On the way from Pune to Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar, a casual traveller can easily ignore Wai as just another dot on the map. But, if the little effort of deviating around 3km from the main road is made, you are assured of getting enough natural beauty to your heart’s content.
Route to Wai from Pune (from magarpatta):
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Go to Solapur Road, Keep driving towards swargate. At the swargate signal, turn left towards Katraj. From here, it is a straight road to Katraj. Once you reach Katraj, you will pass the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological park (a.k.a. Pune Zoo or Katraj Zoo ) on your left. You should see a Ghat section in front of you. On crossing this road, NH4 will “arrive” from the right. Join it and enjoy the drive for around an hour. After around an hour, you will come across a mountain cutting across the highway leaving you wondering on how to cross it. This is the Khambatki Ghat. The best part about this Ghat section is that it is one-way leaving you freely to overtake slow vehicles even on a blind curve. The ascent on this ghat is wonderful and if you can, do stop for some beautiful photo opportunities. No, don’t plan for a photo session on the way back, as the way back doesn’t have a ghat section, but a long tunnel! Once you cross this Ghat, you will see signboards for Wai/Mahabaleshwar (go under the bridge to the right). This is a nice single lane road with lot of banyan trees for company.
After around 8-9 kilometres, you have to turn for Wai (Going straight will take you to Panchgani/Mahabaleshwar). After around 3 kms, you enter Wai village. Maybe Wai was a village long time back, but it is a bustling town now and you will surely ave a strange look on your face as to why so many sources on the internet called Wai a beautiful village (just as i did!). But, what you have reached is the town centre. The real beauty of Wai is beyond that.
The village centre too has interesting spots. There is the Maha Ganapti mandir (the first photo of this post) and some nice small temples/bridges to photograph! But, the real reason why many visit Wai is a further 3 kms away, in a place called Menavali Ghat (or Menavli). Btw, it is pronounced “May”navali and not “Mee”navali. I confused quite a few locals by asking for directions to “Mee”navali Ghat.You just have to keep going a further 3 kms on the same road you entered Wai. Do not take the left (near the Ganpati mandir) crossing the bridge. We shall go there later 
Menavali Ghat, the place which contains – as people would like to say – the temple appearing in Shah Rukh Khan’s Swades. This was the place which the movie referred to as Charanpur. Of course, they must have spent a lot of time cleaning up the temple’s surroundings to make it look so good. Nevertheless, the place is calm and serenely beautiful. You don’t see people by the hundreds like in Lonavala, just the few who have taken the trouble to drive over to this remote area. We spent close to half an hour taking lot of photographs.
Akshara was quite interested in the buffaloes, as she was seeing such an animal for the first time After the Shaniwar Wada trip, Akshara has taken a liking to the umbrella and it is very difficult to pry it away from her once she takes it.
I also read somewhere that the big banyan near the banks was the one used in the movie Swadesh for the Panchayat scene. So, we took some photographs near it for posterity’s sake
Right neat to the place where you park for Menavali Ghat is the Nana Phadnis Wada. This is the place where Nana Phadnis, a minister in the Peshwa era built a wada (house) for himself on the banks of the Krishna river. We didn’t have time to go inside and explore the house, but the wada looked very photogenic in the light drizzle that was on.
Not many who visit Wai take the trouble to drive another 9 kms in the single lane road until Dhom dam. You have to come back to the village centre from menavali Ghat and then cross the bridge next to the Maha Ganapathy Mandir and take a right. This road will take you to Dhom dam. But, it seems, dhom dam is closed to public and there are also signs that photography is not allowed. But, we drove a little ahead and asked people to point us towards any place where we can get close to the water (backwaters of the dam). We were shown the way towards a boating place. It is a narrow lane which opens up once you come close to the water and the view was AMAZING!
The pictures definitely don’t do justice to the beauty of this place. Vidhya even started comparing it to the views near lake thun in Interlaken, Switzerland! There were just 2 other groups of people there and they were also about to leave. The view was such that you felt the need to immediately take a panorama.
There was this strange formation on top of the mountain nearby (Second photo below). We thought that it may be the remnants of a fort, but the locals said that there was no fort there and it was just some rock formations. They looked pretty impressive from far and i am surprised that i never saw any information/photo of this online. If you have any info on this formation, drop in a comment.
We spent close to 15 minutes at this place enjoying the solitude. We left as we wanted to be back in Pune before late night. Some more photos…
On the whole, it was an enjoyable 7 hour round trip –> 2 hours from Pune to Wai (1.5 hrs if you leave early in the day), 1.5 hrs back (time saved because of the tunnel through Khambatki ghat) and the rest spent in photography and a south indian snack at gandharv dhaba (just before the Wai exit on the road from NH4 to Panchgani).
One Ping to “Picturesque wai village near Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar”
50 Responses to “Picturesque wai village near Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar”
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1. Nipanjan Gupta Says:
August 17th, 2009 at 1:20 pmIs it only Swades , or last scene of Mrityudand (Madhuri Dixit) was also here ? Also Gangajal (Ajay Devgan) might have some scenes here.
