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Pune City Pune, formerly known as Punawadi or Punya-Nagari or Poona, is the eighth largest city in India, and the second largest in the state of Maharashtra, after Mumbai. Situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula (Marathi: मुळा) and Mutha rivers (Marathi: मुठा), Pune is the administrative capital of Pune district and the 7th Metro city of India. Pune is known to have existed as a town since 937 AD.Shivaji Raje,the founder of the Maratha Empire, lived in Pune as a boy, and later oversaw significant growth and development of the town during his reign. In 1730, Pune became an important political centre as the seat of the Peshwa, the prime minister of the Chhatrapati of Satara. After the town was annexed to British India in 1817, it served as a cantonment town and as the "monsoon capital" of the Bombay Presidency until the independence of India. Today, Pune is known for its educational facilities, having more than a hundred educational institutes and nine universities. Pune has well-established Manufacturing, Glass, Sugar and Metal Forging industries since 1950-60s. Pune also has a growing industrial hinterland, with many information technology and automotive companies setting up factories in Pune district. Additionally, Pune city is well known for various cultural activities like Classical Music, Sports, Literature, Foreign language learning and Administrative, Economics, Social Science studies. These activities and job opportunities attract migrants and students from all over India, and also attract students from Middle-East, Iran, Eastern Europe, South-East Asia which makes for a city of many communities and cultures Places of tourist Shaniwarwada is a palace fort in the city of Pune in western Maharashtra, India. It covers six and a quarter acres in central Pune. It was constructed in 1732 as the seat of the Peshwa (prime ministers of the Maratha Empire), and remained the political capital of the Empire until its annihilation. The fort itself was largely destroyed in 1828 by an unexplained fire, but the surviving structures are now maintained as a tourist and archaeological site. The Aga Khan Palace was constructed by Sultan Mohammed Shah, Aga Khan III, in the year 1892. Built in Yerwada, near Pune, it was intended to be a source of employment for the famine-struck villagers in the surrounding areas. Prince Karim El Husseni, Aga Khan IV, donated the palace to the Government of India in 1969, in memory of Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy The Aga Khan Palace is also known as the Gandhi National Memorial because of its close association with Mahatma Gandhi, who was kept at this palace under house arrest in the 1940s. His wife, Kasturba Gandhi, and his long-time aide, Mahadev Desai, both died while under house arrest in this palace, and their samadhis (memorials) were built here by Charles Correa. A museum inside the palace complex has a rich collection of pictures and photographs of the important incidents in his life. The Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, commonly known as the Rajiv Gandhi Zoo, is located in Katraj near the city of Pune in India. It is spread over 165 acres (0.67 km2) ,which is divided into 3 parts- animal orphanage, snake park & zoo & also has a lake-Katraj lake spread over in 42 acres. It has been open to the public since 1999, earning over 1.3 million visitors during 2007-2008. Earlier, the animals were located at Peshwe Park inside Pune city, while the Katraj facility was primarily a snake park. Slowly the snake park became a rescue center for wild animals. Eventually the zoo was moved to Katraj and the rescue center and snake park were isolated to offer privacy to rescued animals. The Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum is in Pune, Maharashtra, India. It contains the collection of Dr Dinkar G. Kelkar (1896–1990), dedicated to the memory of his only son, Raja, who died early.The three storey building houses various sculptures dating back to the 14th century. There are also ornaments made of ivory, silver and gold, musical instruments, war weapons and vessels, etc The collection was started around 1920 and by 1960 it contained around 15,000 objects. In 1962, Dr Kelkar handed his collection to the Department of Archaeology within the Government of Maharashtra The museum now holds over 20,000 objects of which 2,500 are on display. These consist of mainly Indian decorative items from everyday life and other art objects, mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries. There is a particularly fine collection of musical instruments. The museum's collection depicts the superb skills of the Indian artists of the time. The door frames, vessels, ornaments, musical instruments, paintings