Hadshi Vitthal Temple

Panduranga Kshetra, Hadshi Temple, Pune
The Vitthal temple at Hadshi built and maintained by Sathya Sai trust is one of well-maintained and cleanest temple I have visited. Just an hour drive from Pune makes it a good destination on Sundays.

The place is pretty big and on top of a hill. One has to drive to the top to reach the place. There are multiple options to reach this place, but the route via Paud road is a good bet. The rest of the road conditions are not that good. There is a canteen available here and the temple is surrounded by lush green trees. There is  a garden as well as small playground for kids. A perfect picnic spot for families. Definitel a must visit.


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Route map:
Route via Paud road


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Prati Pandharpur Near Lonavala

Prati Pandharpur 


Pandharpur is a very famous pilgrimage in Maharashtra, India. Prati-Pandharpur is replica of the famous temple.  Lord Vitthala who is considered as the incarnation of Lord Vishnu is the main deity in Pandharpur.Prati-Pandharpur is located in Dudhivare village near Pavana Dam. It is very near to famous Lohgad fort.

The temple is not well-know yet hence visitors are not very high. The temple is very beautiful and the place is well maintained with greenery all around.The temple is dedicated to Lord Vitthala and Saint Dnyaneshwar with idols very beautiful and carved out of marble. The roof has temple has intricate design with a beautiful chandelier at  the centre. This is definitely a worth visit.

One can take the Lonavala route or from Kamshet via Pavana Dam to reach this place. There are no clear signs or big hoarding, so one can miss this place easily.

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Pavana Dam, Near Lonavala

Pavana Dam
Pavana Dam near Lohgad in vicinity of Lonavala is the dam which gives rise to the scenic Pavana lake. A very pleasant drive from Pune or Mumbai for one-day getaway. The place will be at its peak beauty during monsoon, however, the weather seemed pleasant enough during my visit in early March.

There are multiple options to reach this place from Pune. I took the Kamshet route. The distance is about 50 kms from north Pune. The ride till Kamshet is pretty smooth and the old Mumbai-Pune road is pretty good. At Kamshet, one should take the left at the main intersection where the highway touches the town. The turn is just before the ghats start.

The road from Kamshet to Pavana Dam is small road and not in very good condition. But this route is quite picturesque throughout. On the way one can see signs for Bedse caves which is just 4-5 kms off this route. There is not much options for food or water here. Once you cross the underpass for Expressway, take the right turn at Paud road junction. The dam is visible from the main road itself, but to get view off lake once must travel a bit ahead on the road which leads to Lohgad. This is the same route that will take you to Lonavala.

There are not many options for food that I could spot. On the way I came across Lohgad Resort and Boating club. They offer decent food. Tried the boating here, was quite good. They charge Rs.300 for scooter ride, and Rs.150 per head for motorboat. They do have nice speed boat but the charge was Rs.1200 for 4 person. As we were just two, we decided to take the regular motorboat. The ride was quite good and fun. The place is quite calm and good for small break from city.    

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At Lohgad Resort and Boat Club

On route to Pavana Dam

The winding road to Pavana

Pavana Dam

View of Pavana Lake

Speed Boat at Boating club

On old Mum-Pune Road

View of Lake

Spotted this Peacock at the resort

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Nandi Hills Bangalore

Nandi Hills

Nandi hills is a small hillock about 100kms from Bangalore on the Bangalore-Hyderabad road. A popular weekend spot for trekking enthusiast and tourists. The place offers magnificent view atop the hill.
Being a popular spot, the place is crowded on weekends and food and water is easily available.

The road uphill is a challenging one and loads of people turn up here with their vehicles. Early morning, the road opens at 6 am. This restriction put up must be to avoid accidents due to fog.

On top of the hill is an old Shiv temple. The top is like a flat top and has a very nice view from above. The place is pretty dangerous if one tries some foolishly adventurous things and has already claimed many lives. The steep gradient of the hill make it a one way to heaven if things go wrong hence walking near the edges is very dangerous. There is a guard or two who keep watch on people trying to go near the edge for snaps and warns them off. While atop one gets a felling of floating in the clouds. Reaching here early is the actual fun as the weather is nice can cool and the clouds hover all near the hill.