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2. Harshal Says:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:47 pmHi, any chance you know phone no. for a hotel/resort called anand varam.
Or if you could suggest any other hotel to stay… -
3. Rajaram S Says:
September 5th, 2009 at 11:12 pmHarshal..never heard of that hotel ..i don’t know any hotel well enough to recommend (at least as of now).
Sorry for not bring to help you. -
4. Dev Says:
October 21st, 2009 at 9:23 pmHi, nicely toured as well as drafted….and the pictures taken say it all….thnxs for posting !! Definetely looking forward to drive down to the place….FYI…some scenes of Jab We Met movie was also shot at Wai.
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5. Vasudev Says:
November 25th, 2009 at 9:59 amA very informative blog with wonderful photos. The Menavli ghat and temple look fantastic. Hope to visit it this December. Would like to see more of your pictures.
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6. Srinivasan Says:
December 19th, 2009 at 1:09 pmGreat information. After reading the article our family and sister’s family went on a drive to Wai village, Dhom Dam. Dhom dam lake boating and the scenary is simply superb. As mentioned in the writings, the ghat drive and the dam lake view is simply out of the world. Peoplecan enjoy theview coupled with self boating and motor driven boats…
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7. vijaya Says:
February 4th, 2010 at 8:46 pmthanks for sharing the article..
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8. natasha Says:
February 26th, 2010 at 4:02 pmhii…..this place is really worth a trip……..thanks for the photos!!
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9. aman verma Says:
March 4th, 2010 at 1:24 pmhey u seems to be great photographer my friend
did a fab job 4 looking at the pics u could feel d beauty of gods creation they are so butifl -
10. Ravi Says:
March 7th, 2010 at 6:17 pmThanks. Its a very good narration and direction.
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11. rupesh rane Says:
March 10th, 2010 at 3:49 pmhiiiiii
this is like heaven in rainy season
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12. sunil s Says:
April 14th, 2010 at 2:16 pmneed 2 buy a farm over here n settle down later on, thnx.
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13. mahesh Says:
May 13th, 2010 at 11:42 amDear Members,
Thannks for sharing ur views. I m really feeling proud to heard frm you that u like this place bcz i m frm wai only. currently for a job i m in mumbai but really missing my native place. -
14. Business Hotels India Says:
May 20th, 2010 at 11:39 amHi,
thanks for sharing the article.. -
15. Chaitanya Says:
June 15th, 2010 at 4:52 pmHi,
Really a great Trail of Happening Places near pune filled with Devotion, history and Last but First nature…Thanks for Bringing this to the netizens.The Rock formation which you are pointing is known as Kamalgad famous for its red coloured well(because of natural colour of soil found there known as ‘Geru’ also used as paint for bricks and pots).Regards,
Chaitanya -
16. manan Says:
August 26th, 2010 at 5:25 pmgreat pics… & Incredible India
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17. Sunny Says:
October 3rd, 2010 at 2:37 amSome Absolutely great shots, most enviable is that you were there and not me!!
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18. Sridhar Says:
November 3rd, 2010 at 4:13 pmGreat place and nicely showcased. The photographs were awsome and the writing brought about the feel that you had about this place. How is the weather there. Is it quite similar to Mahabaleshwar or on the warmer side.
Have a great day -
19. Htalk Says:
December 23rd, 2010 at 1:54 pmTHANX a lot for posting this fab article
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20. Panchgani Says:
January 7th, 2011 at 8:24 pmbeautiful pictures…
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21. Pranav Says:
February 6th, 2011 at 10:55 amAwesome place… just love this place……
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22. Avinash Says:
April 2nd, 2011 at 3:23 pmVery well compiled..Good Photography..
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23. Rajesh Says:
June 7th, 2011 at 11:17 pmYour pics are great. The feature which you questioned in second image is probably kenjalgad a fort in front of raireshwar plateau (at its full splendor during rains). There is another temple en route Kari (Base village of Raireshwar). Raireshwar from the top gives you view of three large water bodies. Neera Deoghar, Dhom and the third even I am not aware of. You can visit rairi in rains for a long rainy walk amidst waterfall studded road or in winter amidst flower studded road. Hope this one comes under your belt or is under your belt.
Rajesh -
24. sushilshirbhate Says:
June 9th, 2011 at 4:28 pmHey,
Thanks for sharing the article.. -
25. Rajaram S Says:
June 10th, 2011 at 10:50 pmthanks rajeah for the info. Will plan to check it out this monsoon.
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26. Shailesh Thete Says:
August 8th, 2011 at 3:10 amHey, I just visited this place. Just awesome. thanks for all the details.. ur given details are of great help. thanks again..
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27. Raviraj Mane Says:
September 15th, 2011 at 8:09 pmHi, these snaps are really awesome & the information is very helpful. We can find same kind of rock formation (Photo No. 21) near Lonavala, only we need to take a odd route of Lonavala which starts from back side of Mulshi Dam. You can see my snaps by visiting my facebook profile.
