planing to visit panchgani

planing to visit panchgani

Located in the Satara District in Maharashtra, Panchgani is a well known tourist destination. The town got its name, ‘Panchgani’, as it comprises of five villages situated in the middle of five hills in the Sahyadri mountain ranges.

Panchgani is bordered by Wai, Bavdhan and Nagewadi dam in the east, Gureghar in the west, Khingar and Rajpuri in the south and Dhom Dam in the north. The town lies at an altitude of 1334 metres above sea level and due to this; the temperature is around 12⁰ Celsius during winter and 34⁰ Celsius during summer.

Panchgani was originally settled by retired Britishers, but since it was pleasant throughout the year, others also settled there. a number of attempts to start schools were made in the 19th century. In the 1890s The Kimmins School was started for European boys and girls. In 1902, the boys section separated to become The European Boys High School, now known as St. Peter's High School, And Kimmins became an exclusively girls school. Also in the 1890s, one or two years after Kimmins was started, the Roman Catholic Order of nuns known as Daughters of The Cross started The St. Joseph's Convent Girls High School. All three boarding schools were modelled on the English Public Schools of that time, and were affiliated to Cambridge University. The Board exams would be held in December, the question papers being sent from England by sea. The answer papers sent back by sea to England, and the results declared some time in June.

Situated on a hillock facing the Krishna Valley, Sydney Point offers an aerial view of Dhom Dam, Pandavgad and Mandhardeo. Replete with natural beauty, the town also contains table land, a flat and large expanse of laterite rock. The place is famed as the second longest mountain plateau in Asia. A short distance from table land is the Devil's Kitchen.

This cave is of mythological importance, owing to the belief that Pandavas of the Mahabharata epic had stayed here for a while. Bhim Chula, Harrisons Valley, Sydney Point, Dhom Dam, The Lingmala Falls and Rajpuri Caves are other popular attractions of the town. The town is also home to a number of historical forts like Pratapgad Fort that was built by the famous Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji in 1656.

This fort that has an elevation of 900 m was built with a purpose of checking the progress of surging rebellious rulers of the nearby Javali Basin. At an elevation of 4,522 ft opposite the Dhom backwaters lies the Kamalgad Fort. From the fort, tourists can avail beautiful views of the Krishna River and the coastal plains.