Tourist Attractions and Places near Pune and Mumbai

The advantage of being in a place where there are distinctly different seasons is that you can keep going to the same place at different times and see totally different sights. This is the situation in and around Pune. During the monsoons, the whole area gets a facelift and everything looks green. So, on my second trip to the Bhuleshwar Shiva temple, the whole area around the hillock was green and presented a beautiful sight.

To know about the route to Bhuleshwar temple from Pune, check out the post from my first trip.

This time, i went a little earlier in the day around early evening. So, there was sufficient light inside the temple for me to photograph the statues. If you look at most of the statues inside the temple, they would have mutilated heads or legs. It seems that these statues were broken by the Mughal invaders centuries back when there were on an expansion spree.

Akshara was sleeping during the drive up to the temple. But she woke up on hearing some drums being played outside the temple. Even though she was half awake, she was very cooperative with our various photo requests

My new camera, Sony DSC TX5, has a sweeping panorma feature which is pretty cool. Click on the photo below to see a much bigger version.

written by Rajaram S

Set over 7 hills, Lavasa calls itself “India’s first planned hill city”. I am sure it will live up to this when the project completes. Lavasa city is in the midst of many mountains and almost every part of Lavasa has its own lakeshore (dam backwaters).

Lavasa is portrayed as the retirement place and it is quite true. I am sure everyone would like to just get up in the morning, go for a jog and spend the day doing nothing amongst scenic surroundings. But, I am not sure whether the concept of a retirement home has still caught on in India.

How to go to Lavasa city from Pune (Magarpatta City): Go to Chandni Chowk. Proceed towards Mulshi Dam. Once you climb down Pirangut ghat, you woul start seeing big blue coloured signboards for Lavasa. After Pirangut, you have to take a left for Lavasa. Once on this road, you would cross Temghar dam. Keep going on this road until you see an arch on the right, which is the official entrance of lavasa. From this point, the road goes down to the dam and the city.

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The distance to Lavasa from the turn on Mulshi road (after Pirangut) is around 30 kms. It is a wonderful hill road to drive on. If the management of Lavasa wanted people to settle down at Lavasa, they realised that they should make this place easily accessible. The road is very smooth (too smooth for indian roads) and the curves on the road make it a biker’s paradise.

The promenade on the lake shore has been modelled on old europe with many stone bridges criss-crossing the waters. This makes the lakeshore an extremely scenic place for photography, particularly in the evening light.

Lavasa entertains casual visitors and it is a good place to go for an evening. You can just walk around the promenade, go for all kinds of watersports, dine at the various restaurants or even stay over for the night at the many hotels inside the city.

Inside their main office, there is a Lavasa experience zone, where you can see about the future plans of Lavasa and other details about the city.

The ekaanth retreat in Lavasa is a good place for an overnight stay or a buffet dinner. Be sure to be at the parking lot of this lodge at sunset. The view from the parking is awesome.

written by Rajaram S

I had been to Thoseghar last weekend (Aug 7/8). The monsoon was still on and it was constantly drizzling. Thoseghar was at its best with the waterfalls in full force. Below are some photos and also a video (a new addition to my blog) from that trip. If you want to see more photos and also get directions to Thoseghar, check the post from my previous visit.

written by Rajaram S