Overall the place is excellent for short drive or ride nearby Bangalore. I have visited this place on numerous occasions and enjoyed the beauty.

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Yelagiri Hills Tamil Nadu

Ride to Yelagiri Hills

Yelagiri is a hill station about 150kms from Bangalore, just off the Krishnagiri-Vellore road. An ideal weekend spot for tourists looking for less crowded and peaceful place near to Bangalore.

While reading about this place it was observed that the drive uphill to Yellagiri will be great because of the 14 hair pin bends and in December of 2008 my buddies and myself decide for  a one-day ride to the place.  Our Infosys biker gang which we later named 'Cruising Sultans' had planned this one and this was my first ride with the guys.

We started off at around 7 am from Electronic city and the 4-lane Hosur road was just like butter. This was the first time I was riding with a group and with 7 Enfield thumping around, it was just amazing. Our first halt was near the petrol bunk at Hosur where Arun shared his 'gyan' on group riding and we decided to follow that. Being December, the weather was pleasant cold which made the ride enjoyable.

The next stop was at Kamat right after Hosur. After a quick breakfast, we rode again towards Yelagiri. From Krishnagiri we took the left under the flyover. If you get over this flyover then you'll miss the turn for Yelagiri. Better keep in mind Vellore so that the left sign for Vellore serves the purpose. Once on the Vellore road, we reached a small town  where there was a sign for Yelagiri saying 'Elagiri'. The hill station is about 30 odd kms from here.

Riding the hairpin bends uphill was exhilarating. We stopped for some snaps on the way. One of the guys had a pillion named Ren who was kind enough to keep on clicking great snaps. On the way up the first stop was the Telescope House. Was a good place to watch the horizon. The view was good, not as awesome as Kodaikannal or Munnar though. After checking this place out we went uphill and reached the hillstation. It's a small place, not as developed as Ooty or Kodaikannal. I could see some lodges around, but did not spot any big hotels.  

The Punganoor lake was the next attraction. It was a nice quiet place not what I wanted at the moment. I was expecting to find some adventurous spot to ride to. After spending some time at the lake and after click here and there, we started back. I insisted to move ahead to check out if there was anything ahead. After a few kms, I spotted a formation of rock and we all decide to ride off-road there. Well the off-road part was not that much, just a little bit of grass and mud to be precise but the rocks looked great. Again it was time for some snaps and since everyone was hungry our humble moderator Manas decide to go to nearby shop and get some chips and biscuits which we readily enjoyed. After an hour of lazing around, we decided to have lunch.

There were not many restaurants around, but only local eateries. The food was tasty, nothing fancy but manageable. with our tummies full we decided our ride back. After an heavy lunch I was feeling sleepy but the hairpins kept my eyes wide open. I bet the other too were sleepy then. On our way back we stopped at the Krishnagiri junction where we had tea and started back. Our final rendezvous point was e-city junction where we gathered back to check on everyone.

It was a superb ride, my first with a group where I got to make new friends and which sparked off many more ride!

Places to see:

• Telescope House

This is the first spot one should reach while uphill. It is like a small observatory or a watch tower from where one can use the telescope kept there to see prominent place in the town at the foothill. A good place to spend sometime.

• Punganoor Artificial Lake-cum-Park

One shall miss this as it is right in the middle of the hillstation itself. A good place for famliy to hang around.

• Jalagamparai Waterfalls

One need to trek to reach this spot. We however did not check this out

• Swamimalai

This is the highest peak in this range and again a trek is required to reach here.


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Things to carry:

Foodstuff: Limited restaurants are available

Cash: Better carry sufficient cash as ATM availability is limited

Fuel: There is not petrol bunk on the way up, so better keep the tank full

Reaching there:

• Take the Hosur road and continue upto Krishnagiri.
• Take the left for Vellore under Krishnagiri Flyover
• Continue till you reach small town of Natrampalli
• Here you will find a marker saying 'Elagiri', take this right and continue

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