I have been living in Pune since last 5 years, but, never bothered to check out what makes Pune special. Then one day i got a call from a friend who said he was planning to visit Pune. He then went on to inquire what all places would be worth visiting.
I was flummoxed at this prompt query and this set a thought process which culminated me in taking this Pune Darshan. The day that we selected was the auspicious occasion of Dassehra.
Date : 22/10/2015
I was accompanied by my wife Priyanka, my son Raunak and my sister Shweta on this trip. It turned out to be a memorable trip in many ways as you will find out below :) PMPML has partnered with private firm GeoDirect to provide air conditioned buses along with trained guides for making Pune Darshan an enriching experience. I booked the tickets via GeoDirect website and got a prompt SMS with ticket confirmation details. The ticket costed us around Rs 500 per person. This was followed by a call to get my confirmation that i would be available on time which happened to be 8:30 am.
Next day i.e. on the day the trip was to be made, we woke up early and made all the preparations. However, we ended up following IST and hence by the time we completed the preparations and started from home it was already 8:10 am. By normal running time of auto ,it was expected for us to take half an hour to reach Pune Station, the first of the two boarding points.
The second one being in Deccan Gymkhana. However, by slight misfortune we could not get any auto for next 10 minutes. Finally, when we did get an auto , it was an old one and hence tended to slow down lots of time.On my wife's suggestion i called up GeoDirect. They informed me that the bus has already departed from Pune Station and advised me to catch it from the next stop i.e Deccan Gymkhana.
With some good thinking we switched our auto. This new auto driver was a proper Puneite and was able to drop us at the Deccan Gymkhana boarding point within time. When we reached there, the bus was already present and ready to leave. We thanked our stars and boarded the bus. It started on time at 9:00 am.
Our Pune Darshan Bus:
Our first stop was Kesari Wada.
It is located in Narayan Peth. Gaikwads built the monument. Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak used to run his two newspapers, the Kesari, in Marathi and Maratha in English from Kesari Wada.
Our next stop was Shaniwar Wada.
Shaniwar Wada is an 18th century fortification. Built in 1746, it was the seat of the Peshwa rulers of the Maratha Empire until 1818. One of its highlights is the Entrance gate.
My wife and my sister along with Raunak at the Shaniwar Wada gate:
This was followed by Lal Mahal. Due to certain reasons , we just did the external Darshan as it was under renovation. Guide gave us the details saying it was called Lal Mahal because it is made of Red Stones.In the year 1630 AD, Shivaji's father Shahaji Bhosale established the Lal Mahal for his wife Jijabai and son. The original Lal Mahal fell into ruins and that the current Lal Mahal is a reconstruction of the Original.
Our next stop was Dagdusheth Ganpati (External Darshan). This temple is sponsored by Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai and is a temple of Lord Ganesha also known as Ganpati. This temple is very popular and is visited by thousands of pilgrims every year.
Our next stop was Kelkar Museum.
Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum contains the collection of Dr. Dinkar G Kelkar dedicated to the memory of his only son, Raja. The three-storey building houses various sculptures dating back to the 14th century. There are also ornaments made of ivory, silver and gold, musical instruments, war weapons and vessels.
One part of particular interest is the Mastani Mahal. Raja Kelkar made an attempt at depicting the palace of Mastani (Wife of the Peshwa Baji Rao I) with its Remnants.
Entry fees consisted of Rs 50 with photography via camera phones costing Rs 75 additionally.
Our next spot was Savitribai Phule Pune University Main Building. It was just an External Tour. Guide informed us that formerly called as the University of Pune.
Our next stop was Ambedkar Museum. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Museum is one of the most popular and sought-after places in Pune. This museum has been set in the fond memory of the great freedom fighter and champion of the untouchables, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, who played major role in drafting of the Indian Constitution.
My sister in front of the replica of Ambedkar's Study room:)
My wife posing outside one of the exhibits:
Our next stop was the Pu. La. Deshpande Udyan.
It is also known as the Pune-Okayama Friendship Garden located on Sinhgad Road. It was built in inspiration of the 300 year old Okayama Koraku-en Garden, hence the name. Photography is strictly not allowed.
Several Bollywood movies such as Salman khan starrer Bodyguard and other regional language movies have been shot here.
Myself under the shed:
My wife and kid giving a pose:
Our next stop was Saras Baug.
It is a major Landmark in Pune. The place where the park now stands was once occupied by a small lake. However, the lake dried up and was later developed into Saras Baug. The Ganesh temple in Saras Baug is also known as Talyatla Ganpati meaning Ganpati of the Lake.
Having covered so many spots (with Tendulkar Museum, Rajiv Gandhi Zoo, Shinde Chattri, Yudh Bhumi, Aga Khan Palace yet to be covered, as part of the post lunch visiting spots) , we were all really hungry, and rightly so, as it well past noon.
Hence, we proceeded to have lunch in one of the nearby restaurant which happened to serve Chinese & Continental stuff. What happened there would make another interesting read as something really fatal was prevented from happening ;) Though now i can take it in a lighter vein.
This.. and my experience on the remaining spots that we covered.. to follow in the next post.
Dasvidaniya!! till we meet again..
..in my Pune Darshan Part II :)