and carvings represent outstanding examples of their art. Climate Pune has a tropical wet and dry climate with average temperatures ranging between 20 °C to 28 °C. Pune experiences three distinct seasons: summer, monsoon and winter. Typical summer months are from March to May, with maximum temperatures ranging from 30 to 38 °C (85 to 100 °F). The warmest month in Pune is April; although summer doesn't end until May, the city often receives locally developed heavy thundershowers in May (although humidity remains high). Even during the hottest months, the nights are usually cool due to Pune's high altitude. The highest temperature ever recorded was 43.3 °C (109 °F) on April 30, 1897. The monsoon lasts from June to October, with moderate rainfall and temperatures ranging from 10 °C to 28 °C (50 °F to 82 °F). Most of the 722 mm of annual rainfall in the city fall between June and September, and July is the wettest month of the year. Pune once received rainfall on 29 consecutive days Winter begins in November; November in particular is known as the Rosy Cold (Marathi: गुलाबी थंडी). The daytime temperature hovers around 28 °C (83 °F) while night temperature is below 10 °C (50 °F) for most of December and January, often dropping to 5 or 6 °C (42 °F). The lowest temperature ever recorded was 1.7 °C on January 17, 1935 Transport Road Both public transport (autorickshaws and buses) and private transport (cars, motorcycles and scooters) are popular in Pune. According to one study, there were then 400,000 cars and 1.7 million two-wheelers in Pune in 2007 More than 200,000 vehicles are added to the traffic in Pune every year. Pune is served by two intra-city highways: Old Pune-Mumbai Highway: This is a major arterial road serving the Pune metropolitan area. The highway begins at the centre of the city i.e. Shivaji Nagar and stretches up to Dehu Road. Most sections of the highway feature 8 lanes (4 in each direction). It features a series of flyovers and underpasses making certain sections traffic signal-free. Katraj-Dehu Road Bypass: This road is a part of the National Highway 4 and forms a metropolitan bypass of the city, skirting through its western border. It is also known as Westerly Bypass. It stretches from Dehu Road in the north to Katraj in the south. This highway features 4 lanes (2 in each direction) and a series of flyovers/grade-separators. All the westbound roads of Pune intersect this highway. Rail The city has two railway stations, one in the city and the other at Shivajinagar. Both stations are administrated by the Pune division of the Central Railways, which extends from after Lonavala (which is administered by the Mumbai CSTM division) to before Daund (which is under the Solapur division), to Baramati, and to Hubli (via Miraj)]. All the railway lines to Pune are broad gauge, with double electrified lines (1500 volt DC traction) to Lonavala, a double non-electrified line to Daund, and single non-electrified lines to Kolhapur via Miraj and Baramati via Daund. The city has Pune-Miraj-Hubli-Bangalore rail track which is one of the most important track in Maharashtra. Local trains (EMUs) connect Pune to the industrial town of Pimpri-Chinchwad and the hill station of Lonavala, while daily express trains connect Pune to Ernakulam, Mumbai, Howrah, Delhi, Jammutawi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore,Jamshedpur(Tatanagar) and so on.. At Pune, there is diesel locomotive shed (DLS) and electric trip shed (ETS). Air Pune International Airport is an international airport at Lohegaon, operated by the Airports Authority of India. It shares its runways with the neighboring Indian Air Force base, the only one of its kind in the world. Apart from domestic flights to all major Indian cities, this airport serves two international direct flights: one to Dubai (operated by Air India Express), and one to Frankfurt (operated by Lufthansa on an exclusively business class jet). New airport at Chakan is opening shortly The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation is responsible for the design and construction of a new Pune International Airport. The area between Chakan and Rajgurunagar, around the villages of Chandus and Shiroli, is currently being considered as a construction site. If constructed here, it will be 40 km from central Pune along the Pune-Nashik National highway (NH-50)and will be the largest one in Asia. Domestic airlines connect Pune to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Goa, Indore and Shirdi. Economy As one of the largest cities in India, and as a result of its many colleges and universities, Pune is emerging as a prominent location for IT and manufacturing companies to expand. Pune has the sixth largest metropolitan economy and the highest per capita income in the country. |