Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar : Kashmir of Maharashtra

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.
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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

Jodhpur – India’s Sun City

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

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.

Life is free in Sarasbaug

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.