Had this circular track in mind for many days. Finally had this trip on a
recent Sunday.
Route:
Pune - Kondhwa - Bopdev Ghat - Kanifnath temple - Hivre temple - Sasvad -
Narayanpur Datta Mandir - Balaji Mandir, Ketkawle - NH4 - Pune
Total distance - around 100km
Kanifnath temple via Bopdev ghat
If you continue to go past Kondhwa, past the Sai Service Maruti showroom, you
reach this junction where on your right the road goes to Katraj and on left it
goes to Uruli and Dive ghat. If you go straight from here, it takes you to the
Bopdev ghat road which eventually reaches Saswad (as does Dive ghat).
The road from Kondhwa to Bopdev ghat has some rough patches of around 100 odd
meters. Barring that the road is not bad.
Bopdev ghat is an alternative to more commonly known route to Sasvad via Dive
ghat. Wasn't sure about the road quality. Had taken this route to Baramati many
years back. But things seem to have improved and road is better now. Bopdev
ghat has just about a couple of acute turns and is much smaller than Dive ghat.
So not sure why people don't prefer it to Dive ghat.
Road to Kanifnath is a tar road though not in a great shape. The temple is on a
hill. Most people park at the base level on the hill where the tar road ends.
You can climb up the steps from here. We weren't sure about a kachcha road
going further up from this level as most cars weren't taking that route. We
took that route and after a couple of steep turns reached the upper level where
the main shrine is. Very few vehicles had come all the way up.
There is a Samadhi of Kanifnath in the temple where only gents are allowed to
take Darshan. One needs to take off shirt and leather belts and crawl through a
small opening to get Darshan of the Samadhi.
Besides the temple, overall ambience on the hill is very airy and clean. The
hill is at a decent height away from the city. So you can spot parts of Pune
city from there.
The place was not very crowded despite weekend. Parking space was sufficient.
Had a good time here before proceeding further in the direction of Sasvad.
The Kanifnath Hill
The Kanifnath temple
There was a VX the same day at the same place. (BHPian??!). Wonder what they'd
have chatted?
A historic temple at Hivre and break at Sasvad
This was not known location to us and wasn't in the plan. Spotted a fairly
large ancient looking temple on the banks of the river when proceeding from
Bopdev to Sasvad. Had a brief halt over here. Unfortunately did not find any
signs or people who could provide historical details about this temple.
Hivre temple:
Proceeded to Sasvad from here where we had planned a lunch break. Was looking
for good restaurants there. Spotted one called "Mohini" in main market areas of
Sasvad. Unaware of the town, went further in search of a better restaurant, but
then had to return back to the same one. Whoever we asked pointed back to the
same one.
Most people were having "Misal-Pav" there. While waiting for food we ordered,
we ordered one plate for us as well. It was very very hot. Could not finish
even one plate among 3 of us! Wonder how others were merrily feasting on it!
The main course was relatively better in taste.
Barring the highway stretch around the town, it is tough to drive through the
Sasvad town. The roads are narrow and were fairly crowded.
Sasvad by itself is a historic town. There is a Samadhi of first Peshwa (Balaji
Vishwanath) here, besides several ancient temples and wadas. Unfortunately we
did not have much time or proper guidance about the places. Decided to make a
separate trip to this town alone and proceeded further.
A temple at Sasvad:
Datta Mandir Narayanpur
Post Saswad, turn further towards west. There is a small stretch of ghat
region. You can watch historic Purandar fort on your left. Proceeded further to
Narayanpur Datta Mandir from here. Had heard about this temple being very
ancient etc. It was fairly crowded as expected. Unfortunately the surrounding
wasn't well maintained and clean. Had a really brief halt here and proceeded
further.
Balaji temple, Ketkawle
This is also called Prati-Balaji temple, I understand.
This is further towards west from Sasvad, very close on east of the NH4 - just
past the Khed Shivapur toll if you approach from Pune side. The temple is
situated on a fairly big area and there is ample parking space, which was
nearly filled owing to weekend crowd. The place is very well maintained and
clean, despite such heavy crowds.
Balaji temple:
Khed Shivapur toll booth - worst part of any trip that has to approach Pune
from South
This is easily the worst ever toll booth I have ever seen. The lanes are
insufficient to accommodate weekend traffic. Worse is nobody follows any lane
discipline at this booth. Seems it is perhaps considered stupid to do so here.
Most vehicles would just speed past you if you are waiting in your lane and
enter whichever lane they find convenient where the railings start. Can't do
much about it except feeling frustrated.
Overall, it was a good day trip. Most enjoyable was the Kanifnath hill and the
temple.