Tuesday 3 October 2017

Day trip to Saswad and nearby places

We were looking for an offbeat location near Saswad for a day trip. places to visit were not in mind and it was runtime planned drive trip. Travellers for this trip was me and Wife Renuka.

Sangameshwar Temple, Saswad
Sangameshwar Temple, Saswad

There are two ways to reach the base Saswad. One is Pune – Kothrud – Warje bypass – Take a right towards Katraj on bypass highway – Do not go on Navale flyover – Take left side road and take left for Ambegaon – Katraj – At Katraj Chowk, Take right and immediate left for Katraj-Kondhwa road – Bopdev Ghat – Saswad

Another route is Pune – Swargate – join Pune-Solapur highway – Hadapsar – After Magarpatta Chowk do not take Flyover – Take a right turn on flyover for Saswad road (New flyover to take right is completed) - Dive ghat – Saswad.

03 Sept 2017: Pune - Saswad - Panvadi Village - Pune
              On late Saturday evening, we decided to go for a day road drive trip. Monsoon took a break and everything was covered with lush green shade. We woke up the morning by 6 AM and left Pune by 7 AM. It was a pleasant journey to Saswad village via Bopdev ghat. The better route is to go by Dive ghat but we haven't drive via Bopdev so we prefer that route.
               From dive Ghat, you can see Mastani Lake. Mastani was the second wife of Peshwa Baji Rao I. She is said to have been a beautiful and brave woman. It is believed that while in Pune, Mastani used to go for her bath to a lake made by Bajirao, especially for Mastani. The true story is when Mastani went to Saswad area, Villagers requested to her to built Lake for farming purpose. King was not is town and approval process was quite difficult as she was not considered as Queen in Kingdom. She spends her own money to build Lake. To honour her, Village gave a name to the lake as Mastani Lake.

Mastani Lake, Dive Ghat
Mastani Lake, Dive Ghat

              We reached Saswad village and went to Sangameshwar Temple. It is located on the bank of Karha and Chameli river. Temple was built by Yadava's and still persists its old charm. Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. You need to climb around 12-15 steps to reach the temple. Once you entered the temple, you can see old Nandi sculpture in black stone. There is open space around the temple. Temple's Shikhar is curved with many small sculptures. 

Sangameshwar Temple, Saswad

              On entering into Sabhamandap (small hall), you can see a Huge sculpture of colourful Nandi. There is Carved Ganesha on the wall. Temple's Gabhara (Main Room where the idol is placed) consist of Shivlinga. Area nearby temple is beautiful and not too much crowded in the morning time. Loved the ancient temple.

Nandi at Sangameshwar Temple, Saswad
Nandi at Sangameshwar Temple, Saswad

Nandi at Sangameshwar Temple, Saswad
Nandi at Sangameshwar Temple, Saswad

             Our next destination was Changa Vateshwar Temple. it is also commonly known as Vateshwar temple in locals. It is beautiful ancient temple few km away from Saswad and on Saswad-Narayanpur Road. Details information about Changadev and history behind the temple is written on board. Temple has Deepmal outside temple. You can see Nandi and Shivlanga inside the temple. Temple was built in Hemadpanthi style and bit renovated.

Changa Vateshwar Temple, Saswad

Nandi at Changa Vateshwar Temple, Saswad
Nandi at Changa Vateshwar Temple, Saswad
Deepmaal at Changa Vateshwar Temple, Saswad
Deepmaal at Changa Vateshwar Temple, Saswad

               We spend around an hour in the temple area and left for the drive. We took a small route which is just before Changa Vateshwar temple. Route change very scenic and full of curved in the lap of Sahyadri. We drive till Panvadi village. There is no huge waterfall but you can see some beautiful landscapes. You will not find any hotel in this area hence better to carry own food. After spending more than 2 hours on that route, we returned to Saswad-Bhor road.

Road to Panvadi Village

Green Nature

Panvadi Village
Panvadi Village

             We had lunch at Hotel Kamat on Pune-Banglore highway. After lunch, we went towards Bhor. We visited Necklace river point. Due to river curvature, it looks like Necklace. This place was a popular destination for Marathi film shooting. It becomes more famous after showing in the Katyar Kalajat Ghusali film. As we wanted to reach home before sunset, we travel back home safely.

Necklace River Point, Bhor
Necklace River Point, Bhor

There are few other places, which you can cover along with Saswad visit


Thanks for reading this Travel Blog. Happy travelling. 

Pritesh Kulkarni
Pune

4 comments:

  1. Amazing post and they way you write it’s mind blowing. Delhi Female Travel Blogs

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very nice places for a day trip

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very interesting. Will explore it too .thx .the travel cuckoo.

    ReplyDelete