India Travel Guide and Photo Blog

Overflowing river in Wakad, Pune

2011-09-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

Video capture of the soaring water levels of otherwise quiet river.
Waterlevels were higher by 15-20 feet....

Bhandardara near Pune

2011-08-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

Bhandardara a remote village area, nestled in peaks of Western ghats, is lesser known tourist spot outside Pune. By road it seems to be closer to Nashik
rather then Pune or Mumbai.

Until reaching Bhandardara I wasnt very sure of its worthiness, initial plan was for overnight stay at Bhandardara spend 2/3 hours and then drive towards Malshej ghat.

Infact until Ale Phata, town near Malshej ghat, locals didn't know exact directions for Bhandardara which was supporting & adding onto my apprehension. But was also encouraging that we would be able to get overnight accommodation because it seemed lesser known and well known places were fully booked even before starting from Pune.

After a long 4 hours drive we started seeing signs for Bhandardara and also could see landscape gradually transitioning from dry and brown to pleasant green.
Drive after Rajur, town just before Bhandardara, changed drastically from green farmlands to mountainous terrain.

Weather was bright, sunny and clear i.e perfect for photography. Though dry trails of waterfalls on the far mountains meant lesser interesting views, but some places did have gushing waterfalls.

Speelway gate was first impressive offering of Bhandardara which immediately cleared my apprehension. Very impressive Civil engineering work to control very active water reservoir.

Since we still had to hunt for overnight accommodation, we rushed past Speelway and grudingly compromised onto poorly equipped Hotel Aishwaryam due to time constraint, location of overlooking Bhandardara Dam reservoir and biggest of all its proximity to MTDC Bhandardara resort.

After confirming our booking, we drove back down to base of Bhandardara Dam and enjoyed a small track to overpowering Umbrella falls. Havent seen such strong
Waterfall upclose. Turely captivating sight of HUGE dam and STRONG waterfall.

We went back to Speelway gate, enjoyed the panaromic view along with savouring the Vada Pav and hot cup of tea. I was now convinced that visiting Bhandardara was right choice.

Randha falls, our next stop, has beautiful twin strong waterfalls. Best view is enjoyed by 10 minutes walk to the tip of the cliff, where both falls can be
seen and merging into surprisingly tranquil stream. Top view of waterfalls easily reminds one of Grand Canyon.

On Sunday, inspite of hectic Saturday, we managed to complete our breakfast and start by 9:30 am. After unhappily paying entry fee of Rs 110.00 we started
our drive through preserved area towards Harishchandra garh and Kalsubai.

Rustic Panjra village had uncountable waterfalls and took us almost 30 mins to drive through a very small village. Unlike yesterday it was raining steady and
too many. Omen of good journey ahead.

Kalsubai, highest peak of Maharashtra, and nearby peaks were all covered by mobile clouds but driving around them revealed rich craftmanship of nature.

KonakanKada was our next stop a great location overlooking a dam, thankfully clouds sparsed enough for us enjoy the sight.

Amruteshwar Temple, of God Shiva, is impressively located near a pond and surrounded by hills. Very peace instilling location.

50 kms of loop took us three long hours because of indescribable beauty of nature and countless waterfalls acting as magnet; forcing us to stop, drench and
absorb in the flow.

Malshej, 80 kms from Bhandardara was our next stop, took about 3 hours to reach. Mainly due to backroad drive and the battered roads. Banana, Wheat, Brinjal
and numerous other farms along the routes are worth driving the route.

Around 3:30 pm we reached Malshej, after a quick refreshing break at Atur town. Malshej ghat was covered by thick clouds with visibility of bearly 5 meters.

Route is very narrow and heavy trucks and buses plying on it could easily prove fatal so we had to turn quickly around for safety reasons.

Though nothing like Bhandardara dam, Pimple Joga dam was pleasing with birds flying around and fishing.
Highway 222 connecting Ale phata to Kalyan, is already my faovrite route to drive around.

Click for more Photos

My video capture of Bhandardara on YouTube:

Randha falls Video

Bhandardara waterfalls Video

Kalsubai mountain peak Video

Umbrella waterfall Video

Konkankada Site Video

Nearby Places to see:

Malshej Ghat, Pimple Joga dam, Nashik City, Ojhar and Lenyadri Ashtanvinayak Ganpati temples, Shinveri fort at Junnar, Bhimashankar temple

Directions:
From Pune its about 200 kms, takes about 4 hours due to single lane Nashik Highway (NH-50). After crossing Manchar and reaching Narayangaon, make sure you ask villagers the directions for Bhandardara.
Malshej ghat is 40 KMS after turning left from Ale Phata, which is NH 222, Bhandardara can be reached both ways either continue straight from Ale phata (NH-50) or by taking left towards Malshej continue right and then turning right on reaching Autr town ( about 20/30kms) on NH-222

Pu La Deshpande Park

2010-02-12T05:15:00.000-08:00

Okayama park a.k.a Pu La Deshpande park of Pune, openly highlights the grand living disparity of Indian Society - chaotic, unplanned, growing Indian cities (like Pune) implusated by occasional exception of planned execution and impeccable maintenance.

Yes, Okayama or Pu La Deshpande park of Pune is that fantastic exception of this city.

This amazing park, located at foothills of small Parvati hillock, is indeed a good tranqulizier for visitors just coming out of congested and chaotic Pune city traffic.

Okayama park of Pune is symbol of friendship between Pune and Okayama cities and has been built with Japanese collaboration. You can easily spot Japanese and international tourists enjoying the beautifully designed park.

This park has been named Pu. La. Deshpande park, after popular Marathi writer and actor Purushotam Laxman Deshpande and is impressively well maintained by otherwise notorious and negligent PMC (Pune Municipal Corporation).

Till the entrance of the Pu La Deshpande park, Pune visitors wouldn't find anything different but crossing the gate of Pu La Deshpande park is the step to beautiful transformation from disorderly to disciplined and orderly.

Built on 10 acres of land, Pu La Deshpande park begins with sturdy bamboo trees and colourful plants leading the visitor to artifical, yet beautiful and green, hillock of the park with the natural back-drop of Parvati hills. For Pune's Pu La Deshpande park visitors enchantment begins with the soothing water canalsbeautifully cutting through the green grass and colourful plants.

More Photo of Pu. La. Deshpande park

Even before Pu La Deshpande park tourists can complete appreciating, one encounters a beautiful pond with two small islands for birds and amphibians of the park. With backdrop of green hillock backdrop, small bridge this small pond with two green islands is indeed marvelous.

Pu La Deshpande park's small pond is the heart of the park not only for the visitors but also its nautral inhabitants : the rich marine life and chirping birds.

More Photo of Centre pond rim Pu. La. Deshpande park

More Photo from Hilltop of Pu. La. Deshpande park

More Photo of centre pond of Pu. La. Deshpande park

East of park has mini cascaded waterfalls, If visiting Pu La Deshpande park during afternoon then tourists can evidently feel the refreshing moisture and lower temperature while walking towards it.

While walking towards the west, do stop by and enjoy the aligned agri-farming section.

North East of Pu La Deshpande park (way towards exit) is my favourite because walking amongst the neck high colorful plants gives feeling of being in the woods and the beside steady flowing canal stream is very refreshing makes you feel part of the energy flow.

Architects of Pu La Deshpande park smartly used this downhill trail to open into center pond, which however was dry yet beautifully maintained.

After crossing this second center pond, of Pu La Deshpande park,is the most audible water stream donating a great pacifying feeling.Make sure you sit and enjoy the free natural peaceful energy overflowing in abundance in this area of Pu La Deshpande park.

Before visitor of Pu La Deshpande park can step out park offers one more mesmirizing mini vista looking over the pond and overlooking bridge of the park.

More Photo of peaceful ambience of Pu La Deshpande Park

Pu La Deshpande park is like a self sustaining natural ecosystem, where humans are indeed visitors gradually exposed to other natural beings.

From Pu La Deshpande park, visitors take away the calm and placetness, much required for peacfully dissolving into mad urban race.

So whats the disparity I mentioned earlier?

Pu La Deshpande park cuddled by Parvati Hills shanties indeed make this well maintained park look a lavish luxorious spending.

Also Security guards managing the Pu La Deshpande park are indeed creditworthy on ensuring the high orderliness of the park.It makes me wonder why cant same management look after the wonderous Empress Botanical garden, plagued by young romeo-juliets.

Near by places to visit:

Saras Bagh, Parvati Temple, Peshwe Energy Park , Ramakrishna Mutth

Directions:
Located on Sinhgad Road in popular Parvati Hills area and next to Ramakrishna Mutth and 5 kms from Saras bagh.
Entrance ticket is Rs 5.00 per person and Rs 5.00 for car parking. This is money well spent.
Pu La Deshpande on Google Maps

Vedas flagging Ashthavinayak Ballaleshwar Ganapti temple of Pali

2010-01-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

Pali is a popular pilgrim destination due to sacred Ashthavinayak Ballaleshwar Ganapati Temple.
Pali has twin temples of Ashthavinayaks Ballaleshwar Ganapati, DhundiVinayak temple where God first appeared and offered wish to devotee Ballal. Second is the main temple where devotee requested God Ganapati to reside in the village.

