Wow! what a beautiful hill station of Maharashtra, really India is surrounded by natural beauties all over and I think we are very lucky , being the citizen of India.
A close neighbour of Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani is a picturesque little town in the shade of groves of casuarinas and silver oak. The name Panchgani refers to the five hills on which the town is built.
Transport and Communication
Air: The nearest airport is Pune (100 Km) connected; by Indian Airlines and private airlines with Delhi, Mumbai and other cities /towns.
Rail: The nearest railhead is Satara (44 Km) but the convenient railhead is Pune (100 Km), which is a major railhead on the Central Line.
Road: Panchgani is connected by motorable roads with Aurangabad 330 Km, Mahabaleshwar 19 Km Mumbai 258 Km Nashik 306 Km Satara(via-Wai) 44 Km Pune 100 Km
Places of Interest
Panchgani with miles of long walks, thickly canopied by lush trees and vegetation, has a number of points offering spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. Some of these view points and other places worth visiting are :
Harrison’s Valley -- Famous for its beauty & view. Devil’s Kitchen -- Is one of the most breath taking sights of all. Parsi Point -- From here we have a view of the rice and wheat fields of Chikli village and flowing past is the Krishna river. A look through the telescope and a rough guide to the area for five rupees should give you a fair idea of what to see.
Tableland -- A key geographical feature is the table-topped plateau (panch = five, gani=plateaus) shaped by flattened volcanic rock. In the evenings it turns into a makeshift fair with ferris wheels, pony rides and a variety of food stalls.
Sydney Point -- Sidney point is another favourite tourist haunt.
Other points of interest are :--
Apex Point Baby Point
Dhom Dam Grover Point
Kachhawari Point Meherbaba Caves
Rajpuri Caves MRA - Moral Rearmament Training Centre: Started by Shri Rajmohan Gandhi to create new moral awareness among men.
Excursions
Sajjangadh (10 Km): The Samadhi of Ramdas Swami, guru of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is situated here.
Wai (12 Km): Wai is a small holy town situated on the banks of the river Krishna. Wai is known for its ancient temple of Lord Ganapati, the Kashivishweshwar temple and the Buddhist caves at Lonara (7 Km).
Kana Lake (26 Km): Source of water supply to Satara and a picturesque picnic spot.
Satara (45 Km): A district headquarters, Satara was the capital of the Maratha empire form 1699. The places of interest here include the Shri Bhavani Devi Jalamandir, Ajinkyatara Fort of Satara and Shri Kshetra Mahuli (6 Km).
So I wish everyone to make a visit of this orsom hill station at least once .