How about having a sprawling green garden with a holy place in centre spread over 25 acres of land in the heart of city? Yes this exactly true. There is one such landmark in the city of Pune under the state of Maharashtra. This place is called Saras Baug which means Saras Park. It is located near the Parvati Hill and just one mile away from Swargate. Centuries before there was a lake where the park is today but when the lake dried up the place is turned into a garden. In Marathi language the temple inside the Saras Baug is called Talyatla Ganpati because there use to be a taal i.e. small lake or pond at that place.There are many people involved in the development of Saras baug which is present today. The actual construction was started in the year 1750 under the supervision of Sawai Madhavrao Peshwa and Mahadji Shinde Maratha Union. The temple construction ended with placing of idol of Lord Ganesh in the year 1784. The temple initially was built on a lake that later vanished. There were some inscriptions written in the temple in Sanskrit language. As it is a 262 years old temple it is obvious tht there were several renovation works have been done to protect the structure from any kind of damage. Following is the list of people who contributed in the development and renovation activity of Present Saras Baug:1. Sawai Madhavrao Peshwa (1750 to 1784)2. Renovation with the help of East India Company in 18423. Madhavrao Kumthekar and Anandrao Mane in 1969When we talk about the history of this place there is an interesting thing I came to know. The Peshwas and their advisors usually came to Saras Baug to plan their strategies against Nizams and British by riding boats and in order to keep it a secret the boats were steered by non natives mainly Africans who could not understand the local language Marathi. There are various parts of Saras Baug:1. The Ganesh temple2. The museum3. Huge garden4. Small pond5. Peshwa Park (zoo)
The Ganesh temple is built in such a way that the devotees can see the idol of lord Ganesh from the main road. The idol is small but very beautiful and divine. The small museum that was added to the place in the year 1995 displays hundreds of idols of Lord Ganesh. The temple is surrounded by water pond from all sides that has water lotus lots of it. There are some fountains too. You go to the temple by crossing bridge. While the last renovation was taking place a small zoo is added to the Saras Baug and this zoo is named Peshwa Park. Last but not the least the temple has big gardens on all four sides that is a part of Saras Baug. This garden is divided in different sections. Some parts are prohibited to walk on but some are open to use by general public. The gardens are well maintained and tried hard to kept clean but it is India and things can happen here like throwing chips packets in this serene place.You can find chopati type eateries when you exit from the other door of Saras Baug. At the main entrance there are many coconut water sellers and some peeled cucumber sellers you will find. The place is really amazing but the problem of parking is really bad as usual. You need to struggle for parking if you are visiting this place. It is better to visit it using public transport or auto rickshaw. The important fact is that every day around ten thousand people visit this place. Some come here for worshipping, some for family picnic while others come to just hangout. At the time of Ganesh Chaturthi the number of devotees who visit the place goes up to 80 thousand. Now you can imagine how popular and sacred this place is in the city.The place gets great importance during the Diwali celebration, as people living across the city come here in the early morning on the day of Padwa to celebrate “Dipotsav”, where people light Diyas in the premises of the Sarasbaug with drawing huge Rangolis on ground and decorating it with numbers of Diyas. The crowd comes in the Ganesh Mandir situates within Sarasbaug to worship the lord Ganesha on an auspicious day of Diwali along with their family and friends.Ruchi Mahajanзайм на карту без отказов круглосуточновзять кредит онлайн