Nilkantheshwar Temple, Pune - Day trip to a nice place...

Nilkantheshwar, a lord Shiva temple is on the hill between Khadakwasla and Panshet dam. This temple was built by Sarje Mama. It is an ideal place to experience nature and mythology. 

Lord Shiva drinking poison (Halahala)

We were planning a day trip for Diwali holidays to nearby location and the main purpose was to show Aaravya a new place and a small break from the daily routine. To fulfill this purpose, we decided to go to Nilkantheshwar on the day of Bhaubeej i.e. 6th November, we were accompanied by my sister-in-law and her husband. 

Travelers for trip

After starting our journey at 8.30 am we reached the destination at 10.00 am, distance traveled was around 45 km. 

Please refer the below route as it shows another Nilkantheshwar temple near Donje and you may mislead. Road is little narrow but good in condition except few rough patches. 

Route to Nilkantheshwar

As it was morning, the weather was very pleasant. I can imagine how beautiful the scenery and nature would be in the rainy season. The temple was located almost a km from parking and was a climb uphill. After 45 mins of puffing we reached at the top of hill. You may get your fitness tested here!! The road is very steep so you should wear shoes and carry napkin and water bottles. 

The view of the surroundings were simply wonderful, the shades of coloures grey, brown, blue and green were awesome. 

Way to Nilkantheshwar temple

We were tired of climbing and needed something cold to drink. An old lady was selling lemonade and buttermilk, so we quickly satisfied ourselves with a glass with buttermilk and lemonade. This was the only stall we saw there. Though the climb was a bit laborious, we enjoyed it meticulously.

Once you enter the temple, you are greeted by a huge sleeping Hanuman. 

Sleeping Hanuman

After reaching the top we saw numerous statues from Indian mythology which include statues from Ramayana, Mahabharat, Deshavatar etc. On the left beyond the statues there is a valley below, and the view of Panshet-Varasgaon dam from there is breath-taking which will stay in your mind for a very long time.

Panshet-Varasgaon Dam view 

You can easily spend 2 hours on the top seeing each and every statue and trying to recollect the story behind the same. You have to walk little long to see all those statues and are no roofs for many statues, there are very few trees in the yard so no option to stay in the shade after walking so keep an umbrella or avoid visiting the place in summer.

Draupadi Vasraharan

Pandavas, Shakuni and Duryodhana

Lakshamana cuts off the nose of Shurpanakha

The waking of Kumbhakarna

Bheem and Bakasur

Shri Gurudev Datta
PC - Sachin Tambekar

After the darshan of Lord Shiva, we saw sabha mandap, idols and the surrounding area, just as we were leaving, we smelled hot kanda bhajji and our footsteps automatically turned to that only shack there. My son Aaravya ate sabudana khichdi which was very soft and tastier than Kanda bhaji. After having a cup of tea, we started to descend and reached our vehicle within 25 mins. 

There is a temple of Someshwar but as very tired so we did not go there and headed straight towards Panshet Dam. On the way we had lunch at MTDC's restaurant, meals were served within few minutes and taste was okay, except bhakri…bhakri was not made properly. 

Heroes at MTDC

After the lunch we went for boating in Panshet, enjoyed boating and a long session of photography, we set off in 1 hour. On the way back to Pune, our intention was to have quick stop at Khadakwasla, but seeing the crowd there, we canceled the plan and reached home around 5.30 in the evening.

PC - Sachin Tambekar

Highlights - 

Trip duration - 1 day (11 November 2024)

Distance travelled - 120Km

Budget - 5K

Visit to Shri Girijatmaj Ganpati Temple, Lenyadri

Girijatmaj Ashtavinayak Temple is the only temple of the Ashtavinayak which is on a mountain, the name 'Lenyadri means 'mountain cave'.
Lenyadri Ganpati is the sixth Lord Ganesha to be visited on the Ashtavinayak Mandir Pilgrimage, Girijatmaj, meaning son(Atamaj) of Girija(Parvati).

Lenyadri Hill

Girijatmaj, Lenyadri

Girijatmaj Ashtavinayak is in Pune District, Pune-Lenyadri distance is 96 km and can be reached in 3 hours by car. 