DhundiVinayak temple of Pali is one of twin temples of Balleleshwar Ganapati of Pali.and should be the first to visit, idol of Ballaleshwar Ganapati is similar as in main temple. Temple has paintings depicting Ballal's story.

Idol of Ballaleshwar Ganapati is visibly different and stretched horizontly. Though photo it seems to be unusual, but in reality I found it very beautiful compared to other Asthavinayak idols seen so far.

Ballaleshwar Ashtavinayak Temple of Pali is not only the spiritual centre but also hub of economic activity for common villagers. Numerous shops and auto rickshaws are common sight of such places but what impressed me is the business acumen of local community. Self help groups of Pali village not only prepare sweets as prasad but also pickles and traditional Indian snacks like papad etc. at home.

Make sure you buy the delicious sweets and seal the treat.

Though the liveliness is good for both locals and visitors, but certainly robs the peace of other wise peace of the temple and its beautiful surrounding.

Ballaleshwar Ashtavinayak Temple of Pali is located at the foothill of scenic mountain.Temple has wooden interiors with fine artwork and a small hall for devotees to spend peaceful time. Though the hall is open, but sanctum is low on air circulation, but beautiful idol of Ballaleshwar Ganapati pulls your attention away from this petty ignorable item.

About 4 to 5 kms from temple is natural hot water pond at Unhere village, land mark is Dutta temple. Infact there are two - one for male and other for female. Local villagers smartly use it for bathing and surely saving on energy. They should be indeed be awared some carbon credits so that can make sum extra money for sustainence.

However, didnt find anything great about Unhere's hot water pond and wouild advise to ignored if you are short on time.

Drive to Ashthavinayak Ballaleshwar Ganapti temple of Pali is, on State Highway 92, refreshing due to ample of greenery, remoteness and striking assembly of four mountain peaks.

I call them four vedas : Rig, Sama, Yajur, Atharva. Vedas are ancient texts of Sanatan dharma, now popular as hindu religion, remarkably detailing Advaita relationship between macrocosm (God) and microcosm (Human) and offering insightful guidelines on interpreting daily life experiences.

Ashthavinayak Ballaleshwar Ganapti temple of Pali is infact located at the base of these mountains visible nearly all along the drive on State highway 92 towards the temple.

Ballal Vinayak temple is named honouring a devotee boy named Ballal whose continued deep devotion was met with fear of abnormality by villagers and their persistent complaint to father resulted in severe treatment and beating of Ballal. God Ganesh then saved and granted wish to unfaltering devotee. Ballal requested God for his continued presence in the village.

For me real Pali hills should be accredited to this small village instead of Mumbai's Pali Hill, in Bandra, where many Bollywood personalities reside. Weather of real Pali hill is more like Mumbai - typical sultry feeling reminding of Alibag beach at distance of 50 or 60 kms from Ashthavinayak Ballaleshwar Ganapti temple of Pali.

Shri Aryabhatt

2010-01-02T19:59:00.000-08:00

Following blog, though not exact but ... is translation of text came across at Arya Samaj hall mentioning Shri Aryabhatt, one of Ancient Indian scholar in field of Mathematics, Astronomy and Astrology.

Profoundity of his work is evindent from : India's first satellite was named after Shri Aryabhatt and Pune's IUCCA is proud host of his statue.

More references are available on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryabhata

Shri Aryabhatt, born in 476, was one of the earliest Indian legendery scholar and contributed significantly in field of Mathematics, Astronomy and Astrology. His birthplace is village Kusumpur near city Patna, then known as Pataliputra. Aryabhatiya is the most popular work authored by Shri Aryabhatt in 499 at age of 23.

Aryabhatiya is broadly divided in four sections and the contents are written in Sutra style. Sutra style is one of ancient Indian style of writing where brevity and precision is ensured by using technical terms. Sutra style of concised writing can be idiomised as ocean in a bowl, e.g. one of the shloka mentions 5 different theories of Mathematics while in MolPaad, 4th section of Aryabhatiya, entire Sun theory is mentioned in mere 11 shlokas. Some of the currently accepted facts were invented and discovered by Shri Aryabhatt, e.g. Trignometry, one of first users of Pi ( 22/7 - Greek discovery) in regular mathematics. Many of his works are being thought in schools, globally.

In Astronomy, Shri Aryabhatt was first to claim that earth is round and also rotates around its axis. In one of his books Surya Siddhanth, he provided first meaningful explanation of Solar and Lunar eclipse, instead of accpeting eclipse as work of deamons Rahu and Ketu.

Shri Aryabhatt had calulcated 1 year cycle to be of 365.2586805 days, his calculation was better than Greek calulcation and is still inline with current acceptance.

Shri Aryabhatt's work is mentioned in books like Aryabhatiya, DanshGitika, Tantra.

Shri Aryabhatt is indeed Prime contibutor of late-ancient golden era of free India where it he is believed to be heading the ancient Nalanda university of Astronomy.

Plight of soothing Sangameshwar

2009-06-21T02:34:00.000-07:00

Off state highway 58, at outskirts of Pune city in Maharashtra state, is a hamlet Tulapur.Historically known as Nagargaon acquired name of Tulapur due to Shahji, ancestor of Maratha king's Shivaji and Sambhaji.

However, more than this feat, place is witness of one of the brutal historical events.

Sangamner, in Tulapur, is a quiet and remote junction of three rivers - Bhima with its subsidiaries Bhama and Indrayni rivers.

Sangamner is more than junction of three rivers, it offers a special subtle experience of unifying with nature and overflowing peace.

Sangamner is a quick nature escape for tourists and citizens for traffic crazy Pune city.Drive to Tulapur / Sangamner is pleasant without traffic with lush greenery and hillocks along.

Visitors, tourists and devotees would certainly enjoy God Shiva's Sangameshwar temple near Tulapur.

Reason is ...
Sangameshwar temple is non-commercial with hardly any visitors yet impressivle maintained and well architected temple.Its picturesque location at junction of three rivers surrounded with big green trees and carefree wandering squirrels, chirping birds and flocks of white Cattle Egret birds makes it generous donor of overflowing peace, calm and more ...

Befitting the name, visiting Sangamner is a truely unifiying experience where an individual automatically gets unified with beauty of nature and divine force
behind it - God Shiva.

Sangameshwar temple offers a comprehensive escape package to Photographers.

God Shiva's Sangameshwar Temple is built of solid stones which immediately instills strength and sense of awe with its ancient looking architecture.

Since Sangameshwar temple is lesser known, its isolated location is a great option for tourists looking to be in cradle of nature and peace.

For urban animals and working professionals of Pune, its shortcut to uninterrupted and overflowing peace

Temple is maintained by small village community now known as Shivale. Every individual enjoying Sangameshwar owes deeply to this devoted community for
resurructing and maintaining Sangameshwar.

Reason is ...
Opposite the Sangameshwar temple is grand statue of Maratha king Sambhaji Maharaj.
Brave Sambhaji Maharaj, son of great King Shivaji Maharaj, died one of the most heart wrecking and inhuman death.

What caught my attention was title of Dharamveer (Brave protector of religion)? King Sambhaji chose to martyr his life to protect his religion, people, culture but refused to change religion even after continous torture by hands of Mogul
empire.

A very disturbing event witnessed by otherwise calm Sangamner.

Entire history is recorded on http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/4404.html

Remains of Dharmveer Sambhaji are stored safely in dedicated secured structure as shown in above photo.

Directions : About 1 hr drive from Pune city area.
Option 1: SH60 From Nagar Road, left onto SH 58.
http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=m&lat=18.671916&lon=73.995195&zoom=14&q1=bhima%2520river%252C%2520pune
Option 2: NH-50 Nashik Road right on SH-58 crossing popular town of Alandi where Saint Tukaramji use to live.
Due to isolation no signs one can easily miss the Sangamner. Sangameshwar temple of God Shiva, however, is good and reliable landmark of this lesser known place. Tourists will find very few visitors in the temple.

Time to visit:

Almost anytime except, since Alandi (place where Saint Tukaram lived) is nearby, for 3-4 days around June 15 when lakhs of devotees of Saint Tukaram and Dhyaneshwar participate in Palkhi procession involving walking hundreds of kilometers across cities to follow the trail of two enlightened Saints who blessed city of Pune.

Panshet day trip

2009-02-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

Panshet Dam's biggest tourist attraction is the water sports facility.Panshet Dam's tourist can enjoy motor boat, jet sking, rowing in theresevoir etc.
Panshet Dam's water reservoir is called Tanaji Sagar.

Group motor boating is for 8-10 persons. Panshet motor boatinghas two packages and lasts for 15-25 minutes in the silentand secluded hillocks.

