Monday, November 7, 2011

The Grandeur of Shaniwar Wada, Pune

Shaniwar Wada in Pune cannot be missed by any tourist at it is at the center of the city. Built in 1732, it is the residence of the Peshwas. Originally there was a palace here surrounded by fortification walls.

However, a fire later gutted the buildings in this place and what now remains is the plinths and fortification walls.
To experience the grandness of this place one has to see the balcony at the top of Dilli Darwaz.

The balcony has wooden pillars that are beautifully carved with floral designs. Each of the pillars are carved exactly same with no difference at all.

The palace in those days had several rooms for queens, court hall, dancing hall any many other rooms. They were beautifully painted. A glimpse of which can be seen in the interiors of Dilli Darwaza. There is a beautiful painting of Lord Ganesha and Lord Vishnu sleeping on the serpent.

The place had beautiful gardens and fountains which we will try to explore soon.


54 comments:

Aakash @ Love poems said...

Marvelous. You travel a lot, Rajesh. Very beautifully captured, keep them coming :-)

Cloudia said...

thank you for this treasure!



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joshi daniel said...

the wooden pillars make it different!

Anuradha Shankar said...

been wanting to go to pune for a long time and visit.thanks for the wonderful post!

Urmi said...

Beautiful place. I would love to visit one day.
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Daliana Pacuraru said...

Thank you!
My best regards from Romania!

Teamgsquare said...

Lovely place .

Sridharan said...

Looks to be a marvelous structure..! Thanks for sharing!

Travel France Online said...

I love the elaborate carvings, could steal one or two! :)

Anonymous said...

Another magnificent building!

Halie said...

I really never get tired of seeing all the wonderful places around your country. Thank you for sharing these with us.

Lowell said...

And to think they did all that intricate carving without the help of computers! Quite amazing, really!

Al said...

This is another impressive place, the details are wonderful.

Pinay Tambay said...

Oh nice another tour in India, I enjoyed viewing your pictures and reading a bit of history. Thank you.

carol l mckenna said...

Great photos of amazing architecture ~thanks,namaste, CArol (A Creative Harbor)

magiceye said...

beautifully captured! yet to visit!!

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Indrani said...

Great pics, never been here.

Sylvia K said...

Another magnificent palace! So much beauty and fascinating history! Thanks as always for the wonderful look at your world, Rajesh!

Sylvia

LifeRamblings said...

it's amazing that the structure has been well preserved for so long.

Barb said...

I'm amazed that you're permitted to walk through such a treasure! The wooden carvings are very beautiful.

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Grand indeed!

Leovi said...

I really like Shaniwar Wada, beautiful photos.

Francisca said...

What surprises me is that the carved wood pillars on the balcony of the residence of the Peshwas has survived since 1732!

Arnab Majumdar said...

I've always wanted to visit Pune, for various reasons. Now, you've given me yet another! I'll have to visit that place soon, and I know I'll write something about that city when I do too...

Great shots, and an equally amazing place.

Cheers,
Arnab Majumdar
ScribbleFest.com

Sharmila said...

indeed ... it's amazing how they made these beautiful n huge structure - one must enjoy it by touching it with ones own hand ... n lucky u to do so - i definately envy u !!

SANDEEP PANWAR said...

शुभकामनाएँ आपको ऐसी शानदार यात्रा करने के लिये,

Roger Owen Green said...

love the arches
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

anthonynorth said...

Beautiful place.

MaR said...

You always show stunning arquitecture, this one is no exception!!

Q is for quadruped

Nanka said...

Marvelous this Pune palace!! The carved wooden pillars are amazing!! Excellent post!!

Leslie: said...

Beautiful,

Leslie
abcw team

sappy said...

Looks very grand and rich looking though damaged a lot.Great!

Carver said...

Very interesting and beautiful.

George said...

The balcony is fantastic. The pillars are intricate and beautiful.

Karen said...

Beautiful carving.

Pietro Brosio said...

Very nice photos to describe this splendid building!

EG CameraGirl said...

Amazing the detail on this ancient building.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Grand palace indeed; I am sure the gardens will be spectacular and look forward to seeing them.

Sujatha Sathya said...

nice place & the carvings on the pillars

Eden said...

Beautiful carvings. Great shots.

Jeevan said...

I wonder why we are not building such artistic structures or palaces these days! This is quite remarkable and marvelous.

Diane AZ said...

Amazing palace, beautifully carved pillars!

Mildred said...

Such a magnificient palace!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos;o)

***
Hope you are having a fabulous week****

Liz said...

Beautiful architecture. Have a fabulous week.

Liz @ MLC

J.Rylie.C said...

Very pretty!

Come take a peek at my MYM entry, am sure you'll have fun!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

pillars are made of timber

Jessica said...

very pretty, what a view :-) Thank you for sharing. Dropping some love for Mellow Yellow Monday, hope that you can return the favor too.

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Ramakant Pradhan said...

Seems like a good place to visit.

Akshay Kumar G said...

They still look magnificent in spite of being gutted by fires.

Puru@ShadowsGalore said...

Beautiful. I reached Pune a week back and will make sure to explore this place :)

Sunil Deepak said...

Went to Pune twice but never saw this one! Thanks :)

Seema said...

Beautiful pics.

Bhavana said...

Hey that is the city I lived for many years and Shaniwar Wada was one of my most fav places to visit. Thanks for posting great pics!!! The light show-is it still on?

Rajesh said...

Thank you all for appreciating this place.