it is a 30yearold contest that has become an integral part of the history lovers of nagpur with the passage of time it has only got bigger and better and this year shiv vaibhav killa contest is expected to cross all previous records when it comes to entries heres a quick update on what to expect in this unique fort making contestmore than 100 entries expectedthe man behind this tradition ramesh satpute makes it clear that the whole idea behind this contest is to educate the youngsters about indian history my endeavour is to make youngsters and their parents read about our great history and heritage they are obsessed with tv shows and video games but through this contest we have tried to wean them away from gadgets and get them close to their glorious history there are three categories in this contestshiva forts 350 maratha forts vidarbha forts 80 vakataka and gond forts and imaginary forts to compete it is mandatory for the participants to read about the place the fort the ruler and his achievements so it serves as a lesson in history this time we are expecting around 100 entries and people of all age groups will participate in this says satputeshivaji rockswhen it comes to favourites it is the forts made during maratha warrior shivajis rule that are clear favourites of the contestants a student of journalism and winner of last years contest vishal deokar shares this time im making a replica of pratapgad fort in 50x40 feet i will use scrap material for my ecofriendly creation and i will use shalu maati to give those finer nuances to my fort i really admire the architecture of shivajis forts so i have been making their replicas for years now for the killa contest and for me it is more important to showcase this wonderful architecture to people of nagpur winning or losing is immaterialwoman power to the forethe killa contest contest has broken several myths the most important is about women not participating in contests that require plenty of raw manual labour and detailing a homemaker vijaya kamune shares i have been participating in this contest since 2010 and this year i plan to make shivneri fort the place where shivaji was born i will use a lot of rubble from the razed houses for my creation and i will use a lot of mustard plants to give it that inimitable real feel in this endeavour i never seek anybodys help and that is what makes it even more special for mereplicating the detailsthis effort to promote history through the contest is given a fillip by people like atul guru who are supporting the cause of history and heritage quite seriously making a fort is one thing but the idea is to create the exact replica of the heritage structure with all the finer nuances inside the fort through various workshops i train the youngsters to create such replicas at much faster pace we have