Shaniwar Wada Pune | Shaniwar Wada Fort | Visit Shaniwar Wada | Pune Attractions | Places in Pune

This time its again about Pune. Shaniwar Wada, Pune is a place of our interest today in this post. Located near Raasta Peth, Shaniwar Wada is one of the most famous places in Pune. Shaniwar Wada is well known for fort, a fort mansion which was built in the 18th century. The reason why it is named so "Shaniwar" because of the fact that the foundation stone for this place was laid on Saturday which means "Shaniwar" in local language. And "Wada" stands for the residential complex. Yes, it is believed that this mansion was used by Peshwa Bajirao as his personal residence.

The complex had an impressive lotus-shaped fountain: the Hazari Karanje (Fountain of a thousand jets). It was constructed for the pleasure of the infant Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao. It was designed as a sixteen petal lotus; each petal had sixteen jets with an eighty foot arch. It was the most complicated and intricate fountain of its time.

Several additions were made to the palace like fortification walls with bastions, gates and court halls by his successors.

What was once a seven storied structure was gutted by a fire in the palace. Only the remains can be seen now like the fortification walls with five gateways and nine bastions that enclosed the entire palace. The principal gate is called Dilli Darwaja (Delhi Gate); the other gates are called Mastani or Alibahadur Darwaja, Khidki Darwaja, Ganesh Darwaja and Narayan Darwaja.

The walls in the palace were painted with scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata. A sixteen petal lotus-shaped fountain stands reminiscent of the exquisite work of those times. The historical structure which stands as an important chapter in the history of the Maratha empire, is now maintained by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Around 1,000 people used to stay in the palace.

Shaniwarwada is a must see place on the tourists’ itinerary, particularly if one takes the Pune Darshan bus organized by the PMC. It has also become an attractive destination for public functions and speeches by public figures.

ref:http://www.virtualpune.com/html/localguide/attractions/html/shaniwar_wada.shtml