Prelude
“ GO Air ki udaan….” ..Announcement woke me up from my thoughts. Gisha was still half asleep. Perhaps early morning cutlet did not change her sleep pattern. We were waiting at Kamaraj domestic terminal of Chennai airport to board our flight to Pune. Destination Panchgani.
Domestic terminal seems to be cleaner and better than last time I saw, about two years back. But toilets were not exactly upto international standards. While Bangalore and Hyderabad are getting new airports, Chennai is waiting for expansion of its current facilities.
When I bought the tickets to Pune on a sale, I was apprehensive about the timeliness of Low cost carriers. But flight took off from Chennai at 5.15AM on time and reached Pune at 7.20AM. I just had time to close my eyes.
“ GO Air ki udaan….” ..Announcement woke me up from my thoughts. Gisha was still half asleep. Perhaps early morning cutlet did not change her sleep pattern. We were waiting at Kamaraj domestic terminal of Chennai airport to board our flight to Pune. Destination Panchgani.
Domestic terminal seems to be cleaner and better than last time I saw, about two years back. But toilets were not exactly upto international standards. While Bangalore and Hyderabad are getting new airports, Chennai is waiting for expansion of its current facilities.
When I bought the tickets to Pune on a sale, I was apprehensive about the timeliness of Low cost carriers. But flight took off from Chennai at 5.15AM on time and reached Pune at 7.20AM. I just had time to close my eyes.
9th Mar 2007
My Brother came to airport to meet us. We took a cab to TCS guesthouse at Panchgani. This was a costly affair of 1950. A better idea was to go to Pune city, which was only 10Kms from here, and get a cab.
The journey to Panchgani was refreshing. The narrow stretch of road winds all the way up through western ghats. we came out of small town of Wai, and passed through the picturesque ‘Pasarni Ghat’. This was a scenic journey towards Panchgani and the cool breeze started to touch my face. We had to roll up our windows to keep us warm.
We reached Dulwich house, TCS holiday home at 10.45Am, a 2 hours 3
0 mins drive from airport.
Panchgani is a hill station on Western Ghats, in Satara district of Maharashtra. Situated at an altitude of 1334 ft, Panchgani is 98Kms from Pune and 265 Kms from Mumbai. The name of town is derived from five surrounding hills. Economy is dependent on the flow of tourists. Best time of the year to visit is after Diwali, soon after rains are over. The place will look as if it is covered by a green carpet. Since summer is never too hot, it is not a bad time to visit either. Since we reached there in March, greenish hue had been substituted by brown, color of summer.
Our Holiday home was really good. Much better than we expected. It is located on Panchgani – Mahabaleshwar road. 4Kms from the town. House was big enough for 6 people and it was entirely for us for all the four days. Caretaker received us at the entrance. I showed him my approval mail. Holiday home had a very big lawn. The part we stayed was for all employees, which can be booked through ultimatix. There was another section, which was reserved for VIP stay. I expected to see some VIPs, But none turned up. Caretaker cooked lunch for us. Food was delicious and we knew that we were in for a good time. We explored the surroundings for a while. Gisha broke her slippers in that process. We decided to walk to Panchgani town.
On the way to Panchgani town was Parsi point. This provided a breathtaking view of Krishna valley and Dhom dam backwaters. There was a children’s park at view point. Local population still had some leftovers of Holi on them.
We continued our stride towards town through the narrow stretch of road. On the way we met a long line of enthusiastic youngsters returning after a football match.
There are many elite boarding schools at Panchgani. Somewhere I read that Panchgani is famous for boarding schools since late 1800’s. Notable ones are St Peter’s boy’s school founded in 1902 and Kimmins high school founded in 1898. Due to its climatic preferance, about 37 residential schools locate here. As per St Peter’s website “Students all over the world take advantage of these standard schools common also to various film stars like Zeenat Aman, Kimi Katkar, Kajol & Twinkle Khanna”
The imposing old bungalows, lawns, boarding schools, all seemed to be taken out of a P.G Wodehouse story. Even though a lot of water has flown in Krishna river since British times, the place still had an old world charm
Panchgani town was a very small place. Almost everyone seems to know where TCS guesthouse is located and who stays there. We did our shopping and returned by public transport.
Advertisement of Mapro foods is seen everywhere in Panchgani. They manufacture a variety of food items, like Jams, crushes etc. Mapro garden is a tourist attraction here. We did not get time to visit Mapro Garden. However, we bought a Mapro Kiwi crush.
