It was a long, hot summer. The Little People are now getting ready for school. Even though my holidays weren’t tied to theirs, I felt I really needed a change. So, I decided to go to Pune for a short break. Luckily, Hubby Dear also wanted to come along, so we drove up to Pune on Saturday morning. Despite being a weekend, the traffic was reasonable and we made it to Pune in good time.

Long before our visit, my sister in law, who is a history and heritage buff, had been on a Heritage walk to Bhuleshwar and couldn’t stop raving about it. So this was one of the things we had to do-

The temple is about an hour away from Pune and off the Pune-Solapur highway. It is built on a hillock and from afar can be mistaken for a mosque. Apparently, this is no coincidence; it was a deliberate attempt at protecting it from marauding invaders. You can see the remains of the ramparts of a fort (Mangal Gad or DaulatMangal) which was built at the behest of Adil Shah of Bijapur.

Once you get past the archway marking the entrance to the temple you have the option of climbing up the steps or driving right up to the temple complex. We of course preferred the car because once up on the hill, there are several steep staircases still to contend with.

Unlike the temples at Jejuri, Theur and Morgaon, this temple remains a hidden gem. It is just as well in a way because I can slowly see the crowds coming to see it and it won’t be long before it joins the rest of the temples on the temple tour and is flooded with tourists and pilgrims.

For truly, this temple is unique, and standing on top of the hill, one can sense a calm and peace that is hard to describe. This stone temple of Lord Shiva built in black basalt in the 12th Century in the Hemadpanti style, has the most exquisite carvings, many of which have been vandalised. This temple was attacked and rebuilt three times.

Around the inner temple complex which has a giant Nandi looking at its master, there are several small ‘rooms’ which may have served as rooms for monks to meditate or stay. Beautifully crafted stone trellises allow the breezes to blow in.

For a more detailed account of the temple, please visit DISCOVERING TEMPLES.

back to reality

Outside the temple were some village folk selling their home made sweets which are really quite irresistible. Made from milk and local grown sugarcane jaggery, they should be part of your temple tour.

But we went beyond that and I had for the first time ever a dish that my father used to scoff at, Misal Pav, which I wanted to try since recently I read on a social media post that it was voted as an iconic breakfast dish.

I must admit, the misal was good, but not something I would go for again.

The rest of my stay consisted of meeting an old friend, catching up with family gossip, and exploring the unexplored parts of the old city.

Pune, with its light drizzle and cool monsoon breezes is always a good place to visit in the monsoon.

Do give it a shot.

Ciao