Someshwar wadi, Birla Ganapati and Prati Shirdi

Rain or shine we decided to cover Prati Shirdi, Birla Ganapati and Someshwar wadi.
We started with Prati Shirdi then to birla Ganapati and then to Someshwar wadi in the evening. We have started at around 11:30 am and reached home by 7:30pm including a stop at Falahaar for their famous Jamun shots:).

Route: Simple and straightforward
Food: Mahaprasad @Prati Shirdi  or else you will have many options on  NH48 or Baner
Kid friendly: Yes
Must Have: Rain gear


Route map

The route we have taken pretty straight forward. Goradeshwar cave temple can also be included as it is near(Before toll Plaza) to Birla Ganapati temple. As it was rainy heavily we couldn't visit it.

Prati Shirdi Shirgaon

Most of our trips were towards the east pune and towards banglore highway, this time we wanted to cover some places towards PCMC and Mumbai highway. We chose Prati Shirdi at Shirgaon. Our determination to visit Shirgaon was  tested by

Birla Ganapati/ Mangal Murti Morya Ganapati Temple

It was way back in 2014 while travelling to Talegaon I first saw the Ganesh Murti. The idol sits near the old expressway providing blessings to the people who are about to start their journey. A visit to the place had been in my list so long.

We planned to visit the Birla Ganapati temple along with Prati Shirdi. After visiting Prati Shirdi we visited Birla Ganapati. One can see the murti from the highway but to reach it we need to take the road towards Shergaon. There is a road towads left side that takes you to the temple. The road is very small. There is parking place near the temple. There are quite a number of steps leading to the top. Need to take care of elderly.

On top there are few shelters and benches to sit. If interested you can do Pradakshina too as there is space around the idol. There is a small park behind but it is closed. The view from the top is good. By the time we reached the temple it was raining, luckily we were prepared for it hence no problem. The kids enjoyed the open place.

Someshwarwadi Shiva Temple and Gram Sanskruti Udyan

An evening at Someshwar wadi near Pashan is well spent with a visit to the temple and village park. The village park aka Gram Sanskruti Udyan in Someshwarwadi is a best way to reminiscence your childhood days.

Main Attractions:

1. Shiva Temple

2. Dwadasa Jyotirlinga temple replicas

3. Gram Sanskruti Udyan

Shiva Temple

The temple is small but peaceful, the sanctum sanatorium is a few feet below the ground level. The Shiv linga here is Swayambhu. There is another Shivalinga placed in the temple where devotees can perform rituals. The temple has around 700 years of history behind it. This temple was famous since Shivaji Maharaj period. It is said the Shivaji's mother Jijabai used to visit this temple. Inside the temple on the dome are the pictures of gods presiding each direction. The entry wall into main temple is painted with war scene. The temple is very clean. The premises also boast of a havan mandap and bhairavnath temple. 

When visiting during monsoon season raincoats and umbrellas are a must. We completed the visit and were strolling around when a light drizzle has started.The temple has a small lawn adjacent to it. Good place for kids to enjoy in summer. The temple premises has huge peepal and other trees. From the temple premises you can see the miniature replicas of various jyotirlinga temples.

Dwadasa Jyotirlinga temple replicas

The work is in progress. The replicas are beautiful but there where no indications about the temples, we googled to know about the temples. When we enquired we were told that the work is still going on. The concept will be a instant hit once its completed. We could get to know the temple details and architecture right here. It would be great if they include the temple location and its prominence.

Gram Sanskruti Udyan

The park contains everything that one expects from a village. If you have experienced village life before you can correlate. Nice place for kids to enjoy and learn. The craftsmanship is good. the features are life like.

The statues are sculpted to depict all the professions, you can find a goldsmith, a tailor, a weaver, a merchant and many more. Even minute details were taken care while developing these..like the gate used for cow shed is the similar one that we find in real life scenarios. The way water is drawn from the well, the pressure exercised while drawing water from well. The torans on the door or the photos displayed on the wall, they are of same type and are displayed in the same way which we see at a village house.

All the festivals we celebrate, all the professions we follow are covered. I couldn't remember anything that was missed. 

Overall an evening well spent.