Dinner was fantastic. Roti was made on gas burner and was really soft. Gisha promised me to learn the trick. Night was perfectly silent. The term called deafening silence can be aptly quoted here. Since I was coming from a crowded metro, it took some time for me to adjust.
10th Mar 2007
“rrrrrrrng…” I jumped off the bed and looked around to see where I was. Time as 7.30Am. Caretaker woke us up as he was told.
Powercut in these areas starts at 8.00. So Geyser had to be switched on before that. Maharashtra experiences the worst power shortages in the country. Panchgani has almost 6 hours power cut in a day. Caretaker told me “ This is better, Villages are worst affected, Electricity hardly comes there “.
The decision to invest in the Enron-backed Dabhol Power Company (DPC) in the 1990s, is one of the reasons, why Maharashtra is under power bankruptcy. The plant's closure in 2001, ostensibly over differences on the price of the power it generated, has only added to what was already an extremely complex story. Now Dabhol is renamed as Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited (RGPPL).
Caretaker called for a taxi to take us around. I had to bargain with him for fixing the rate. He had a rate card which showed 50rs more that the prevailing rate, which I noticed yesterday at the town. He charged 850 for the day, which I felt was very high at the end of day.
First spot to visit was table land. This is the most visited tourist attraction. This is claimed as the second largest mountain plateau in asia. First being in Tibet. The panoramic view from the top was excellent. We had a horse ride on the top. Guide told me that the movie ‘Raja hindustani’ was shot in the valley below. He showed me Pandava’s footprints. People say Pandava’s stayed in nearby places during their exile. I did para gliding there, which cost me 200/-. It was good to be up in the sky for a while. Gisha was too scared for that. Parasailing can cost upto 1200/-. Another attraction was a cave, thronged by enthusiastic monkeys, waiting to snatch anything from your hand. A business of eatables to monkeys thrives there. I did not want to go in there, when a hairy one was eagerly looking at my expensive camera.
We reached Sydney point after a short while. Day was slowly getting hotter. Temperature can reach upto 35C in peak summer. A Picturesque Krishna valley, with terraced agricultura
l lands and winding roads is visible from this point. Evening would have been a better time to visit. We took the same road to reach Dhoom dam. This was a peaceful location with boating facilities. We did not want to venture into waters with sun burning above. Dhoom dam is built on Krishna River. Wai is 13Kms from Panchgani. We were going through Pansali ghat. Our driver showed us an upturned truck. He said accident happened 2 days back. Ganesh temple in wai is famous. The idol is 2 feet tall. But the temple and surroundings were far from clean. We saw a dog tied to a pillar inside temple. We bought some strawberries from an old lady outside the temple premises.
We returned back to Panchgani town and had a decent lunch from Apsara hotel. It was a malayali restaurant. We were surprised to find one in this part of the world. They were from Kozhikode. We came back home by 3.45Pm. All points in Panchgani can be covered by 4 hours.Rest of the day we spent in the house.
11th Mar 2007
My driver assured me that he will give discount for today’s travel. We started from home at 9.30 towards Mahabaleshwar. Mahabaleshwar is 4500 feet above sea level, occupies 150sqkm of plateau. We visited Elephant’s head, Kate’s point, Echo point. We had a good view of Krishna Dam. We reached old Mahabaleshwar from there. Guides are available everywhere. We reached Panchganga Mandir. Five holy rivers - Krishna, Venna, Koyna, Savitri & Gayatri originate from here.
On the way we purchased three boxes of Strawberry from a farm. Panchgani’s climate is suitable for Strawberry cultivation.
River Krishna is one of the longest rivers in India (1300Km). It originates here and meets Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh. Venna, Koyna, Savitri & Gayatri join Krishna after flowing for some distance. World’s tallest masonary dam, Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in Andhra Pradesh is built on Krishna river.
We went to Shankar Mandir, where Lord Shiva is in Rudraksha form and believed to be Swayambhoo. Another temple is Sri Krishnabai Mandir.
We visited other points in Mahabaleshwar, Arthur Seat, Monkey point and half a dozen others.
Pratapgarh is 30 to 40 Kms from Mahabaleshwar. We traveled through dangerous ghat roads and reached there by 3.00Pm.
We got an official guide for 80/- near the entrance of fort. Fort was built in 1656 by Chatrapati Shivaji in the midst of a thick jungle, on the top of a hill. The guide told me that the fort was completed in two years. Entrance to fort was well concealed from an outsider. The winding steps reached to an imposing entrance.
