It was after a gap of more than four months, that two of us again planned for a trip.  We have so far covered eight of the twelve Jyotirlingas.  For ninth we selected Bhimashankar near Pune.  The plan was to cover Mahableshwar also.  Mahableshwar is the highest hill station in Western Ghats of Maharashtra. Mahableshwar is Sanskrit word meaning ‘God of Great Power’. The central point for us was Pune city.  We stayed at Pune and went from here to Bhimashankar and Mahableshwar and came back in the evening.  We boarded the flight at 8.20 pm from Delhi on 1.9.14 and reached Pune at 10.20 pm. In Pune, we stayed at CPWD Holiday Home in Mukund Nagar, situated in the heart of the city, which was booked by one of my friends Shri V.S. Pandey. 

2.9.2014

On this day we started at 7.00 am so as to visit Bhimashankar Temple and came back to guest house by 5.00 pm.  On our way to Bhimashankar Temple we saw lush green hills.  When we were close to our destination it started raining and by the time we got down from car to go for darshan it was heavy rains.  We could not see other points near Bhimashankar due to bad weather.  On our way back we could shoot Mulla Mutha river and Dimphu Dam.

3.9.2014

We started at 7.30 am for Mahableshwar.  On way we stopped at Mapro factory which prepares jams, squashes, jelly, sauce etc.  We could not see the working in the factory as the previous day was a holiday in the factory and cleansing process was going on.  We did our shopping for the products prepared in factory.  From there we straight went to Mahableshwar leaving Panchagani to be seen on way back in the hope that there would be no rain till noon.  But it was raining all along.  During interagnum of rain we could see one or two points.  We could only see Kate’s point and old Mahabaleshwar leaving Arthur’s point and nearby points pending for our next visit.

Kate’s Point is along the Duchess Road. It is at a height of 1,290 metres and one of the greatest points.  It gives a mesmerizing view of Krishna valley and deep waters of Dhom Dam that further creates the landscape more captivating.  Near this point is Echo point where one can hear one’s own voice coming back.  We spent some time here and enjoy the echo although it was raining.  We could not see the other points nearby due to heavy fog and rain and only had a foggy view of Krishna valley.

Old Mahabaleshwar and the famous Panchganga Mandir, is said to contain the springs of five rivers: Koyna, Venna, Savitri, Gayatri and the sacred Krishna River. There’s also the Mahabaleshwar Mandir, revered for its Swayambhu Lingam.  From here we went to Arthur’s seat but could not see any thing due to heavy fog and rains.

At Panchagani also we could see only one of the three points i.e. Parsi point and missed tableland and sargam point due to heavy rains.  On way back from Panchagani we stopped for a visit to JNV, Satara. 

Parsi Point is known for offering beautiful views of the Dhom Dam backwaters and the lush green Krishna Valley. This popular picnic spot has derived its name from the fact that in earlier days, it was a favourite spot of the Parsi Community.  This is a spot in Panchgani which is blessed with all worthy natural beauties. One can spend hours in this calm and cool ambience enjoying the fragrant breeze emerging out from the hilly ranges.

4.9.2014

This day was fixed for Pune local sight seeing, we started at 10 am and were able to see only a few places as commuting from

one place to another took time due to heavy traffic and closure of some of the roads for Ganesh festival.

The Agakhan Palace Pune is a national monument of India’s freedom movement. Gandhiji, Kasturba Gandhi and his secretary Mahadevbhai Desai were interned at the palace from August 9, 1942 to May 6, 1944 following the launch of Quit India movement in 1942. Mahadevbhai and

Kasturba passed away while in captivity at the Agakhan palace and their samadhis are located in the campus. The palace is situated near the River Mula and was built in 1892 by Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah Agakhan III.

Shaniwarwada was the stately mansion originally built as the residence of the Peshwas. The foundation of the mansion was laid by Peshwa Baji Rao I, prime minister to Chattrapati Shahu, king of the Maratha empire, on Saturday, January 10, 1730 AD and construction was completed in 1732 AD.  As the foundation stone was laid on Saturday, it was called shaniwarwada.  It used to be the headquarters of Peshwas. Initially a seven storied structure was later gutted by a fire in the palace. Only the remains can be seen now like the

fortification walls with five gateways and nine bastions that enclosed the entire palace.

Parvati Hill and Temple – it is one of the most scenic locations of Pune and is situated at 2100 feet height above sea level.  It offers an aerial view of the entire city of Pune.  One can spend some time here to get respite from the city life.  We also spent some time here to enjoy the scenic beauty of the city, the weather was also favorable.

Peshwa Museum is part of the palace built by Peshwas in 1795. The rare collection is displayed in the museum and hence treated to be the most important museum connected

with the history of Pune and Peshwa Raj.  

Saras Baugh Ganpati - In the 18th century, soon after completion of Shree Devdeveshwar Temple on Parvati hill, Shrimant Nanasaheb Peshwa turned his attention towards the development and beautification of environs of Parvati hills. He decided to construct a lake at the foothills of Parvati. An island of about 25000 Sq.ft. area was retained in the middle of this lake. Later on, a beautiful garden was created on this island. Shrimant Nanasaheb Peshwa gave it a poetic name, “Sarasbaug”.

In 1784,  Shrimant Sawai Madhavrao Peshwa built a small temple in Sarasbaug and installed the idol of Shree Siddhivinayak Gajanan, the God he worshipped. Sarasbaug has now become a place of worship for people from all over the world and also a popular hang-out for Punekars.

After taking a break to get time to chat with some old friends we returned to the Guest House.  In the evening, we visited Dagruseth Ganpati temple. It was raining all along.  The rush of people was so huge that it looked like all the people from Pune and near by places wanted to get the darshan of the holy idol this day only.  We took outside darshan only. Dagruseth Halwai temple is famous Lord Ganapati Temple in Pune.  Everybody coming to Pune should visit Dagdusheth Ganpati Temple and take the blessing of Lord Ganesha. Your tour to Pune is incomplete without this.

5.9.2014

We packed up our luggage to board the flight to Delhi at 11.25 am and reached Delhi at 1.35 pm.  It was heavy rains all our way from airport to home.