Pune
Location- Southwestern part of Indian state of Maharashtra
Area- 146.11 sq km
Major Attractions- Agakhan Palace, Raja Denkar Kelkar Museum, Osho Commune International
Ideal time to visit- October to March
Pune is not a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai, but the eighth metro city of India. However when compared with other cosmopolitan or metro cities of India, Pune is a pleasant gateway destination to spend a quite holiday.
Pune is situated in the southwestern part of Indian state of Maharashtra; the city is a clam yet peaceful destination for tourists who want to have a peaceful yet attractive version of an Indian metro city. It also offers a comfortable respite from the busy life of Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra.
Pune has many exotic locales attractive a sizeable number of tourists. Pune is also extremely popular for the Osho Commune International, which was the home of Osho Rajneesh. The ashram attracts a large number of people to Pune from all across the world to practice the new-age meditation techniques of Osho.
Pune is also well-known for its internationally reputed and acclaimed educational institutes and universities. This is why Pune is also called the 'Oxford of The East'. There are many reputed institutions here like the Film and Television Institute of India (FTTI), Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), National Defense Academy (NDA), and not to forget Symbiosis Educational Society.
History
Pune was the capital of Maratha Empire in the year of 1970 during the reign of the great Maratha warrior Shivaji. Pune was also under the charge of Nizam of Hyderabad for sometime. Later the British occupied it in 1817, who tried developing Pune as the summer capital of Maharashtra and a militant cantonment. Today, Pune is known all over for its sheer natural beauty, rich heritage and charming climate all over the year.
Major attractions in Pune
Tourist Attractions of Pune
- Shrimant Dagduseth Halwai Ganpati Temple, Budhwar Peth- Distance from Pune Station and Swargate Bus depot is 5 kms approx houses the most favorite deity of the city, the Ganesha and is thronged all over the year. The temple draws the maximum crowd during the ten day Ganpati festival held every year
- Shaniwar Wada- Distance from Pune Station and Swargate depot- 5-6 kms approx
- Sinhgad Fort- Distance from Pune Station- 18 kms and from Swargate around 18-20 kms has the tallest hill and is thronged by tourists all across the year
- Khadakwasla Dam- Distance from Pune Station and Swargate bus depot around 15-16 kms
- Tulsi Baug – Distance from Pune Station 5 kms and from Swargate bus depot around 3-4 kms- has the most widest market for almost all things, favorite among ladies for some cheap and best materials
- Jangali Maharaj Road- Distance from Pune Station- 6 Kms and Swargate bus depot is 6 kms and is known for its restaurants
- Koregaon Park- Distance from Pune Station and Swargate bus depot is around 13-14 kms is a posh and up-scale market area
- Saras Baug- Distance from Swargate bus depot- 2 kms and from Pune Station is 5-7 kms approx is a huge open park where people can sit peacefully and chat to their heart's content
- Osho Park- Distance from Pune Station and Swargate bus depot is around 10-15 kms approx and is a great center for meditation and rejuvenation frequented by large number of people all over the year
- Sadhu Vaasvani Mission- Distance from Station 500 meters and from Swargate is 5-6 kms and is a great place to serve the poor and spirituality
- Katraj Jain Temple- Situated at Katraj locality, the place is a gear place for worship for Jains and is 6 kms far from Swargate and 10 kms approx from Station
- Film institute- Another milestone institute that has given many top class actors to Bollywood is 5 kms and 10-11 kms approx far from Swargate and Pune Station respectively
- Pune also has a Zoological Park named Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, located at Katraj locality of the city. The zoo was earlier located at Peshwe Park and later merged with the Katraj Snake Park as it is preferably called in the year of 1999
- Aga Khan Palace- One of the major attractions of Pune, Aga Khan Palace where the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi along with his wife Kasturba Gandhi were imprisoned here in the year of 1942 while participating in 'Quite India Movement'. Do not forget to visit the marble laden memorials of Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadeobhai Desai who died here
- Raja Denkar Kelkar Museum- The museum is a passionate collection of Dr. D.G. Kelkar. The museum has vast and exotic collection of unique and peculiar exhibits. The Raja Denkar Kelkar Museum displays the rich heritage of India in a unique way, subtle and delightful way. The elephant-foot shaped foot scrubber, a brass scorpion that reveals a secret look and not to forget eight images of Lord Ganesha carved on a bean make it a great place in the city altogether to visit and see
Cool places to enjoy in Pune
Pune, the queen of Deccan is indeed the place for shopaholics' paradise. Some beautiful malls in Pune have slowly come up to cater to the people who love shopping as well as movie watching as many malls are equipped with multiplexes.
- SGS Mall- SGS Mall is one of the oldest malls in Pune on the spunky MG Road. The mall houses all brands and also has a huge food court offering Maharashtrian, Mughalai, Indian and Chinese food. The mall is centrally air-conditioned and is the attraction on weekends for most of the families to chill out
- Pune Central- Located on the Bundgarden road and university road, the mall is a perfect place to chill out on any day. If you are going on its University road branch, you can catch latest movies at E-Square, the multiplex, which is on the opposite side of the mall
- Inorbit Mall- It is a new mall opened on Viman Nagar and has everything to attract visitors from branded stores to food courts to ample parking space to watching latest movie at Cinemax, the newest 4 screen multiplex opened recently in the mall
- Fun 'N' Shop- Located on Fatimanagar near Hadapsar, this building houses Big Bazaar, the famous retail outlet from Pentaloon Retails, various branded stores, food courts and not to forget the Fame multiplex where you can catch latest movies
- Jewel Square Mall- It is another mall to make you relax and is situated near the famous Taj blue Diamond on Koregaon Park
- Phoenix Market City- Dubbed as Pune's largest mall, the mall opened recently on Viman Nagar Road and has all the facilities to rock your weekends
- Kumar Pacific Mall- This is the newest addition to the already growing list of malls in Pune city on Shankar Sheth Road, near Swargate. The mall has everything from branded stores to food courts to ample parking space. The mall is also set to start the largest retail outlet in the city, the hypercity brand and not to forget the multiplex chain, Cinemax is also going to start its operation soon
Reach Pune
Transport
Airport
Pune has an international airport situated at Lohegaon and operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and connects Pune to mostly almost all major cities of India and even some of the preferable foreign destinations like Dubai too.
Rail
Local trains (EMUs) connect Pune to industrial sub-town of Pune called Pimpri-Chinchwad and to the hill town of Lonavala. The train has a frequency of one train each in one hour and takes approximately 1 hour to reach Lonavala which is 64 kms away.
While daily express, superfast, garib raths and AC duruntos trains connects the city to Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Goa, Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Patna, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Muzaffarpur, Jammutawi, Bhopal, Jaipur etc.
A rapid transport system has been proposed for the city and would be operational by 2013. Pune Metro Rail is also in the pipeline to be incorporated in the near future.
Road
Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Pahamandal Limited (PMPML) runs buses daily for local routes from 5.30 am till 11.30 pm.
Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) also runs buses from its Pune Station, Shivajinagar, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Swargate depots to Mumbai, Kolhapur and Bangalore and other cities of state and neighboring states like Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh etc.