Shivaji’s encounter with Afzal khan, at the foot of Pratapgarh fort is one of the glorious episodes of his life. This feat made Shivaji the hero of Maratha folklore and legend
More details about the encounter can be found in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pratapgarh
Shivaji has built a tomb for Afzal khan here. He believed that enmity ends with enemy’s death. VHP played politics on the tomb in 2004, wants it to be removed since Afzal khan was Shivaji’s enemy. Bombay high court directed that the status quo to be maintained near the tomb. Since then, visitors are not allowed there.
There is a temple of bhavani mata, the idol of worship of King Shivaj. There is a statue of Shivaji Maharaj inside the fort called Bale killa. An escape tunnel, Punishment point, meeting place, handicraft shop etc are other attractions inside the fort. Guide informed us that other palace like structures inside the fort was destroyed by British.
The surrounding forest still echoes the war cries of Maratha warriors. For me Shivaji is an important personality in Indian history, but the Local population mentions Shivaji Maharaj’s name in reverence.
We left the fort around 5.30 to reach sunset point. As the sun was hiding behind the clouds, we started our journey back to Panchgani.
12th Mar 2007
We did not have any plans for Day 4. Our care taker cooked poha for us. Our food bill came to only 550 for four days. On the way back, we visited my brother at Pune. Our flight to Chennai took off on time. we will always cherish the memories of Beautiful Krishna valley, valor of Maratha’s, Peaceful Panchgani and TCS guest house.
The journey to Panchgani was refreshing. The narrow stretch of road winds all the way up through western ghats. we came out of small town of Wai, and passed through the picturesque ‘Pasarni Ghat’. This was a scenic journey towards Panchgani and the cool breeze started to touch my face. We had to roll up our windows to keep us warm.
We reached Dulwich house, TCS holiday home at 10.45Am, a 2 hours 3
0 mins drive from airport.Panchgani is a hill station on Western Ghats, in Satara district of Maharashtra. Situated at an altitude of 1334 ft, Panchgani is 98Kms from Pune and 265 Kms from Mumbai. The name of town is derived from five surrounding hills. Economy is dependent on the flow of tourists. Best time of the year to visit is after Diwali, soon after rains are over. The place will look as if it is covered by a green carpet. Since summer is never too hot, it is not a bad time to visit either. Since we reached there in March, greenish hue had been substituted by brown, color of summer.
Our Holiday home was really good. Much better than we expected. It is located on Panchgani – Mahabaleshwar road. 4Kms from the town. House was big enough for 6 people and it was entirely for us for all the four days. Caretaker received us at the entrance. I showed him my approval mail. Holiday home had a very big lawn. The part we stayed was for all employees, which can be booked through ultimatix. There was another section, which was reserved for VIP stay. I expected to see some VIPs, But none turned up. Caretaker cooked lunch for us. Food was delicious and we knew that we were in for a good time. We explored the surroundings for a while. Gisha broke her slippers in that process. We decided to walk to Panchgani town.
On the way to Panchgani town was Parsi point. This provided a breathtaking view of Krishna valley and Dhom dam backwaters. There was a children’s park at view point. Local population still had some leftovers of Holi on them.
We continued our stride towards town through the narrow stretch of road. On the way we met a long line of enthusiastic youngsters returning after a football match.
There are many elite boarding schools at Panchgani. Somewhere I read that Panchgani is famous for boarding schools since late 1800’s. Notable ones are St Peter’s boy’s school founded in 1902 and Kimmins high school founded in 1898. Due to its climatic preferance, about 37 residential schools locate here. As per St Peter’s website “Students all over the world take advantage of these standard schools common also to various film stars like Zeenat Aman, Kimi Katkar, Kajol & Twinkle Khanna”
The imposing old bungalows, lawns, boarding schools, all seemed to be taken out of a P.G Wodehouse story. Even though a lot of water has flown in Krishna river since British times, the place still had an old world charm
Panchgani town was a very small place. Almost everyone seems to know where TCS guesthouse is located and who stays there. We did our shopping and returned by public transport.
Advertisement of Mapro foods is seen everywhere in Panchgani. They manufacture a variety of food items, like Jams, crushes etc. Mapro garden is a tourist attraction here. We did not get time to visit Mapro Garden. However, we bought a Mapro Kiwi crush.
Dinner was fantastic. Roti was made on gas burner and was really soft. Gisha promised me to learn the trick. Night was perfectly silent. The term called deafening silence can be aptly quoted here. Since I was coming from a crowded metro, it took some time for me to adjust.
10th Mar 2007
“rrrrrrrng…” I jumped off the bed and looked around to see where I was. Time as 7.30Am. Caretaker woke us up as he was told.