But unsophisticated motor boats are noisy and disturbing.Nevertheless they offer a good view of the Panshet dam's wall.Boats are not allowed close to the Panshet dam wall

Surprisingly motor boats ride are in the drinking water of Pune.It is indeed a health hazard.

Kids and Teens have more to do at Panshet dam, it has a micro-small race track with mini-scooters and mini-cars. Panshet Dam vacationers can enjoy teens doing small stunt in the Panshet race track.
Trekkers in Panshet dam have plenty of option and canget good view from height of few hundred feet, but didn'topt for any such adventure since we started late afternoon.

Panshet drive dam is not bad, actually one can easily climb the Panshet dam wall - but its illegal. We didn't climb the wall stleast I didnt want to spoil me outing by getting in legal row

Time to visit
Post monsoon and winter one see plenty of delighful birds on the way to Panshet Dam.

Nearby Places
Panshet Dam's visitors can plan a days vacation to Panshet dam area.
Khadakvasla and Varasgaon dam are within 5-12 kms.

Hisoric Singhgad fort is much before Panshet dam and is normallycrowded. Many people visit Singhgad during weekend for trekkingand jogging.
Farther trail of Singhgad fort offers a breathtaking view of thevalley including the Panshet dam.

Spiritual center of Yoganandaji is also on the way. Organisation was started by author of internationally acclaimed book Autobiography of a Yogi

Directions
Panshet Dam, South West of Pune, is about 45 kms from Pune and takes 1 hour to reach.

Parking charges, Boating Charges, Race Track Charges. Parking charges can be avoided by parking outside the property,while Race track charges arr only for riders.Boating charges cannot be avoided, else there would be hardlyanything to do.

Chaturshringi : mother of Pune University

2009-02-04T03:02:00.000-08:00

Since the Chaturshringi temple of Pune is peacefully overlooking the Pune unversity area, I like to call it mother of Pune University.
Chaturshringi temple offers good package of spiritual and physical well-beingChaturshringi temple is located opposite Pune university on Senapati Bapat Road or S B Road.

Chaturshringi is most crowded during both Navratri (9 days of spiritual devotion) of the year and elaborate people co-ordination perparations are done.

Ambience of Chaturshringi temple impressive due to beautiful hillscaping and fine maintenance. A virtue which many temple trusts of India need to pick and learn.

More Photos

Chaturshringi Temple Grand entrance

Chaturshringi Temple Steps

Devotees have to climb more than 100 steps to reach the actual goddess Chaturshringi shrine on the hill.
Whats striking is that phera (Divine walk around the idol) is on small hill which offers a pleasing view on Pune University Road.

During afternoon do wear socks to avoid feet burn due to intense sunlight.
Temple also has God Ganesh temple and includes 8 miniature idols of Ashta Vinyaka along the periphery.

Hillscaping offers a good place to relax for family, visitors, tourists of Chaturshringi temple. Early evening is good time to visit to enjoy beatuful birds and solace ofthe place.

Chaturshringi temple of Pune is also used for quick getaway from hustle-bustle of chaotic Pune traffic.

Many groups organise scoial gathering in big campus of Pune Chaturshringi temple.

Bhimashanker God Shiva's Jyotirling temple near Mumbai Pune

2009-01-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Bhimashanker temple, one of the 12 jyotirlinga temples of God Shiva, is of spiritual and religious significance. God Shiva's Bhimashanker temple is very ancient, but due to current renovation only few parts of temple reveal the ancient construction.Intricate artwork on the solid stones at the narrow entrance door of the temple is one area which proclaims the historical value.
Bhima river originates from Bhimashanker.

More photos:
Bhimashanker Temple
Small dam near Ambegaon on-way for Bhimashanker temple
Scene before Bhimashanker temple

Maha Shivratri (somewhere in Feb / March) is the good time to visit the temple as devoteesand followers make the atmosphere vibrant and overwhelming.To grasp the true vibrations of the place we visited during Navratri.

Travelling to Bhimashanker, about 120KMs from Pune, is climbing on 2 land planes.One near Manchar and second aclivity near Ghodegaon. Overall drive is very good, after Manchar is road gets narrow and uphill drive slows average speed but thats when good part of the drive starts, i.e. from Ghodegaon area.

Tourists and trekkers can enjoy a half day trek on the rocky waterfall path of the temple.Yes dont venture during the monsoon to avoid being washed into Shayadri ghats.
Bhimashanker promises adventures for tourists, travellers as there are no proper signsto walk down the long multi-trails. Avoid the trails if you are short on time.

Bhimashanker temple of God Shiva had a nearby MTDC resort but it was closed for renovation.For overnight camping and picnic near Bhimashanker temple of God Shiva, there few local resortsand hotels. However Blue Mormon jungle resort reveals quality and is good, safe place for family with small kids and children. Blue Mormon jungle resort is named after local butterfly.

A small dam beautifies the valley near Ambegaon while driving from Pune to Bhimashaker temple of God Shiva.

Parking Charges are Rs 10.00. After parking one has to walk for 1 km to reach the temple

Directions:
From Mumbai, take central railway train and alight at Karjat station. From Karjat take a bus or a local trnasport.
From Pune, Take Nasik highway - NH 50. After 60 kms at Manchar, turn left on state highway 53 towards Ghodegaon. At the mosque turn left towards Ambegaon and continue for 60 kms.

Blissful Mulshi Dam with Sai

2008-12-17T23:06:00.000-08:00

Mulshi Dam is a ideal place for a quick family day picnic or an overnight adventure at outskirts of Pune.
Located at high altitude of Sahyadri ranges, in Western Ghats, Mulshi Dam area offers a good combo pack of a scenic Mulshi dam, beautiful winding roads, calm Mulshi lake, refreshing greenery, simple farming villages and abundance of flora, fauna.

More Photos at ....
Mulshi photos ...

Mulshi Dam is not only good for short family vacation but Trekkers too can enjoy Mulshi area with numerous small trails and a majestic viewof Tamhini ghat leading tourists towards Konkan region.

Nature Photographers have plenty to quench their artisitc thirst in the serene Mulshi Dam area.

Tourists ideally visit Mulshi during monsoon, but winters in Mulshi is also good option for tourists with choice of overnight trip in one of local resorts.

We stayed at private farmhouse Silver Oaks at Malle village near Mulshi.A remote village with no disturbing cell phone but easy roadconnectivity and steady power supply.

Sliver Oaks farmhouse near Mulshi has plenty of sugarcane farms around it, also big lawn for small children to play around etc

Mulshi trip highlight was late night camp fire at farmhouse and early morning Sun-tea of cold winter is still relished.

I enjoyed the bliss of idyllic strolling in farms, melodious birds and yoga in clean open air of winter morning with dewdrops on green grass.

On 2nd day we visited grand Sai Baba Temple and Satya Sai baba ashram at Haadshi village about 15 kms from Mulshi. The Spirital centre is located on a flat hillock circled by bigger mountains ... one naturally feels elevated.

Grandeur of the Sai Baba ashram and its beautiful geographical location overloking small vliages is mesmerizing.

Our luncheon was at Girivan - man made hilltop town. Its location reminded me of Amby Valley near Lonavala and Lavasa high profile scam townships. Food was acceptable but Girivan was bit run-down due to poor maintenance.

World renowned Chinmaya mission's Sadhana (Meditation) center is located nearby.
Mahindra's prestigious and expensive World Institute is located about 8 kms from Girivan on another hill.

Directions:

Mulshi dam is in Mulshi taluka (sub-district) and is located on state highway 60 of Maharashtra state, about 40 kms from Pune.

Rs. 15.00 per car Toll atChandni Chowk, Bavdhan.

Rs 50.00 per head entrance for Girivan.

It costs around INR Rs.1750 per night and extra charges for food at Mulshi resorts or farmhouse.

Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar : Kashmir of Maharashtra

2008-11-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Panchgani - 5 hills, Mahabaleshwar - God of great power.
.Hope the travel experience is good Mahabaleshwar guide and Panchgani guide for vacation and tourism. Enjoy the Mahabaleshwar photos and Panchgani photos.
I like to term Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar as Kashmir of Maharashtra.
(Kashmir is considered to be more beautiful than renowned Swiss Alps Ranges).

Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar are ideal location for tourists planning overnight vacation of 2-3 days in the cloudy Sahyadri hills on Deccan Plateau overlooking the mystic blue river waters of different reivers are Venna, Koyna, Krishna etc .... from height of few thousand feet.
For trekking and backpacker Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani offers good terrains to adventure from hill top to the lush green villages along the lake shores.

Bhilar waterfalls of Panchgani

Panchgani is a well set small tourist town with plenty of hotels, lodges, restaurants. Generally people stay at Panchgani during night and enjoy sightseeing of various points like famous Table Land, Parsi point, Bhim Chula, Harrisons valley.

Local travel options include horse cart, private taxi's, bicycle, atuo rickshaws etc
No Panchgani Visitor can unnotice the numerous boarding (resident) schools for kids.
Many parents in Mumbai and Pune aspire their kids to be educated in one of these schools.
Travelling in Panchgani is along straight hill while sight seeing in Mahabaleshar is along a loop.

