The NeverEnding Steps

P a r a d i s e of  M a h a r a s h t r a  MAHABALESHWAR

The land 🍓f Strawberries & The queen 🌄f Hills              

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    Travellers to India won’t be disappointed with the incredible sights and stunning landmarks that Mahabaleshwar has to offer. Located at a high altitude of 1,372m above sea level, the region boasts incredible panoramic views of rolling mountains and a cool, pleasant climate.Tourists get to see a unique confluence of elegance, natural beauty and modernity .Apart from historical heritage, the area is known as Mahabaleshwar as five rivers Krishna, Venna, Koyna, Savitri and Gavitri originate here.

Panchgani Valley view

  Mahabaleshwar is a beautiful journey made by me and my college friends on a cold day. The journey started from the scenic hostel of Pachgani. Everyone had breakfast at the Park Castle Hotel, 1.5 km away from pachgani hostel. Located in Mahabaleshwar, 3.4 km from Mapro Garden, Park Castle provides accommodations with a restaurant, free private parking, a shared lounge, and a garden. Excellent.. you couldn't ask better than this. Exceptional service, fabulous staff, Amazing Food, Great Pool, beautiful ambiance, nice place to stay.

  

Panchgani 

Deriving its name from the five hills surrounding it, Panchgani is a popular hill station near Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra, famous for its various sunset and sunrise points and scenic valley view.

Located at an altitude of 1,334 mts, Panchgani is also known as Paachgani as the five hills that form the Sahyadri mountain ranges offer Panchgani its name. The picturesque backdrop of hills on one side and coastal plains on the other makes for an amazing view. In the British era, the place was treated as a summer resort and hence many colonial period establishments can be seen here. Mahabaleshwar is like a twin city to Panchgani.

Other than the verdant green valleys, and soothing environment, the red, juicy strawberries are a major attraction of Panchgani. Rightly known as the ‘Strawberry Garden of India’, the farms of Panchgani are full of enchanting views of luscious berries, especially during February and March

Strawberries Farm

Mapro Garden :The Delightful Strawberry Garden

First, we visited the Mapro Garden.

Mapro Garden is a famous tourist attraction nestled in the beautiful hill station  Panchgani. Mapro is short for Mahabaleshwar Products, a brand name associated with delicious fruit-based products. With greenery all around, one will find a chocolate factory, a restaurant, a small nursery, a children's play area, and a retail outlet selling Mapro products.

One of the most popular Mahabaleshwar tourist places is the Mapro Garden. It is located at Gureghar on Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani road which is approximately 11 km from Mahabaleshwar. This isn’t an ordinary garden; it encompasses attractions that would entice both children and adults like a Chocolate factory, a small nursery and children play area.
There is a restaurant serving mouthwatering refreshments like sandwiches, fruit salads, strawberry shakes, and ice creams. Visitors can also purchase Mapro products like jams, preserves, marmalade, toppings, syrups, and squashes, from the retail outlet here.

Around March/April, the Mapro conducts a fascinating four days, Strawberry Festival. Where they present a variety of strawberry based delicacies like strawberry pizza, strawberry bhel, chocolate dipped strawberries and strawberry sandwiches. This would make an amazing time to visit the Mapro Garden.

Location: 15/1B, Gureghar, Panchgani Mahabaleshwar Road, Mahabaleshwar 412806

     We all bought lots of Srawberries and headed to the next place.

Venna Lake

Venna Lake is a scenic manmade lake in Mahabaleshwar. The lake offers rowboats, and paddleboats ride to the visitors and hence is usually very crowded. There is horse riding and rides for children such as merry go round and the toy train. There are many eateries around the lake famous for street food like corn, bhelpuri, and fresh fruits like mulberries, strawberries, and carrots.
Venna Lake was built by Shri Appasaheb Maharaj who was the ruler of Satara and a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, in 1942. The lake is spread over an area of 28 acres with a periphery of 7 to 8 km. It was initially built to cater to the water needs of the city of Mahabaleshwar
Location: Satara, Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra, 412806

MAHABALESHWAR TEMPLE

The Mahabaleshwar Temple that is located 6 km to the north of the main city is dedicated to Lord Shiva. This temple is one of the significant pilgrimage sites for the Hindus. It was built in the 16th century and it portrays a typical South Indian architectural style. Attracting thousands of pilgrims, it is among the most famous Mahabaleshwar tourist places.