Powercut in these areas starts at 8.00. So Geyser had to be switched on before that. Maharashtra experiences the worst power shortages in the country. Panchgani has almost 6 hours power cut in a day. Caretaker told me “ This is better, Villages are worst affected, Electricity hardly comes there “.
The decision to invest in the Enron-backed Dabhol Power Company (DPC) in the 1990s, is one of the reasons, why Maharashtra is under power bankruptcy. The plant's closure in 2001, ostensibly over differences on the price of the power it generated, has only added to what was already an extremely complex story. Now Dabhol is renamed as Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited (RGPPL).
Caretaker called for a taxi to take us around. I had to bargain with him for fixing the rate. He had a rate card which showed 50rs more that the prevailing rate, which I noticed yesterday at the town. He charged 850 for the day, which I felt was very high at the end of day.
First spot to visit was table land. This is the most visited tourist attraction. This is claimed as the second largest mountain plateau in asia. First being in Tibet. The panoramic view from the top was excellent. We had a horse ride on the top. Guide told me that the movie ‘Raja hindustani’ was shot in the valley below. He showed me Pandava’s footprints. People say Pandava’s stayed in nearby places during their exile. I did para gliding there, which cost me 200/-. It was good to be up in the sky for a while. Gisha was too scared for that. Parasailing can cost upto 1200/-. Another attraction was a cave, thronged by enthusiastic monkeys, waiting to snatch anything from your hand. A business of eatables to monkeys thrives there. I did not want to go in there, when a hairy one was eagerly looking at my expensive camera.
We reached Sydney point after a short while. Day was slowly getting hotter. Temperature can reach upto 35C in peak summer. A Picturesque Krishna valley, with terraced agricultura
l lands and winding roads is visible from this point. Evening would have been a better time to visit. We took the same road to reach Dhoom dam. This was a peaceful location with boating facilities. We did not want to venture into waters with sun burning above. Dhoom dam is built on Krishna River. Wai is 13Kms from Panchgani. We were going through Pansali ghat. Our driver showed us an upturned truck. He said accident happened 2 days back. Ganesh temple in wai is famous. The idol is 2 feet tall. But the temple and surroundings were far from clean. We saw a dog tied to a pillar inside temple. We bought some strawberries from an old lady outside the temple premises.We returned back to Panchgani town and had a decent lunch from Apsara hotel. It was a malayali restaurant. We were surprised to find one in this part of the world. They were from Kozhikode. We came back home by 3.45Pm. All points in Panchgani can be covered by 4 hours.Rest of the day we spent in the house.
11th Mar 2007
My driver assured me that he will give discount for today’s travel. We started from home at 9.30 towards Mahabaleshwar. Mahabaleshwar is 4500 feet above sea level, occupies 150sqkm of plateau. We visited Elephant’s head, Kate’s point, Echo point. We had a good view of Krishna Dam. We reached old Mahabaleshwar from there. Guides are available everywhere. We reached Panchganga Mandir. Five holy rivers - Krishna, Venna, Koyna, Savitri & Gayatri originate from here.
On the way we purchased three boxes of Strawberry from a farm. Panchgani’s climate is suitable for Strawberry cultivation.
River Krishna is one of the longest rivers in India (1300Km). It originates here and meets Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh. Venna, Koyna, Savitri & Gayatri join Krishna after flowing for some distance. World’s tallest masonary dam, Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in Andhra Pradesh is built on Krishna river.
We went to Shankar Mandir, where Lord Shiva is in Rudraksha form and believed to be Swayambhoo. Another temple is Sri Krishnabai Mandir.
We visited other points in Mahabaleshwar, Arthur Seat, Monkey point and half a dozen others.
Pratapgarh is 30 to 40 Kms from Mahabaleshwar. We traveled through dangerous ghat roads and reached there by 3.00Pm.
We got an official guide for 80/- near the entrance of fort. Fort was built in 1656 by Chatrapati Shivaji in the midst of a thick jungle, on the top of a hill. The guide told me that the fort was completed in two years. Entrance to fort was well concealed from an outsider. The winding steps reached to an imposing entrance.
Shivaji’s encounter with Afzal khan, at the foot of Pratapgarh fort is one of the glorious episodes of his life. This feat made Shivaji the hero of Maratha folklore and legend
More details about the encounter can be found in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pratapgarh
Shivaji has built a tomb for Afzal khan here. He believed that enmity ends with enemy’s death. VHP played politics on the tomb in 2004, wants it to be removed since Afzal khan was Shivaji’s enemy. Bombay high court directed that the status quo to be maintained near the tomb. Since then, visitors are not allowed there.
