Pune Highlights
A curated tour of Pune, the Maratha capital turned university city, from Peshwa-era palaces and Ganesh temples to ancient rock-cut caves and a mountain fortress.
Trip Stops
- 1
The 18th-century seat of the Peshwas, whose main gate faces Delhi, the Mughal capital. Its name means 'Saturday Palace' after the day the foundation was laid.
📍 Pune, Maharashtra, India
- 2
A reconstruction of the palace where the young Shivaji grew up. Here he famously cut off the fingers of the Mughal general Shaista Khan during a night raid.
📍 Pune, Maharashtra, India
- 3
The presiding deity of Pune, and the temple that gets the honor of the first immersion during Ganesh Chaturthi. The idol is said to have begun as a rice-grain-sized self-formed figure, now covered in red sandalwood paste.
📍 Pune, Maharashtra, India
- 4
The elegant mansion of Baji Rao II, the last Peshwa, famous for its carved teak balcony and cypress-shaped columns. Today it holds a post office, offices and a small museum of Maratha artifacts.
📍 Pune, Maharashtra, India
- 5
Pune's most visited Ganesh temple, founded by a sweet-maker who lost his son to the plague. Nearby Laxmi Road is named after his wife.
📍 Pune, Maharashtra, India
- 6
A pink mansion packed with more than 20,000 objects collected by a single man and dedicated to his late son Raja. Highlights include a recreated Mastani Mahal and a superb musical instrument collection.
📍 Pune, Maharashtra, India
- 7
A Peshwa-era lakeside garden with the 'Ganapati of the Lake' temple, completed in 1784. A small museum inside the complex displays around 500 Ganesh idols made from materials ranging from ivory to sea shells.
📍 Pune, Maharashtra, India
- 8
A hilltop Peshwa temple complex and one of Pune's oldest heritage structures. At the second-highest point in the city, it offers sweeping sunset views over the rooftops.
📍 Pune, Maharashtra, India
- 9
A Rajasthani-style memorial to Mahadji Shinde, built on the spot where he was cremated in 1794. Visitors must close their umbrellas inside, even in the rain, as a mark of respect.
📍 Pune, Maharashtra, India
- 10
An 8th-century Rashtrakuta rock-cut Shiva temple carved from a single basalt outcrop, hidden beside a busy city street. Its circular Nandi pavilion is cut free from the surrounding rock.
📍 Pune, Maharashtra, India
- 11
An Italian-arched palace built in 1892 as a famine-relief project, later the prison where Gandhi was held from 1942 to 1944. Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Desai died here, and their memorials stand in the gardens.
📍 Pune, Maharashtra, India
- 12
The 'Lion's Fort' on a Sahyadri cliff, where Tanaji Malusare is said to have scaled the wall with a trained monitor lizard in 1670. Shivaji reportedly mourned, 'The fort is won, but the lion is lost.'
📍 Pune, Maharashtra, India
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