Kates Point, Needle Hole point is one of the first and most popular places of Mahabaleshwar. Elphinstone Point, Lodwick Point, Wilson Point etc ...many more on-cliff points make Mahabaleshwar vacation excursion slightly adventerous.

For nature lovers and photographers, Mahabaleshwar offers colorful and delightful sights.

Old Mahabaleshwar is a must see for any tourist, spiritual seekers, travellers, historians

Travel to Mahabaleshwar has one additional advantage, apart from scenic beauty - travellers can can also visit gets the 5000 yrs old historic temple of Lord Ganesha.
But spiritual seekers desire more for the pilgrim of the nearby Lord Shiva temple.
Lord Shiva temple in old Mahabaleshwar is one of the 12 Jyotir Ling (intentional Self appearance of Shiva Ling) temples in India.
>

Legend goes as that Lord Shiva temple in Mahabaleshwar was built by Dharma Guru of Pandavas of Mahabharata based on vision in a dream. (Mahabharata is the worlds biggest epic and is contexted in Bhagvad Gita - a widely used popular text where Lord Krishna teaches great warrior Arjuna the spiritual gems of Vedantna - seprate comprehensive texts containing reality and purpose of life analysed, studied, practised and documented by ancient Rishis (spiritual scholars) eons before modern civilisation.

Big solid stones of all three temples in Mahabaleshwar very easily overwhlems not only the spiritual devotee but also any visitor.

Historians, Archeiologist, Interior designer can get a education quick tour of ancient Indian culture and construction capabilities.

Walking inside the the Lord Shiva temple of Mahabaleshwar is like travelling few thousand years back in time into ancient India. Temple very impressive from inside a true privilege for a visitor like me.

Panchganga temple of Mahabaleshwar is another must see place for tourists.
Constuction of Panchganga - 5 rivers is also imppressive with open water pool collecting the fresh mountain stream water … visitors of Panchganga temple of Mahabaleshwar can safely taste the sweet water.
Panchganga name signifies the confluence of Koyna, Krishna, Venna, Savitri and Gayatri rivers.
All Five rivers are very aptly modelled in the ancient Panchganga temple of Mahabaleshwar and their refreshing sweet waters being stored for devotees and tourists in open dynamic pool.

Family with small kids and women can equally enjoy Mahabaleshwar as it offers horse riding, boating etc at Lake Venna.
And yes please don’t forget to enjoy the corn fritters - corn vadas.

Visitors interested in history can stretch 30 kms further to visit Maratha kingdoms Pratapgarh fort when Shivaji Maharaj was the king.

15 kms from the fort is Dambhod village which offers spectacular mountaineous views similar to ones in Lord Of the Rings.

Hope it server as Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani guide and help you in tentative trip planning for one day or 2 or 3 days. Enjoy your road trip to Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani

Tolls:

Both Panchangi and Mahabaleshwar have tolls of about INR 30.00 per 4-wheelers and INR 15.00. So around INR 100.00 - INR 200.00 goes on toll (depending on number of people - drivers are spared :-) ).

Good news is that toll receipts are valid for 7 days in Panchangi and Mahabaleshwar, so tourists dont have to pay everyday

Directions:
Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar are in Satara district of Maharashtra state of India.
Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar barely 20 kms apart are located on hill-top.
From Pune or Mumbai take the Mumbai - Pune Expressway and continue on Banglore Expressway for another 120kms.
From village of Wai, ascent of the hill begins and takes to Panchgani.
Near by Places:
Pratapgarh Fort, dozens of cascaded peaks make you feel as in stone age.
Time To Visit:
June to January. I prefer June to September when all hills are lush green due to rainy season
and plenty of waterfalls with easy acess.
Monsoon also wipes out the smoggy pollution of the atmosphere.
Risk of monsoon is that beauty of Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani is held hostage by layers of clouds.
Fun to Fly paraglider in Panchgani
Decent Resorts, Hotels and lodging in Panchgani Mahabaleshwar:
MTDC resort, Shreyas Resort, Swiss Country Resort Saj resort, Sumn Raj Resort, Dina Hotel, Hotel Rajesh, Vimal Garden
Economic Resorts, Hotels and lodging in Panchgani Mahabaleshwar:
Madhuban, Regal, Satkar, Hotel Apsara, Hotel Mountain View, Ravine Hotel, Cliff Inn Resorts, Mount Castle Bungalow Resort

Varasgaon Dam : Hawks Nest of Pune

2008-11-13T01:09:00.000-08:00

Varasgaon Dam, on Maharashtra state highway 57, is good place for one day holiday outing or picnic near Pune.
Pune tourists, friends and families can plan half a day trip to Varasgaon Dam and half day for Lavasa in cloud clad Sahaydri mountains.
Back packers & trekkers’ don’t have much option for trekking as Varasgaon Dam mainly a drive through & holiday place.

Varasgoan dam is one of the sources of water supply to Pune.

For Pune tourists, secluded and serene Varasgoan village competes with mighty and publicized Lavasa by being host to Varasgaon Dam and of-course its picturesque location.

Pune visitors simply get dragged towards the dam due to easy accessibility to base of the Varasgaon dam.

Pune Visitors can spend 20-30 mins at the base of dam and enjoy the music of water flow and feel awed against the mighty wall of the Varasgaon Dam.

3-4 kms of further, travelers get lured to walk on top of Varasgaon Dam. One can see many fellow tourists strolling and taking snaps.
Pune Back packers can enjoy the beautiful view of the valley with small farms, cloud covered hills and the winding road adding to the beauty.

Beautiful road cutting through the Varasgaon village reminds me of Upstate New York's popular Hawk Nest drive near Port Jervis.
Varasgaon Dam of Pune offers photographers have plenty of options. Friends and families can plan for a day’s picnic to Varasgaon and Lavasa near Pune.
Good quality roads in the hills are indeed for people enjoying to drive. Especially for Punerees it’s driving paradise, but of-course exhibit caution due to sharp turns and hills

Caution:
Roads are narrow, especially through villages, be a turtle and drive slow and steady through them.

On the dam walk carefully due to slippery moss etc. and be very watchful while overlooking the valley, a small fumble can cost your life.

Directions:
Varasgaon Dam of Pune is about 45 kms away from Pune. Lesser known village is 5-10 kms ahead of Mulshi village in the cradle of small hills of Sahaydri mountain ranges.
30 mins ahead of Varasgaon is Lavasa - most talked ambitious modern township, developed by HCC, in the Sahaydri mountains, which claims to be better than the
Sahara group's Amby Valley (project beyond Lonavala).
Sahara group is also the sponsor of Indian Cricket Team. Cricket is India's most popular and commercial sport.

Best Time to Visit:
During or just after monsoon, the hills are lush green and plenty of waterfalls on the way.

Nearby Places:
Mulshi Dam, Tamhini Ghat. Sinhgad fort, Lavasa

Lungs of Cosmopolitan Mumbai (Bombay) city

2008-10-11T00:47:00.000-07:00

Borivali National Park on Google Maps

Mumbai (Bombay) is an exceptional cosmopolitan city of the world. No not because of its swarming population, neither because of Bollywood, nor because of being financial & business capital of India.

But because of very little known fact - it’s probably the only city which has National Park as its heart. Popularly its called as Borivali National Park or simply National Park, but official name is Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Videos:

Mumbai also a separate animal zoo - Byculla zoo A.K.A. Rani baug located close to Byculla train station.

Sanjay Gandhi National Park is located in one of the prime suburbs of Mumbai (Bombay) – Borivali. It occupies sizeable portion of Mumbai (Bombay) city and parents Tulsi lake, Vihar Lake and almost Powai Lake. All three are critical lakes as they meet Mumbai’s (Bombay) drinking water needs. World famous Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay (equivalent to MIT, Harvard) is located on banks of Powai lake.

Park offers miles of multiple hiking and trekking trails on the hill plus plain land, waterfalls, mini train, butterfly, boating etc etc. But biggest attractions are lion/tiger safari and Kanheri caves – ancient caves full of ancient traditional artwork and heritage.

Borivali National Park has good signs for Toy Train and Lion safari bus service. Easiest and quickest bet to view wildlife is to walk to the Toy Train station - KrishnaNagri.

Walk on the tracks towards the left hand side and within 1 minute you will reach multiple cages.

First cage of Borivali national park of Mumbai (Bombay) houses family of spotless deers and we were lucky to have a young deer close the fence. Rest of the family was grazing at the back

Neighboring cage of the park has family of spotted deers and beautiful arent they !!

Leopards – Cheetah are the captives of the next cage of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park of Mumbai (Bombay). Both leopards well built. However they are most unfortunate as their mini cage is in open cage of spotted deers. Oh what a pity.

Lion and white tigers can be viewed in open habitat within Safari of Sanjay Gandhi National Park of Mumbai (Bombay). They roam freely in Borivali National Parks Safari region .
White tigers are next to the lion; yes they are fenced from each other. But unlike the lion, which appeared weak and old, tigers looked strong and active.

