Quick trip to Mayureshwar wildlife sanctuary and Bhuleshwar Temple

My last trip was on 2nd October and then I was completely busy with office work. During Diwali festival, we got a day free for outing. We decided to visit Mayureshwar wildlife sanctuary and Bhuleshwar Temple which is just 75 km away from Pune. Our friends Abhijit Joshi and Manasi Joshi joined us for this trip.

Chinkara at Mayureshwar wildlife sanctuary

About Mayureshwar wildlife sanctuary and Bhuleshwar Temple:
               Mayureshwar wildlife sanctuary is located near Baramati, Pune district. Forest type is Dry bush forest. The sanctuary is famous for Indian gazelle (Chinkara in Marathi). Other animals found in this forest are hyena, Indian gray wolf and Indian fox. It is also home for a variety of birds.
               Bhuleshwar Temple is located near Yavat and situated on a hill and was built in the 13th century. Temple is of Lord Shiva. It is famous due to classic carving on walls and Nandi statue. Base of Bhuleshwar hill is home for a variety of birds.

To reach at Mayureshwar wildlife, easy way is Pune – Hadapsar – Join Solapur highway – Drive your vehicle 60km from Pune on Highway – take a left at Kedagaon – Drive 20 km – look at right for arch – Take a right for Mayureshwar wildlife sanctuary.

To reach at Bhuleshwar Temple, Pune – Hadapsar - Join Solapur highway – Yavat – Take a right at Yavat – Drive 8 km and take a right for Bhuleshwar temple hill.

You can spend half day or full day along with your camera and binoculars.

12th Nov 2015: Pune - Mayureshwar wildlife sanctuary - Bhuleshwar Temple – Pune (Total 200km drive):
               We woke up by 5.30 AM and left Pune at 6.30 AM with our friends Abhijit and Manasi. Soon we reached Solapur highway. The highway was in excellent condition. Due to wide and smooth road, we were able to reach Mayureshwar wildlife sanctuary in 1 hour. I was aware of permit process so I parked my vehicle at the forest office. Hiring a guide for safari is not compulsory and you can visit park with your own vehicle as well. After all mandatory process, we entered in the park area.

Entrance gate of Sanctuary

               Drive around 1.5 km from forest office and there is narrow rough road takes you into forest area. There are two water trenches in the forest which are drinking water source for animals. We decided to visit these places first. When we entered in the sanctuary, we saw few Indian gazelle. They were quite far away from us but we were not expecting so early sighting of them. There is a mud road inside the sanctuary with huge grasslands and some areas with shrubs, a very good area for Chinkara and other grassland birds & animals.

Chinkara

Chinkara

               We started our Safari towards the water source. It was nice experience to explore dry bush forest area. We spend more than 3 hours in the park. We saw more than 25-30 Chinkara in mammals category whereas in birds, we spotted Steppe Eagle, Grey-necked Bunting, Sykes’s Lark, Tree Pipit, Indian Thick-knee, Red Collared Dove, Common Hoopoe, Small Minivet, Common Kestrel, Rufous Tailed Lark, Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark, Grey Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Blyth’s Reed Warbler, Asian Koel, Long-tailed Shrike, Bay-backed Shrike, Scaly-breasted Munia, Little Egret, Red-breasted Flycatcher, White-throated Kingfisher, Laughing Dove, Green Bee-eater, Common Woodshrike, Yellow-wattled Lapwing and Black Drongo.

Green bee eater

              I was carrying my 55-250mm lens hence was unable to click any bird photos and it was my first visit in Mayureshwar sanctuary hence the focus was on Chinkara. Another attraction in the park is Indian Courser. It is known as Dhavik in Marathi due its special walking style which is like running. We unable to spot him but decided to visit again for Indian Courser. We enjoyed our safari till 11 and decided to leave this place.

Common Hoopoe

Ready for crossing...Chinkara

               Our next destination was Bhuleshwar Temple near Yavat. We were hungry and took lunch break in famous restaurant named Kanchan near Yavat toll booth. Food here is very tasty and definitely worth trying once when you’re on Solapur highway.

Tent stay at Mayureshwar wildlife sanctuary

Forest route

               After a delicious lunch we came at Bhuleshwar Temple. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. As per mythology it was a fort which was called as 'Mangalgadh'. It is said that Parvati danced for Shiva and from here they went to Kailash and got married. Temple was built during the period of 1230 AD during Yadava Rulers. The temple is made in two layers. The first layer i.e. the temple wall structure which is Yadav era is made from black Basalt stone, while the second layer i.e. the shikhar structure is made in lime and gypsum, and was constructed during the Maratha-Peshwa period.

Bhuleshwar Temple

              Entry to Bhuleshwar Temple is quite interesting. While entering in the temple shrine, you can see a huge wall and immediate steps on left as well as right side which take you inside the temple. Idol of Nandi is very beautiful which is placed in front of the shrine. It serves as the mount (Vaahan in Marathi) of the lord Shiva and as the gatekeeper of Shiva and Parvati.

Idol of Nandi

Beautiful carving at Bhuleshwar

               Carvings on the temple walls and pillars are stunning and every picture is different than the other. There are depictions of scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata on either side of temple like “Sita-haran”, “Bharat-Milap” etc. Apart from its awesome architectural standpoints both from inside and outside, the most mesmerizing thing one can notice about it is that there are several sculptures of Hindu male gods which are represented in female body and attire, especially the lord Ganesha, which is very rare to experience..!!

We spend around an hour and left this place by 3 PM. We reached home safely by 4 PM

Expense

• Car Petrol: INR 1000/- (Approx. 14 Lit)
• Car toll: INr 37.50/- return entry
• Mayureshwar sanctuary Entry fee: INR 30/- per person
• Mayureshwar sanctuary Vehicle entry fee: INR 100/- for car
• Mayureshwar sanctuary Camera charges: INR 50/- per camera
• Kanchan Veg hotel: INR 690/- for 4 people (Masala Papad, 2 south Indian dishes, 1 veg Panjabi, Roti, Lassi, lime soda and milk shake)

I will try to upload more and more travel blogs. Thanks for reading this Travel Blog.

Pritesh Kulkarni

Pune