The Legendary Ghorpad! "Gad ala, pan Sinha gela" ("The Fort is captured, but the Lion is dead") An Indian legend has it that Tanaji Malusare, a Koli, hailed from Umrathe, near Mahad. Tanaji and his 300 troops were said to have scaled the Kondhana fort on a dark night, with the help of domesticated Bengal monitor lizard (ghorpad), nicknamed Yashwanti. They tied ropes to the Monitor lizard and had them crawling up to the precipice of the fort. The war was won but Tanaji succumbed to grevious injury. Shivaji Maharaj renamed the fort of Kondhana to Sinhagad in memory of Tanaji. Monitor lizards are widespread residents in the region. They are very shy and avoid humans. They have keen eyesight and can detect human movement nearly 250 m away. They sometimes make use of a termite mound to nest.