There has special buses for Sanjay Gandhi National park Lion safari and charges are Rs 15.00 per adult. Bus gets really overcrowded towards end of the day.

Toy train is a fun ride for young kids and disappointingly covers only a small section of the park. If there are no kids in the group then simply walk along the tracks. You may get to see Borivali National Parks Trimurti - stone carved statues of lord Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.

The train runs parallel to road leading to Kanheri Caves and then circles around the hill. I actually prefer to walk on the tracks and enjoy the beauty and freshness of Sanjay Gandhi National Park of Mumbai (Bombay).

Sanjay Gandhi National Park of Mumbai (Bombay) information center is located at 5 minutes walking distance from entrance. Indian Department of Forest has done good job of compiling and displaying the information in systematic manner.
Also the garden of information center has beautiful butterfly’s, attractive flowers and plants.

Caution:
1) In any condition no hunting should be done since its preserved land and all species are protected by law of Government of India.
2) Travel in groups.
Wildlife (leopard, panther, tiger etc) wanders freely in interior parts of the park and plus resident tribal can be avoided by being in group. Don’t venture on the trails and interior of the park all alone by yourself.
Local tribes still live in the park and better to maintain some distance from them.

Directions:
1) If traveling by local train then alight at Borivali station. From Borivali East take auto rickshaw. Within 15-20 mintues you will reach the park.
Its right on Eastern Express highway but when traveling by car must not take the flyover, else you will miss the park.
Entrance charges for automobiles are Rs 30.00 and per person is Rs 10.00.

2) Take special ticket of Rs 20.00 to board the bus for Kanheri Caves (7-8kms from entrance).

3) Charges for Borivali National Park's lion safari is Rs 15.00 per adult. Boarding location for Lion safari is almost 1 km inside the park. Follow the signs for toy train and just before the toy train or even from the train station, move downhill and walk over the creek. Seven kilometers along the creek is Kanheri Caves, but for Lion and Tiger Safari of Sanjay Gandhi National Park of Mumbai (Bombay) turn left-right-left again. First you will see kids park with swing, see-saw etc. Walk past the kids park towards the rotary and both at left sells ticket for boarding the bus.

4) Toy train charges are Rs 15.00

Other Places to Visit:
Evershine park at Kandivali suburb of Mumbai. Kanheri Caves of Sanjay Gandhi National Park of Mumbai. South Mumbai. V Mall, In Orbit Mall at Malad suburb of Mumbai , Hyper City mall at Malad suburb of Mumbai, Big Bazar Mall at Kandivali suburb of Mumbai. Essel World Adventure park at Gorai Beach of Mumbai.

Aamchi Mumbai

2008-10-06T05:25:00.000-07:00

Southern Mumbai provides grand display of India's vibrancy, dynamism and huge variety. South Mumbai has two tips forming a hand ready to clamp onto the beautiful Arabian Sea. Not sure though why it’s called Arabian instead of some local name. Was it due to influence of Middle Eastern countries!

South Mumbai and Malabir Hill on Google Maps

Between two tips of South Mumbai is world famous coastline – Mumbai’s Queens Necklace. Post dusk when street lamps lit the road; the glittering necklace is displayed audaciously.

Videos

India Travel Channel

Mumbai Kids
Skyline from Malabar Hill
Overlooking Malabar Hill

Marine drive, road along the Arabian Sea coast line, is the neck of the Mumbai’s Queens Necklace. If starts from Nariman Point – southernmost tip of that route and takes you all the way to Charni Road chowpatty(beach) or Girgaum beach - famous for send-off of Lord Ganesha at the end of Ganesh festival and also featured in many Bollywood movies.

While walking on Marine drive you will pass Oberoi hotel, circular Ambassador hotel, Flyover at Marines Lines station, Aquarium, Charni Road beach. All these are non-erasable landmarks which have featured in umpteen Bollywood and other Indian movies across different ages of India.

Spend few minutes on flyover of Marine lines station. Its good place to see the sea, Marine drive and skyline of South Mumbai.

If you really enjoy the walk it can talk up to 2-3 hours to walk on Marine drive pavement.

Close to Charni Road train station is Aquarium, Beach etc. At the beach one can enjoy parasailing, jet skiing, boating, massage etc. This small beach is in the heart of the city hence you will always find lot many people.

For Hanging Garden & Kamala Nehru park, take a cab/bus from the beach. The route is very scenic and takes you to Malabar hill – posh area located on a hill and home to affluent citizens of the country. This premium real estate site of Mumbai has two well known parks for family – Kamala Nehru Park & Hanging Garden

Hanging garden provides a great view of the Arabian Sea. But sadly most of it is obstructed by the tall trees and building. But the glimpse of the Sea from the hill is indeed calming. Mumbai’s Hanging garden has good variety plants, flowers, huge banyan trees. But it’s the plants pruned in animal shape which catches attention immediately.

Lord Hanuman (monkey form), peacock, giraffe, elephant and deer are the shapes pruned by gardeners. I liked giraffe more than others as it stands tall and competes with Mumbai’s sky scrapers.

Kamala Nehru children’s park is right opposite and is famous for its shoe shaped slider. It also provides a breathtaking view of Mumbai’s Queen’s necklace and the skyline.

Other Places to visit:
Babulnath temple, Priyadarshini park, Prince of Wales museum, Jehangir art gallery, Gateway of India, CST Train station, Central Library, whole sale markets in Kalbadevi, Zaveri bazaar, Cutlery market, Crawford market area, Colaba.
Famous Babul Nath temple of God Shiva. Its located on small hill and there are elevators charging INR 2.00 for the needy.
Places to Eat:
While Girgaon chowpatty offers plenty of junk food to eat, but Nariman Point - southern tip and Sukh Sagar area close to Girgaon chowpatty offers plenty of decent and good restaruants to have sumptious Indian food. There are pizza places as well. Make sure to have Kesar Pista kulfi next to Sukh Sagar restaurant.
Directions:
Like New York, trains are best way to commute in Mumbai. You can get down at Churchgate station and take a train from Charni Road station, regardless of whether you return from beach or come down from Malabar hill.

Jodhpur – India’s Sun City

2008-08-25T23:30:00.000-07:00

Jodhpur, one of Rajasthan’s premier cities, is named after King Rao Jodha. King Rao Jodha holds the credit for establishing by laying the bricks and fostering Jodhpur.

Jodhpur on Google Maps

Umed Palace novelty of Jodhpur was built by Maharaja Umed Singhji. Majority of Umed Palace is now a Seven Star hotel. Umed palace has been royal host to many celebrities; Liz Hurley’s wedding being one of the recent ones. Museum of Umed Palace is very brief and incomplete glimpse of the place, but offers short view for people not staying in hotel for INR 15.00. Like the fort, Umed Palace too is located on hill top and after dusk it turns glowing damsel due to impressive lighting

Jodhpur, though not very big city, but its huge richness of in history, art, culture & tradition begins to unfold right from the Jodhpur train station. Possibly, even before one can reach the train station.

Mighty Mehrangarh fort is visible from the train. Its hill top location historically was of strategic importance, but now its moderate display of regality. Mehrangarh’s beautiful architectural structure and location tell vociferously about the fortress.

Jodhpur’s train station itself has a beautiful red bricked clock tower as office of Indian Railways. From the railway bridge one gets a partial but beautiful view of Mehrangarh citadel.

Less than 10 kms from train station is the heart of Jodhpur's market. Located at foothills of Mehrangarh fort, its an experience to walk through the ultra narrow streets. The market is so congested and dense that though the ascending and descending streets are owed to the hill of the fort, but once you enter it’s almost impossible to see the fort.

Videos:

Narrow bypass of Jodhpur's market street

Traffic congesion on market street Jodhpur

Pungal Pada area of Jodhpur offers best of market area– ascending narrow streets densely fenced by moderate houses made extravagant by traditional and intricate Indian artwork. Some of them are so splendid that it’s hard to accept that all the historical treasure is all available for free sight. Pungal Pada area of Jodhpur is also home to world famous super delicious Indian sweet shops like Mohanji’s sweet shop and Mulji’s restaurant. Their high reputation can be heard from many Indian sweet shop owners across the globe, e.g. Sukhadia’s of New Jersey, USA.

Apart from teeth breaking, yet unstoppable, sweets; Mirchi wada dish (Spicy fritters) is specialty of Jodhpur. Try it at Mulji’s hotel. Owner mistook me for a food inspector while capturing the ingredients of Mirchi wada.

It’s truly a thrilling and enchanting experience to stroll and witness the historic and traditional city of Jodhpur.

Jodhpur ain’t all about history. Like Manhattan, Jodhpur has its own Flatiron building. Though not as big as one in Manhattan, but miniature structure is good reminiscent of New York like setup including intersection of Broadway and 5th Ave.
Jodhpur is shopper’s paradise for Rajasthani style Indian artifacts, craftwork, clothing, gifts and souvenirs. Many five to seven stars luxury hotels of the world use these items for interior decoration.

