Good Friday – Another Pune City Tour

When I planned the trip, I assumed that India did not celebrate Easter and booked meetings and such on the Friday. I discovered late (well too late to change my flights) that it was actually a holiday. So I ended up with a day off.

Kedar, one of the world’s most amazing people, offered to use his day off to do another little tour in Pune. The hospitality here has been unmatched. Kedar picked me up at about 7:30 a.m. On some of our other outings, he noticed my love of birds and birding and suggested we go to a bird sanctuary. I was all for that and it seemed a good start to the morning. The “sanctuary” was interesting – our walk started with a “No Trespassing” sign, which we promptly ignored.

Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary

It wasn’t much of a “sanctuary” the way I would have defined it, but there were not a lot of people there and it was right along the edge of the river. There was a ton of bird life and I was able to add quite a few new species to the life list. And some cows. There always seem to be cows.

A view up the river where we were taking our walk looking for birds.

Indian spotted ducks - there were lots of them along the river bank.

A black-headed ibis along with the duck. There were quite a few of them along the riverbank as well.

For this past of the post, I’ll just share some of the bird pictures that I took. I thinkI identified as many as possible

Three kites and a butterfly.

Throughout the walk there were a series of new birds that I had not seen before. Here’s a gallery of the interesting ones.

Red-wattled Lapwing

Eurasian Coot

Asian Koel

Rudy Shelduck

Large Grey Babbler

Oriental Magpie-Robin

Black Drongo

Rose-ringed Parakeets

White-throated Kingfisher

The map of our short walk in the morning.

After we had our walk along the river we headed back to the car, and we headed over to the Aga Khan Palace.

The Aga Khan Palace

The Aga Khan Palace is a historically significant structure, built-in 1892 by Sultan Muhammed Shah Aga Khan III, it was designed by the British architect Charles Correa. The palace is a grand example of Italian architecture and is spread across an area of 19 acres.

The Palace and the grounds are quite beautiful.

The palace has played an important role in India's struggle for independence, as it served as a prison for several prominent leaders of the Indian National Congress during the Quit India Movement in 1942. The most notable of these leaders was Mahatma Gandhi, who was imprisoned in the palace for a period of two years. Today, the palace is home to the Gandhi National Memorial, which serves as a tribute to the great leader's life and legacy. Gandhi’s ashes are interred in a memorial on the grounds. Apart from its historical significance, the Aga Khan Palace also boasts of beautiful gardens, fountains, and intricate designs on its walls and ceilings.

Walking up the main path towards the palace.

One of the oddities about the place was that they prohibited cameras. So I was only able to take a couple of pictures with my phone.

A close up view of the very ornate exterior of the palace.

When we arrived, a woman asked if we wanted a guided tour. We accepted and what a great decision that was! She provided a rich insight into its history and architecture. She had 40-50 years of history with the palace and even went to school there as a child, when it was a school rather than a monument. She had lots of stories and provided so much insight. It was well worth the relatively small amount of money we paid for the tour.

Towards the back of the grounds there is a beautiful, richly forested area. Within it was a small open air temple that had a monument where Gandhi’s ashes are interred.

Pataleshwar Caves

The tour of the Palace took a lot less time than I was expecting. While it was beautiful, there was not a ton to see.

After the tour, Kedar took me to the Pataleshwar Caves. The Pataleshwar Caves are ancient rock-cut caves right in heart of Pune. They are believed to have been constructed during the 8th century. Tthe caves are dedicated to Lord Shiva and are known for their unique architecture and intricate carvings.

The temple was another incredible, hand-carved cavern with a temple in the center.

The caves are made up of a single cell that houses a shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva, along with a smaller cell that houses a Nandi bull statue. The most striking feature of the Pataleshwar Caves is the elaborate rock-cut architecture, which includes pillars, carvings, and intricate details on the walls and ceiling.

Outside the temple, the orange triangles that I had been seeing in various places marked the location of the site.

The entrance to the temple caverns.

Some additional views inside the temple.

Outside the temple there were some huge plumeria trees, the largest I’d seen.

Some of the caverns were more rough-hewn than others.

As with all the temples, you need to take your shoes off outside before entering.

Another view outside the temple.

Outside the temple there were a few big banyan trees.

As you can imagine given the date, they were all carved out by hand, which is hard to imagine. Above the cave complex were some of the biggest plumeria trees I had ever seen. They were ancient and were in full bloom, dropping their beautiful flowers everywhere.

The visit was again a short one, and Kedar dropped me off at the hotel to continue on with his day. We had really spent enough time playing tour guide for me – but it was very much appreciated!

The rest of the day was mostly spent relaxing (and doing some work). After getting dropped off, I got changed and went down to the pool for a swim. It had turned into a hot day, so it was nice to get in the water. I lounged for a bit and finished by book. After that, I went for lunch then headed back to the room and watched a movie before work sucked me back in.

For my last evening, I decided to have a drink in the lounge before heading back up to Paasha for one last good Indian meal before making my trek home.