Thanks. -
28. Rajaram S Says:
September 16th, 2011 at 10:39 amthanks Raviraj Mane. Can you pl provide me the link of the image/your FB profile? There are over a dozen raviraj manes
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29. r.m.hagir Says:
October 27th, 2011 at 2:51 pmThe mountain is referred as ‘Nawra Nawrica Dongar’.Akhyika is that the Bullok kart of bride & groom was lost there.
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30. sagar Says:
December 26th, 2011 at 1:40 pmthanx for the details Raviraj.
I am planing to go there… -
31. Ajay Says:
January 17th, 2012 at 8:57 pmDear Rajaram,
very good snaps n very good description…
Just wanted to share some info about “Strange Rock formations” that u saw near Dam, your guess was right the mountain is ‘Kamalgad’ and the rocks u saw are also called “Mhatari che daat” in marathi…(meaning old lady’s teeth)…
Regards
Ajay kakade -
32. r m hagir Says:
February 20th, 2012 at 9:35 amI miss a lot wai.
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33. Kiran Hebbale Says:
March 14th, 2012 at 2:49 pmHi Rajaram Sethuraman,
Great Information. The pictures you have attached are awesome…
Visiting wai village this saturday (17th March 2012).. -
34. Kiran Hebbale Says:
March 20th, 2012 at 2:44 pmHi Rajaram,
My friends and i visited the place wai village. The place is beautiful to see and spend some quality time with friends. We took so good snaps. To mention Singham and Bol Bachchan shooting happened there itself.
Thanks Rajaram for your information about a beautiful place. If they maintain cleanliness then tourists will pour there. Hope it will happen.
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35. sneha yadav Says:
April 3rd, 2012 at 1:52 pmThanks it is very good photography wai is very good place
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36. Kishor Kamble Says:
May 18th, 2012 at 12:49 pmHey Thanks for the valuable information! The way u have drafted the entire thing with beautiful pics in that is just amazing! Planning to visit these places.
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37. Jay Says:
May 26th, 2012 at 7:04 amGreat pics and thanks for the details .. i did visit the Menavli its awesome place t be .. I like more for the historical reasons than the Movie related stuff..
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38. surya Says:
June 11th, 2012 at 11:59 amsir, thanks for all the details. i am lives in hyderabad, i want to go to that place. very intersting place that village wai. very beautiful. i saw in swades movie. very nice. thank u sir
surya
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39. Tanuja Says:
July 15th, 2012 at 11:49 pmAfter seeing the temple pics, i feel tht the movie Bol Bachchan’s shooting is also done here
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40. Sayali Says:
July 23rd, 2012 at 5:33 amHi your pictures are very well taken. I would like to use one of them as a reference for a watercolor painting with your permission.
Thanks!
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41. Rajaram S Says:
July 23rd, 2012 at 9:44 amno prob, go ahead.
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42. Atul Chaudhari Says:
July 31st, 2012 at 10:42 pmThank you very much for such a lovely detailed guide… this helped me a lot today… I followed the exact routes and visited the places stated… it was really amazing to be there as its raining heavily since last week… nice weather and greenery everywhere… Thanks again!!
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43. Sujiet Kirdkude Says:
August 4th, 2012 at 8:12 pmamazed purely amazed i never seen village like dis… i’l visit here in dis mansoon dfntly
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44. shiv bahadur pal Says:
November 20th, 2012 at 9:49 pmthis is Somme place , i love that place ,please see actually that seen one time
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45. seema pal Says:
November 20th, 2012 at 9:52 pmGreat pics and thanks for the details,Great Information. The pictures you have attached are awesome…iwould like to use one of them as a reference for a watercolor painting with your permission,,,,
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46. Jatin Ranpura Says:
December 15th, 2012 at 4:27 pmSir, Great pics..i recently visited mahabaleshwar and panchgini after my marriage on 29th Nov 2012…Photos captured by you are too good, amazing, mind blowing.
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47. Savi Says:
December 20th, 2012 at 3:46 pmNice pics & place.Great
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48. bhavesh gujjar Says:
January 10th, 2013 at 5:01 pmwell can anybody tell me how to go wai village near joshi veehir phata want to meet aryuvedic ved regarding dailysis medicine pls help if any one new about the ved or give us contact number or addresses thanks
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49. Divya Says:
January 18th, 2013 at 1:39 pmHi Rajaram,
Its really nice to see u have explored so many places near Pune.
Just wondering, since how long you are in Pune Nyways all the photos and description that you upload is worth praising.
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50. Rajaram S Says:
January 20th, 2013 at 2:09 pmThanks Divya. I have been in Pune for around 3,5 yrs now.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:31 am
[...] Wai is a beautiful village (especially in the monsoon season) and is worth a half-day visit if you are in Pune or Mumbai. You see more photos from my visit on my Pune Blog. [...]