Marigold Balaji Temple

This weekend after a nice snack of pakodas and sweets, we wanted to go out. With kids and time constraints we want to go to a nearby place. Many options were thrown in, among them I was surprised to hear that there is a gold Balaji Temple in Pune.

new season begins: Bhuleshwar, Theur & Ramdhara

The arrival of monsoon triggers a dormant zone in case of travel enthusiasts. Be it planning for weekend, searching for locations, and of course food n pics....we welcomed this monsoon with  a trip to Theur, bhuleshwar and ramdhara.

The trip can be easily covered in a day.

Ghat road: Easy

Child friendly: Yes

Food: we took home food, but hotels are available alongside solapur highway

wai..

been a bit lazy..delayed posting  ;). 

It was August and time for Krishna puskaralu..

I was searching for a place where we can go for this Krishna pushkaralu(This is my fisrt time). As I was not interested to go till Mahabaleshwar my search ended

Parks of Pune - I

                                                           

                                                                        Sambhaji park

searching for kid friendly places, I zeroed down to Sambhaji park. The park is located on JM road. The entry to the park is free. It has ample greenery and various varieties of outdoor play equipment for kids. It also has a small aquarium.

We visited the park on Sunday and OMG!!!

Ramdhara: Far from the maddening crowd

We have been planning to visit Ramdhara from long time, finally made it this Sunday.
Ramdhara is picturesque location near Loni Kalbhor, which is maintained by forestry department. It is mainly a temple with lake surrounding it and hills standing behind it. It is a good picnic spot. The canopy of tress is refreshing.
You can even have a glimpse of life that is seen in villages. The traffic dwindles once you enter Loni village. The lands after Loni village are deserted except for few shepherd camps.
No hoarding is provided for directions..I couldn't find any, purely relayed on GPS.
Whatever effort the travel takes is nothing when

An evening @Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park

We recently visited Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park.
But there weren't any good collection. it was more of a park with huge canopy of trees. They have routine collection of snakes, tortoise and crocodiles. We didn't have the opportunity to see bear, i think it might be sleeping :). Monkeys were there, but they were ordinary. The deer's collection was good. They are in good number and i think they have got habituated to the onlookers. We had a good view on deer's. Then there was wolf according to the display, but i don't think it's a wolf, it must be fox. Reading picture books along with Praneeth has taught something..
Only tiger and elephant were balance. We thought of visiting the elephant first so that kids will enjoy seeing the jumbo..but

Traveling with kids??....here is the checklist

Traveling with kids requires stringent planning. We need to have all things in one place. If we miss one required item, the entire day/trip may be spoiled. 
Here is a basic checklist that is required. 

Theur, Narayanpur and Baneshwar

I am writing after a long time. We had a new addition in our family, so travelling became a rarity. So is photography, get ready to read with no clues from the pics.

After doing a lot of research we opted to visit Narayanpur, i was a bit reluctant but the trip turned out to be a memorable one. The visit had few unexpected surprises :). When we were checking for the blogs on Narayanpur we found that there is also a place near-by which we hadn't known earlier. The plan was to visit Theur-Ramdhara-Shiv temple in Saswad-Narayanpur-Baneshwar.  Due to time constraint we had to skip Ramdhara and Lord Shiva temple in Saswad.

We started our journey from Keshavnagar(Mundhwa).

Theur

Theur has one of the Astavinayak Ganapatis of Pune. It is pretty close to our place but we didn't know about it till we were planning this trip. The Ganapati here is referred as chintamani Ganapti. It is said that Lord Ganapati retrieved the chintamani jewel

Gharapuri..popularly known as Elephanta Caves

Gharapuri is the name by which Elephanta caves were known prior to the arrival of Portugese. The present name can be attributed to the the stone structure of elephant which was carved out of stone. From then the island came to be known by the name Elephanta caves.

How to reach

This historically rich place can be reached from Gateway of India in a ferry. The ferry services starts around 8:30 - 9:00 am in the morning and costs 150 per person for to and fro.
Wiki page provides the major details..historical details.

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View of Gateway of India and Taj hotel

Maheshmurti cave

The sculptures of Gharapuri are larger than life form and are fascinating.