Photo Travelogue :
If you want to go to this fort then don't reach here between 12 to 3pm. It remains closed because the guards love their afternoon siesta and you won't find them anywhere. Okay, so, I reached around 1pm and experienced exactly that, hence, the warning. After 3pm you get access till about 8pm so then you can explore, for free. Its open in the morning too. That day itself, I explored the other Riwa fort too nearby, as I had two hours in hand ( because of this fiasco ). The contrast between the two is stark. With slums surrounding the Riwa Fort, visiting this one maintained by ASI was a welcome change, particularly its garden, as the fort is anyways in ruins. Atleast, there's no encroachment here like the other fort. Unlike the other fort which was not in a hill, but on marshy banks of the Mithi river, the Sion fort is located in a small hill and there are several steps leading to it. Here's my entire tour of the place. Enjoy :-)
thats the road you need to take...its a barely 5 minutes walk from Sion east station...
steps that first lead to the garden...Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Udyan
another set of steps that lead to the base of the fort...they're quite steep...
some information about the fort by ASI at the base...
not sure where these go...
final set of steps that leads right up the fort...they're so small and broken at places that my head spins at the mere sight...
take another look...see what I mean? that curve itself is making my legs shiver...one wrong step and off I go...
I stand there rooted to my spot...there's no way I can go up those killer steps...trust me, they look deadlier in real :o
I look here and there trying to guage my options...until...
I discover another route...
its a flight of steps too, but not steep, they go around and in a gradual manner to the top...
hello birdies...yew visiting the fort too, eh?...
these steps are so climbable and I see the fort too from here inviting and not intimidating like before...
slowly...the fort introduces itself as I approach...
the ruins...
on top, there are couple of rooms that lead to one another...
window for air conditioning or observing enemy?
there are several rectangular watch windows that look far below for any approaching threat...
a lone cannon...wonder if it was ever used...
water reservoir? Its said theres a tunnel entrance nearby that goes right up to Riwa fort 1km away...
the fort view from the garden below...from various angles...
some inscription? can anyone understand what it says?
I loved my time there. Will recommend to visit just for the experience and try climbing those killer steps if you're adventurous too ;-)
The Sion Hillock Fort is a fort in Mumbai, India. It was built under the regime of the English East India Company, between 1669 and 1677, atop a conical hillock when Gerard Aungier was the Governor of Bombay. It was notified in 1925 as a Grade I Heritage structure. ( wiki ).
Address : East, Rd No 1, Sion East, Sion, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400022
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