Maha Darwaja — the Great Gate — is the main approach to the upper fort, flanked by two enormous bastions and built so that no straight run of attackers could ever charge it. Cannonball marks are still visible on the inner walls. The gate sits about two-thirds of the way up the climb from the base, and the path narrows here to a single file under the gaze of the bastions above.
Beyond it the fort opens out onto the central plateau and the ruined market street. The arrangement is a classic example of Maratha hill-fort design: zigzag approach, dead-end traps, and a final choke point that could be defended by a handful of men.