There is a temple of bhavani mata, the idol of worship of King Shivaj. There is a statue of Shivaji Maharaj inside the fort called Bale killa. An escape tunnel, Punishment point, meeting place, handicraft shop etc are other attractions inside the fort. Guide informed us that other palace like structures inside the fort was destroyed by British.
The surrounding forest still echoes the war cries of Maratha warriors. For me Shivaji is an important personality in Indian history, but the Local population mentions Shivaji Maharaj’s name in reverence.
We left the fort around 5.30 to reach sunset point. As the sun was hiding behind the clouds, we started our journey back to Panchgani.
12th Mar 2007
We did not have any plans for Day 4. Our care taker cooked poha for us. Our food bill came to only 550 for four days. On the way back, we visited my brother at Pune. Our flight to Chennai took off on time. we will always cherish the memories of Beautiful Krishna valley, valor of Maratha’s, Peaceful Panchgani and TCS guest house.
17 comments:
Thanks Anil, Your enthusiasm is contageous, cant wait to take my loved ones to Panchgani via TCS
While you go Mahabaleshwar keep in mind that Panchgani weather is as good and it is not crowded. So if you want peace, and privacy then better to stay here. Mahabaleshwar has shopping areas and lots of budget as well as premium hotels. Panchgani mostly has homestays; there are some with pretty nurseries around and some with strawberry farms. These can be ideal for few days of peaceful stay.
it is one of the fantastics review of panchgani, i am not a employee of tcs, but my friend working in tcs. can i stay there.
U have explained everything, really nice post by...thanks
Nice trip. A trip to Mahabaleshwar is worth doing. Surrounded by soaring peaks and picturesque valleys, Mahabaleshwar is truly heaven on earth. Check out services of Hotel Dreamland Mahabaleshwar, a lovely boutique hotel with cottage accommodations in Mahabaleshwar. Its a good hotel for luxury seekers.
Hello Anil, Very nice, getting feel like roaming in the Mahabaleshwar. Enjoyed it. :)
thanks for sharing this article..
Same Day Agra Tour
Delhi to Agra trip by car
Delhi Agra One Day Tour
One Day Agra Tour
Agra Day Tour Packages
Mahabaleshwar is very good place for the tour, It is best tourist attraction. Visit here also : http://www.goldenhillresorts.com/contact-us-booking-resorts-near-in-mahabaleshwar/
A fascinating hill station with superb natural beauty and picturesque locations, Panchgani is found within the state of Maharashtra. Panchgani - whose name derived from the five hills surrounding it, is a famous hill station near Mahabaleshwar for its sunset-sunrise points and eye catching value views. The place was treated as a sunny season resort in the British era and hence many early American period formations can be seen here. The city is a flawless goal for beauty lovers. The atmosphere of Panchgani is very calm, cool and peaceful and the lovely environment further adds to the delight. The view point is the main attraction of Panchgani, which is quite, calm and visited by most of the tourists.
Some attractions of the city are Panchganga Mandir, Mahabaleshwar Temple, Mount Malcolm, Sydney Point, Wilson Point, Table Land, Venna Lake, Bombay Point, Dhom Dam and many others. Check In Mahableshwar have used simple plan of contacting the hoteliers from numerous areas of Mahabaleshwar by writing the thought into an easy to use net portal.
Hotels In Mahabaleshwar
Resorts In Mahabaleshwar
Hotels In Panchgani
holiday homes near mumbai
Great post!! thanks for this lovely post in this blog. Loved reading this blog. It is one of the best getaway place. Visit those places in Patel Travels and enjoy your trip.
Hire Mumbai To Mahabaleshwar Taxi with BookCab for a pleasant journey. Book Mumbai To Mahabaleshwar Cab Trip at lowest fares. For best car rental services click here
mumbai to Mahabaleshwar car rental
you are imparting to the world through these online journals is amazingly profitable.
Tour Packages
Adventures activitis
Mahabaleshwar Tour Package - Travel Tourister provided best and cheapest Mahabaleshwar Tour Package. Contact for Mahabaleshwar Tour Package At Call@ 9971482795.
view more - Mahabaleshwar Tour Package
Thanks for sharing amazing information.Bungalows On Rent In Panchgani
That's fantastic! Great job! In the event that you do not mind if I share any innovative ideas you have with me, then please do so as much as you can and let me know as much as you can. The information in this article will likely be useful for you in the future, so I hope you will find it useful in the future as well.did you thougts are coming for develop a a new home
Thank you so much.Senior Citizens Projects for Sale with 15 lacs
Post a Comment