The temple is very beautifully built, it has stone walls and is divided into two parts, one being the sanctum sanctorum and the other is the central hall. Enclosed by a 5 ft high stone wall, this temple is divided into two areas, the sanctum sanctorum, and the central hall.

The Mahabaleshwar temple also has several mythologies associated to it, like the legend states that the Maratha ruler, Shivaji weighed his mother Jijabai in gold in this temple and then gave away the gold in charity. This temple is also abode to Lord Shiva’s Trishul, Rudraksha, Damru and a bed which is approximately 300 years old.

Panchganga temple 

Panchganga Temple in Mahabaleshwaris one of the most prominent tourist attraction sites in Maharashtra. The word "Panch" means five and "Ganga" means river. It is believed that water from five different rivers like the Koyna River, Krishna River, Venna River, Savitri River and Gayatri River join near the Panchganga Temple.

The water from all the five rivers comes out of a stone carved cow's mouth. The temple is very beautiful and there is a statue of a bull, known as Nandi and there is a Lord Shiva lingam inside the Panchganga Temple which is very old.

Location: Old Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra 412806

Gandhar Pale Buddhist Caves, Mahad

Gandharpale Caves is group of 30 Buddhist caves near Mahad off Mumbai Goa Highway. Important cave include Cave 1, Cave 8, Cave 15 and Cave 21 (having seated Buddha with attendants).This cave is around 10 km away from Mahad ST Depot and easily accessible by ST bus or car or shared taxi towards Panvel. It is on rocks and you need to climb (stairs are there) to see it. It is good for those who love history and Buddhism. It is said that Pandavas used this cave and it has an internal tunnel and road which connects to Kanheri caves in Sanjay Gandhi National Park (Borivli) which needs to be verified. It is good to introduce our people to the rich heritage we have.

Location -  Pala caves, NH 17 Mumbai-Goa Road, Mahad, Mumbai - Goa Hwy, Maharashtra

Shopping in Mahabaleshwar

While in Mahabaleshwar, essentials include the freshest of strawberries and raspberries that the town is known for. Also take home jellies, honey, jams and more. One can also shop for handicrafts, leather items, Kolhapuri footwear and much more from the Town Bazaar.

Mahabaleshwar is a hill station located in the Western Ghats, in Satara district of Maharashtra. Known for its captivating beauty and the beautiful strawberry farms, the city comprises of ancient temples, boarding schools, manicured and lush green dense forest, waterfalls, hills, valleys. On the banks of River Krishna, these temples of Mahabaleshwar offer a spiritual experience that is unique.We visited certain places, but it was a lot of fun.

VISIT SEASON:Wondering about the best time to visit Mahabaleshwar to experience its drizzles and mist at best makes little sense as it can be visited throughout the year basically coming down to you and your choice of the season. Mahabaleshwar has primarily two seasons: summer and monsoon with the post-monsoon season being the cooler months, not colder. Notwithstanding, the ideal time to plan Mahabaleshwar is summer from March to June with an average temperature of 33 degree Celsius. The period from December to February is equally good to visit the scenic hill station with the mercury dipping down to around 20 degree Celsius. The monsoon months are a little tricky and different travellers have varying opinions on visiting Mahabaleshwar during monsoon. The months between July to September is when Mahabaleshwar receives heavy downpour with very low visibility due to mist covering the valleys and slippery roads may not be a good idea to drive. But depending on the traveller and what they want out of their trip Mahabaleshwar is visited by many adventurous souls during the heavy rains.

With all these places to visit in Mahabaleshwar, it sure is a magical place to be in. With lush green mountains, romantic and secretive avenues, forested areas, winding roads, rivers and misty and wet weather, this place has an abundance of natural beauty. If you are stunned by the beauty of this place, then plan a trip to Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra and head out to explore the history and beauty of this charming town on the Western Ghats.