Kamble. He was referring to UNESCO granting world heritage status to 11 forts in Maharashtra and one in Tamil Nadu, in July.

Khot said the art of fort making finds expression beyond Diwali. “We organise competitions across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and this year we have 54 participants. People are very enthusiastic,” said Khot.

He recalled a slum area in Wadala, where five young adults in their early 20s built forts for a couple of years. “They were scattered last year when the area went under redevelopment but they conducted a workshop in Lalbaug to encourage others to build in a pocket-friendly way,” he said.