Clock tower (Ghanta Ghar) market of Jodhpur and National handloom house offers another option to buyers Being major tourist attraction there are plenty of hotels available for accommodation.

Paanch Baati rotary has many hotels, as shown above, Umed Palace is very close to this area

Caution:
Jodhpur is a very safe city with very lowcrime rate. Though summers and winters are extreme, I prefer to travel during winter.
Food and sweets are too delicious to avoid, please visit when not on diet.
Culture of Jodhpur is very religous and traditional with lot of respect for local royal families.

Nearyby Places:
Jaipur, Udaipur, Mehsana, Mount Abu. Medta Road .... just too many

Glowing Evershine of Kandivali

2008-08-19T04:07:00.000-07:00

Evershine Park of Kandivali on Google Maps

Thakur Village township of Kandivali (East), Mumbai, provides a quick summary of India’s economic success and change of attitude. Impressive thing is that 15 years ago this area was a flat barren land. Today it’s an Independent Township with multiple skyscrapers of 20-25 floors, luxury shops, malls, restaurants, cinema halls, schools, Engineering, Medical institutes, hospitals and of course lots of parks.

Evershine Park, a small park, is one of the most impressive of all parks. It’s mainly for small kids and many options provided for their enjoyment like regular swings, sew-saw, sliders etc,

A mini train its own train station is also one of the prime attraction, however, it’s a automobile with multiple open coaches

A raised platform offers good view of the park and can serves dual purpose of a performing stage as well. The dual castles on the dias reminds of entrance of Disney Land.

Symmetrical Park’s has two open terraces as well, offering good view of the dias itself.

Colored fountains are the most impressive offerings of Evershine park of Kandivali. All over the park one can see dynamic and multicolored fountains of different patterns. It’s another good item which not only small kids but also grown-ups enjoy.

Small sections with green grass and the periphery of the park caters to people looking for jogging and relaxing on turf.

Mismanaged local cafeteria is one weak point not only due to its poor quality but also the price for the sub-standard quality.

Nirvana Vegetarian restaurant near, Evershine park of Kandivali, is one great restaurant in the area which is about 7-10 minutes walking distance. After long time I really savored restaurant food. In INR 900.00 five adults and a small kid had sumptuous dinner.
Domino’s pizza is also good option, plus there are other street vendors as well

Nearby Places:
Sanjay Gandhi National Park of Mumbai is hardly 15-20 minutes away, local malls, theatre, restaurant, small parks

Time to Visit:
Regardless of month, ensure that you visit around 4:30-5:00 pm, because fountains are switched ON only after dusk. If you go too early you would miss on the colorful spectacle.
I would avoid summers, since Mumbai’s weather is very humid and one gets drenched in sweat too quickly

Directions:
Once in Mumbai, take local train till Kandivali and board auto-rickshaw from the East of Kandivali. In 30 minutes, you can reach the park after crossing the Western Express highway. It should cost you around Rs. 30-40.
Park entry fee is Rs 5.00 per person and additional charges of Rs 50.00 for camera.

Empress Botanical Garden of Pune

2008-08-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

Empress or Queens garden is one of the unique family park of Pune.
Don’t know why the garden is called so, however, it does have meaningful name – Botanical garden.

What a treat it is to spend 2-3 hours in the park, this sizeable park is grand display of nature’s unimaginable variety and beauty. Kindly bear with my limited knowledge of scientific terms related to trees but the actual park does have tree’s correct names.
Entry is Rs 5.00 and no charges for parking.

Like most other parks it has section for young kids apart from nature lovers. On entering start towards the right to see two in one beauty a small stream overpowered by big tree with hanging stems. One such big tree got uprooted and is put for display; this would force you to check the sky above and all you will see are the tall trees. No they aren’t as tall as the mighty Redwood trees but are taller than average.

On walking further came across this striking plant with red flower or fruit. Take a pick yourself!

Next to it is a motherly tree with its stem extending in curvilinear manner to form an almost perfect circle for family photograph.

We then skimped through the little section due to most unusual tree. Tree so passionate, that it tied knot to itself. Indeed a true masterpiece. Ground below is full of red colored exotic insects, but their population does give a scare.

In the mid section you will see variety of trees one of them is extra wide banyan like tree. This was one of the trees which reminded me of gigantic trunks of Redwood tree.
Right of it was a tree with two uncommon birds with shrieky sound, but their beak was an artwork.

Further round the park you will see a tree with web like base trunk, trees in natural bouquets and a chauvinist tree coiling to make the other tree look meek.

Back portion of the garden is more like a mini forest, where in one area we spotted white birds.

Caution:
Back portion of park has many insects and snakes. But more repulsive is likelihood of some anti-social elements, security guards strictly advised against entering the back zone.

Nearby Places:

Saras Baug or Swans Park. Peshwa Park. Bund garden . Pune Race course ground, Parvati Hill . Beautiful Gurudwara made of white marble. Sambhaji Park JM Road .

Directions:
Located in Pune camp area hardly 2 kms from Pune race course ground. Roughly its 7-10 kms from Pune railway station.
For mall junkies its very close to Big Bazar mall of Bhairon Bha Nalla area.

Bund Garden AKA Mahatma Gandhi udyan of Pune

2008-08-02T23:22:00.000-07:00

Bund Garden of Pune on Google Map

Bund Garden a.k.a. Mahatma Gandhi Udyan, is very small family park on the banks of Mula river in Pune. no its location is not secluded. Park is part of the busiest road junction of Pune.

Inspite of its urbanish location in a city where real estate prices have already sky rocketed, it does cater to different sections of society kids, parents, youths, casual bird watchers and health conscious individuals as well.

A small section of park is dedicated to kids with swing, see-saw etc. Most of the park is covered with green grass and has benches for comfortable seat. But the noise pollution of the busy junction drives you towards the fence overlooking Mula river.

If you visit mid monsoon, i.e. July – Aug onwards, you would enjoy the sight of gushing flow of water in otherwise dry tributary of Mula river. Park‘s trees house variety of birds nest like sparrow, mayna, crow etc. Deccan College road leading to Khadki is located on the other bank. Shiv mandir on a small hill of Deccan College road is good view. On the right of the park is the AhmedNagar Rd bridge.

We visited just before dusk ~ 6:30pm, birds were so active that their noise had overtaken the traffic noise. Park also has a center fountain, but due to renovation it was closed.

Paying Rs 5.00 parking charges is good means securing your vehicle in isolated area instead of leaving aside on main road and bear the brunt of exhausted Pune motorist eager to reach home or other destination.

In parking there is a ghat leading to Mula river, where historically some boating activities were carried out. Now there is no sign of any boating. Parking area is very dirty and poorly managed area. Thankfully there is no human filth.

Opposite the park is joggers park of Rotary Club of Pune, entry is Rs 4.00 per person, but since it was almost dark we skipped the joggers park.

Bund garden is place one can easily skip as there is very too much price paid for its little offering. But if you are mall junkie then there are two malls a stone throw distance of the park

Nearby Places:
Pune Central Mall on RTO road, Satgurus mall for ethnic and luxurious gift items, Osho ashram at Koregaon park., JM Road and Sambhaji Park.

Saras Baug or Swans Park. Empress or Queens garden

Directions:
Park is within 5 kms of Pune railway station. One has to come on Ahmed Nagar road where RTO office, famous Ruby Hall Clinic and Jehangir Cancer hospitals are located.
Auto rickshaw is a good option.
If you are coming from Swargate, then you have two options - either get onto overcrowded JM Road or drive through Pune Army's camp area which gives respite from crazy evening traffic.

If coming from Aundh, Kothrud then reach Sancheti Hospital via driving on University Road. From Sancheti turn left and then turn right towards RTO / Le Meridien hotel.

Right next to Pune Central mall and opposite KBC (Kumar Builders) tower.

Life is free in Sarasbaug

2008-07-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

Sarasbaug – Swan’s park is a neat, family park located near Swargate & Parvati hill in Pune. As the name suggests the park has many free resident swans both white and black.
Yes you read it right – swans are not caged as in zoo, so it’s a great spectacle to witness the beautiful birds having accepted this park as their permanent dwelling.

It’s a great joy to see these beautiful birds from so closely in their natural habitat free of any cages.

Centre point of the park has nicely built Ganesh temple and there are plenty of trees and plants with beautiful flowers and green grass. Whats striking is that the Ganesh temple is constructed on a natural small pond. One has to climb around 20-30 steps to enter the temple, not to say that it does give good overview of park’s front and the main road.

At first sight the pond appears to be just another with plenty of hyacinth and water lilies but on careful observation it’s inevitable to notice plenty of marine life. Yes the pond is full of tadpoles, colorful fishes and huge tortoises.
Infact, hyacinths play important role in privacy of marine life from camera flashes of intrusive humans (like me ) but also protection. Protection from innocent looking swans. Yes they too need to eat something to maintain their looks.