Route followed by a us is - Pune - Chakan - Narayangaon - Junnar -Lendyadri

 As it was going to be a mountain climb, it was decided to reach there by 9am and therefore we left the house around 6.30 in the morning. After having a quick stop for tea near Chakan we reached Lenyadri around 9.30 am and immediately began to climb the stairs.

The temple is carved out of a single stone hill, which has 300+ steps. The steps are bit steep and high. The Palkhi or Doli (human carriage) service also offered 1000 INR per person to the needy people till the top, that is one of the source of employment to locals. It is recommended to have water bottle while going up.

The stairs are lined up by monkeys who are there to snatch anything and everything from your hands.

It took us 30 minutes to reach the top. Upon reaching the foothills of the mountain you will notice a series of caves. Girijatmaj Ganpati is in the cave and are called Ganesh-leni as well.
This cave is very cool in every weather and it is very clean. The temple is constructed such that during the day it is always lighted up by the sun-rays!

This was my third visit to the place; last time it was in monsoon and outside the caves cool water falling from the mountain. After the rainy season the caves looking very beautiful and green mountain. The temple features a wide hall with no supporting pillars. The location is well maintained. You will get a very amazing view from the top, one can just keep looking up and be lost in the vista.

The place looks really eye-catching during monsoon season and ask us to be there for long. This holy place is encircled by a series of hills on all sides, and Shivneri Fort can also be adored from this place.

After spending 2 hours at the top we came down, sat there to catch our breath and reenergized ourselves with much needed kokum sarbat and nimbu paani.

To save time we had eaten dry snacks in the breakfast while travelling but now we were very hungry and decided to have lunch at Narayangaon as our favorite dish is Maswadi Thali.

I had read the reviews of Hotel Krupasagar and since then I have wanted to dine there. The hotel looks very simple. At first glance, one cannot imagine that he will get such a delicious meal there. But trust me the taste is really good; if you near to Narayangaon the definitely try this hotel once.

Maswadi Thali

After fully satisfied with our stomachs, we headed towards Pune and reached home @ 5pm.

Best time to visit is during monsoon. One of the most ancient attractive place, very silent and peaceful.

Highlights - 

Trip duration - 1 day (6 February 2021)

Distance travelled - 220Km

Budget - 4K

Contacts - 

1. Krupasagar Uphargruh, Narayangaon. 

Hurda Party at Sister's farm - Karjat, Ahmednagar

When winter comes, hurda party begins. We missed it last few years. 

We had all gathered at Tisgaon for my nephew's naming ceremony. After the ceremony, we stayed for two days and while we were getting ready to leave for Pune, my sister and brother-in-law started urging us to stay for one more day. They proposed to go to their farm at Karjat for Hurda party, and we couldn't say no and our stay was extended by 1 day.

We immediately decided to go to Karjat and hurried off there with bhakari, onion, pickles and chutney. We were 15 and got into 3 cars.  On the way,  had a quick stop at Kada at my sister-in-laws house and reached at Karjat around 4pm. 

Since it was our first visit to their farm, everyone was walking around and exploring the farm. All were happy to see the well filled with water and most exciting part was tamarind & amla trees. After eating the amla and tamarinds, all went to the venue of the party and got ready for the hurda. 

From the youngest to the oldest everyone enjoyed the Hurda party and immediately planned to go there every year. 

Mangesh ordered 'Shipi Amti' as it is specialty of the region, but we all ate too much hurda and no one was hungry rather no one was ready to change the taste. So we decided to take amti as parcel at home and decided to leave as it started getting colder. The sun began to set and atmosphere started getting gloomy.

As Godad Maharaj Math in Karjat is famous, we visited it and immediately left for Tisgaon and reached home at 9.30 pm. We had our dinner just the sake of eating Shipi Amti and it was tasted awesome.

Special thanks to Shraddha and Mangesh Bhanage for this sudden, small but very nice picnic. Thank you for insisting and taking us to your farm . We all had lots of fun and memorable time.