It’s actually the pond which has contributed to building the community of swans. This small natural ecosystem in the park makes it unique from other contemporary parks and very-very different from zoo.

Trees at the back of Ganesh temple is the place to view the beautiful white swans. They are in plenty in this park. You may not even have to wait to reach the back of the temple to watch them. If you carefully watch the pond, you could very easily find one amongst the hyacinths - catching a fish.

White swans with orange beaks are easy to spot, it’s the black swan which is hard to find. I luckily spotted one taking a quick dip in pond and flying away with its meal. Good sight but felt bad for the fish.

Also you will see beautiful twin trees at the right side of the temple, which lulls you to be in Kerala backwaters. From the same right side you can see the Parvati hill.

Park has another entrance from left side of the temple. This side road is full of eating stalls very similar to stalls of Mumbai’s Chowpatty. You can really savor on variety of Indian snacks. But for restaurants you have to drive towards the Swargate Bus depot

Caution:
Entry to the park is free but it’s safer to park your car in pay and park to avoid risk of car getting towed by authorities.

Nearby places to see Parvati Hill. Peshwa park. Other temples. Bund garden . Sports stadium. Empress or Queens garden.

To Lion from Tiger point, Lonavala

2008-07-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

Lonavala is one of the most famous and popular tourist spot in Western India amongst family and youths. Monsoon onwards (June) Lonavala hill station is swamped with people of different age groups. Thought Bushy dam of Lonavala is the hot spot of all visitors and numerous waterfalls are the crowd pullers, but 20-30kms from Bushy Dam is majestic view of Western ghats (ravines) from Tiger point and Lion Point of Lonavala in the Sahyadri ranges. Amby Valley project of Sahara group is about 20-30 kms from Lion point.

Acting on pleasant hangover our recent visit to Tamhini ghat, Lonavala was easiest of the spot to pick. This time we had our family members with us.
Our starting was unexpectedly agonizing, as the driver didn’t know a better way and we ended up taking a much longer route from Chinchwad, Pimpri to reach the old Mumbai Pune highway. I wanted to enjoy the drive from the local villages, hence was biased against the routine Mumbai – Pune expressway route.
After unnecessary drive of 1 hr, the sight of lush green villages was very refreshing.
Roads were surprisingly good and as expected soon we came across toll booth where nominal charges of INR 25.00 was paid.

Coincidently just left of toll booth had a swamp full of fresh green plants. The background of hills was further beautified by the cavalry of spotless white birds, which seemed to be feeding on swamps marine life. The site was picture perfect.
Sight of parallel railway track playing a secure host to colorful speeding train in the valley was a bonus of choosing the route.
After cutting through crowded main street of Lonavala, hit a traffic congestion on a narrow road. Soon realized it was due to poorly managed toll both. Though wasn’t too happy in paying Rs 5.00 per head & Rs20.00 for the car as pollution tax, but it made sense. Bushy dam is nearly 4-5 kms from the toll booth and 7-8 kms Lonavala railway station.

Bushy dam was overly crowded and with local parking rates of Rs 20.00, decided to skip and continue ahead. It was indeed the right .

Passing Bushy Dam, we stopped at Tiger point of Lonavala, 15-20 minutes from Bushy dam . The view was spectacular and many people were enjoying the waterfalls. Some couples were unnecessarily brave for climbing down while holding their 1-2 year baby, especially because the waterfall was close to ravine and rocks were very slippery. Some youths did trip but thankfully on the wrong-side of ravine.

View from Tiger point of Lonavala is very good, especially of the dome like peak with a flatbed holding the dam’s water. Apart from the view ensure to savor the salty baked corn with lemony tinge, it costs only Rs 5.00 & 7.00. But a must do to enjoy the monsoon rain on the high peaks.

Less than 5 kilometers further is Lion point of Lonavala. Its one of the best places I have seen. The view is very spectacular - due to the unprotected cliff which is thousands of feet high. Getting close to the edge enforces a feeling of great adventure & thrill. Down below you see open flat land with small villages and local farmers busy with their cattle in the farms.
The panoramic view is nature’s extravaganza and its might.

On the right side you see the same dam, visible from Tiger point, but you also see the rugged muscles / scales of the strong mountain on which the natural water repository is housed and excess water being drained as spectacular waterfall.
Left hand side has peak which locals call as Shiva ling, while to me looked more like gigantic Hershey’s kiss me chocolate. Peak could have been easily used in Charlie’s Choclate factory.

In between is open cliff called the Lion point of Lonavala, due to geographical arrangement the wind from lower stratum gets blocked by the tall mountain which causes a wind force of 40-60 kms/hr on the cliff. Yes the headwinds were too overpowering, yet there were many youths braving to the edge of the cliff but we practiced discretion is better part of valor.

20-30 kms further is Amby Valley, location of Sahara groups most reputed housing projects where many Bollywood, cricket celebrities and well known industrialists have bought prestigious property worth a fortune. Roads leading to Amby valley are world class and lulled me to believe of being driving in USA.

On our way back clouds had captured the Lion point and visibility was almost zero. What a day it was proving to be – being in the clouds at thousands of feet in one of the most beautiful valleys of Western India. Place where it was bright sunlight had no visibility in less than an hour. Nature’s magic had been constantly unfolding in stages displaying its might and beauty in phases. For me it was sign of warm welcome by Mother Nature to all the visitors. Else why it would have been so articulate and precise in her grandeur?

Nearby Places:
Mulshi Dam, Tamhini ghat, Karla Caves, umpteen waterfalls, water park near Lonaval station. Khandala. BhimaShanker
For Mulshi Dam, Tamhini ghat after crossing INS Shivaji (Indian Navy), take left towards Mulshi to enjoy beauty of Tamhini ghat on same day.
Plenty of restaurants to eat and enjoy, including Smoking Joes Pizza joint.

Caution:
Drive Slow especially while driving down the steep hill. While climbing, Be watchful of oncoming traffic
Administration of Lonavala has done good work by deploying cops patrolling to avoid past nuisance created by youngsters after getting drunk and create the place more family oriented. Indeed, toll money is being used properly by the administration - good reason for me to pay the toll.

Directions:
From Mumbai its 3-4 hours drive at a distance of 120-150 kms.

From Pune it takes about 1 hr 15 minutes to cover distance of 40-50 kms.

From Pune two routes are either via the Mumbai-Pune expressway where toll of Rs 84.00 is charged or travel on NH 4 (old Mumbai - Pune highway) where you get to enjoy the countryside beauty more and toll is also much less.

Wild West glimpse at Tamhini ghat near Mulshi

2008-07-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

Tamhini ghat near Mulshi on Google Maps

Tamhini ghat is part of mammoth Western ghats of India, also known as Sahyadri ranges, starting from Western and central state of India and crosing over the southern Indian peak. For nature lovers it’s another quick and great escape from urban Mumbai or Pune. From Pune, it’s a day’s trip. Without indulging in trekking or other adventure it can easily be completed in half day.
After series of monotonous, tiring weekends we decided to take a break and go for a days outing. With advent of monsoon, Mulshi lake was natural choice since its only 1-2 hours drive from my house. The drive is scenic since its on a small hill overlooking the busy Banglore-Pune-Mumbai highway. Within 5 kms of the toll you are already away from urban Pune and driving through towns.

We started at 11:00pm & after taking some photos of scenic route stopped at village to buy fresh buns for our pre planned brunch in Mulshi lake resort which was still about 45 minutes away.
On the way crossed Paud town, which is known for its police station, law court and a road connectivity to phase 3 of Hinjewadi’s Rajiv Gandhi IT and Bio Technology park.
This IT park hosts multiple big campuses of Infosys, TCS, Wipro etc.

Immediately after Paud in next town you saw pack of hill hotels and resorts on asingle hill, but it’s the neighboring hill reclining farming which forced us to stop for few more photos. View was reminiscent of Darjeeling in Assam, India.

From there onwards, it’s all rustic villages separated by vast fields in between. After crossing Mulshi Dam, now in control of Tata Power for hydro electricity generation, came across Yoga retreat centers till we reached the resort for our brunch. Had a quick feasting on Missal Pav (blend of spicy curry of potatoes, lentil with dry mixture).

Location of the Green Table resort at the foothills of Mulshi of cloudy peaks and on the shores of Mulshi lake is ideal. But the landscaping of the small resort is very well thought and immaculate. It was truly amazing to see the beauty and variety of the flowers and plants in the small resort.

Blooming flowers were attracting many colorful butterflies to draw the nectar. It was indeed a retreating view of butterflies feasting on flower nectar – a sight I witnessed for the first time in my life.

On resort owners recommendation we decided to travel 30 kms further towards Tamhini ghat. After reluctantly driving we came across mesmerizing view from height of thousands of feet overlooking of cascaded peaks with abrupt valley.

Sight reminded of Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA, with added tinge of cloud clad peaks better than smoky mountains in Tennessee, USA. Few kms further saw flat landresmbling the wild-wild west western landscape of mid western USA, e.g. Monument valley of Utah.

The declining road reminded me of view from peak of Mt Washburn of YellowStone national park in Wyoming, USA.

What is remarkable is that single place offering contrasting views i.e. green and cloud covered Smoky peaks and few hundred meters below one sees dry and barren land. Sight reflecting India’s unity in diversity.

Caution:
The place is relatively secluded especially after leaving Mulshi lake, yey you would come across villages and off road restaurants. Venturing alone in Tamhini ghats should be avoided as I have heard occasional cases of robbery. If not in a group then daytime travel is recommended. Its safe to travel during daytime.
Also there are many sharp turns and in monsoon season one should drive with good care, especially whenever a heavy vehicle is passing from other side. As there aren't road dividers.

Nearby Places:
Mulshi Lake, Mulshi Dam, Konkan Region, Mulshi Rustic Villages, farms, Mulshi Yoga retreat centers with plenty of options to eat and sip warm tea/coffee in the clouds

How to reach
We started around 11:00 am and from Chandni Chowk, Kothrud in Pune, turned onto toll road going towards Konkan region and Goa. Toll charge is Rs 25.00 for normal car. Came back home by 7:00 pm.
A positive note on commendable effort of Maharashtra government for having regular bus service in remotest places. Something for American government to learn from, especially after petrol prices soaring to $4.5/gallon. Please note that I traveled by car and advise you to start driving with full tank due to regular mountainous terrain.

Nearby Places to see:
Lion point, Tiger point, Lonavala. Karla Caves. Khandala. BhimaShanker

Related Links:

http://www.westernghats.org/

http://www.westernghatsforum.org/

Fruits, Vegetables Exhibition at Sambhaji Park on J M Road, Pune

2008-06-15T00:24:00.000-07:00

J.M. Road (Junglee Maharaj Rd) is one busy road of Pune, hardly few kilometers from Pune Station. J. M. Road of Pune is known for many reasons due to its variety of businesses e.g banks, good shops, outlets, institutes, College ground. But none matches its unusual name, it is truly unique and named after a guru called Jangli Maharaj (Check wikipedia.org).
Of all its offering lesser known is Sambhaji Park. Sambhaji park of Pune is a little park named after King Sambahji Maharaj, son of visionary Maratha king Shivaji Maharaj who fought bravely against the Moghuls.
Sambhaji Park JM Road of Pune on google maps
Although Sambhaji Park of Pune, doesn’t have anything remarkable, but I was impressed because I accidentally visited on during Fruits and Vegetables annual exhibition held in Feb 2008.

Fruit and Vegetable exhibition of Pune is organized annually in Sambhaji Park.
Feature of the exhibition is innovative use of vegetables, fruits, flowers etc decorated with impressive creativity by the farm owners.

Organizers did splendid job of decorating the park it beautified the ambience of Sambhaji Park remarkably of other wise ordinary park. We entered from the gate towards Deccan Gymkhana and quickly went through children’s drawing display towards the fountain. Next to the fountain was small garden with matrix of beautiful yellow flowers.
The beautiful array of flowers caught my attention and the welcome fountain was very impressive.
Then we moved onto the right hand side towards the stalls/booths. I was surprised by the beauty of the displays it was made me realize that the exhibition is taken very seriously and is pretty well known and does have quality criteria to qualify for having a booth.

This small little exhibition made me realize that creativity is a universal phenomenon and doesn’t matter whether one is a doctor, fashion designer; even a simple & hard working farmer has an artistic aspect which was displayed splendor.

We did buy a Daisy flower, cauliflower type amazing plant and a flower bud. There were around 20-25 booths. After all the fun and shopping just when I felt that I am tired I was surprised by a majestic display – War Tank. It tank was captured by Indian troops by winning over Pakistian’s army in battle of 1971.

From the gate, towards Deccan Gymkhana, the right end of Sambhaji Park has a small aquarium with fee of INR 2.00. Next to aquarium is a small model of a city. It tries to cover good aspect of a village e.g. train, highway with crossing and over bridge, village well, houses trees etc etc. Waking further to the right you will see a decent waterfall with goddess Lakshmi standing in the pond, being saluted by raised tusks of two elephants.
On our way out we did stop to savor Kachi Dabeli – Pan fried bun bread stuffed with cooked potatoes, peanuts and pomegranate, sandwich and of course drinking Coconut water drinking right from the coconut.
It was delightful experience at Sambhaji Park of Pune during the exhibition and we still enjoy watching those plants grow.
Nearby Places to See:
Bund Garden, Empress or Queens Garden. Saras Baug or Swans Park. Parvati
Branded Shopping stores e.g Van Huesen, Peter England, Nike, Reebok, Woodland, Levis etc. Plenty to eat at Pizza Hut, Baskin Robbins, other Indian, chinese restaurants etc. Many Indian banks including ATM of Citibank. Cross Words book store.

Nearby FC Road with Fergusson college, British council library and many restaurants e.g. Punjabi Dhaba - Horn Ok Please etc. DCC - A famous computer vendor behind Deccan Bus Depot(10 mins walking).
Another PMT bus depot near Municipal Corporatin at 5 mins walking distance.

How to go there:
Take auto from Pune station and ask for J M Road. For car owners follow signs for Deccan Gymkhana and can park either at roadside or multi level pay and park both for Rs 5.00.

Parvati of Pune

2008-05-31T05:21:00.000-07:00

Parvati of Pune on Google Maps

Parvati hill in Pune, India is a good place to visit. Hill got its name due to Parvati's (wife of god Shiva) temple (

official site) . It takes around 7-15 minutes to climb the hill. Though steep yet Parvati hill is very safe and there are no dangerous edges anywhere hence you will see lots of small kids running ahead of their parents. It has no loose road and nicely constructed steps make the climb a bit simpler and temple more accessible to larger masses.

The main temple has Silver patriarchic statue of god Shiva with goddess Parvati and god Ganesh sitting on Shiva’s laps. Both are architected in gold.
On first sight I mistook Silver statue of Shiva to be that of Parvati’s with her sons Ganesh & Karthik seated on her lap and thought what an ingenious motherly imagination, but …
reality made me wonder why Shiva got center seat at Parvati temple. Simple – mother goddess Parvati is a known to be devoted, family women ). Hence god Shiva must hold a central place in her temple.

Temple has decent open space around it and also some places to sit with a view overlooking the hill. There is also an open terrace, on the four walls of open space, though one has to pay miniscule INR 2.00, but the unhindered 360 degree view is breathtaking and really worth. Architects of the temple anticipated very well the significance of its location and built the open terrace for the devotees and visitors.

Apart from the statue and terrace, the entrance deserves the mention. Architects again put in good thought and instead of ordinary gate they have built a very strong looking cascaded pillars around the door which imparts immediate sense of strength and power of the place.

On completing the climb, you would see another temple but for Parvati temple you need to turn right and climb 7-8 more steps. Even before you enter the temple you would be held back by the beautiful panoramic view of Pune city.

Same complex houses four additional temples for which you have to turn right from the steps of the hill and walk past the Peshwa museum. (Entrance for Peshwa museum is INR 5.00).

If you happen to visit just before the sunset, then make it a point to visit the leftmost temple. Just before the temple you can experience some self-bravery by standing on the edge of the cliff. The cliff is fenced so nothing to worry but you can feel uninterrupted gushy winds and also enjoy the beautiful sunset from the hill top.

Due to its hilly location many locals come here for maintaining health. In and around the temple you will find many people practicing yoga, exercising, stretching and of course playing funky Bollywood music too. When in majority they make you wonder if its temple or a gym! It does bother me because it disturbs the serene and quiet atmosphere of this marvelous temple. However I have decided to change my timings of future visit.

As soon as the climb is complete to the right you can deposit your show wears and to the left there is a small canteen where you get good tea along with traditional Indian snacks.

Your way down should be very quick and should be able to complete in 7-10 minutes. Note it’s the down way which can be very risky while its raining. Some of steps ARE steep and a little carelessness can easily trip you to go rolling down for few meters. Since it’s a safe hill you will not go rolling all the way down J

Most disappointing is the start and mid section of the hill. Due to resident locals there is lot of the dirt, filth and foul smell. I was so annoyed that at I thought of turning from half way. But thankfully didn’t take that decision, else I would have regretted it later.

Nearby Places and Landmarks:
Its close to one of the most popular landmarks of Pune - Swargate Bus Depot. Peshwa Park, Saras Baug. Bund garden .
Sambhaji Park JM Road . Empress or Queens Garden

Best Season to visit:
Monsoon season i.e. September onwards till Feb. Monsoon because the hill turns lush green from its usual brown colour. Visit when it’s not raining since the steps can get dangerously slippery due to hilly terrain.

How To Get There

Located close to well known Swargate bus depot of Pune. Nearby landmarks are Sarasbaug (Swans Park, Peshwa Park)

For people travelling from Mumbai, on Pune Mumbai Expressway - enter town of Kothrud from Chandni Chowk area onto Paud Road. Then get onto Karve Road and get on one of the bridges to cross the Mutha river.