JOIN USAs we checked into our hotel, the staff reverentially ushered us into a room as if it were a shrine. “Sir, this is the room Salman Khan prefers to stay in when he comes to Panchgani,” he whispered. Not exactly die-hard Sallu fans, we preferred the campy appeal of the cliff-side tented cottage instead.
Landscaped around a waterfall, a fish pool with silken koi gliding in its depths and a sandy beach around a salt-water body were a few scattered tents. A little stroll took us to the edge where the hill plummeted into a wide ravine, dense with foliage. Like the pioneering duo John Chesson and Rustomji Dubash, who came to this region in mid-19th century, we stood there and regarded the scenic Dhom Valley below.
A British discovery
Like most hill stations in India, Panchgani too is an outcome of British intent to escape warmer climes. Warrant officer Wilson was the first Englishman to come here in 1850 to carry out a meteorological survey and recommended Panchgani as a suitable place for a military sanatorium. However, it was on a survey of the Sahyadris or Western Ghats that Chesson and Dubash recognised the potential of this nameless empty tract and its year-round appeal.
The place came to be known as Panchgani, because of its five (panch) adjoining villages — Dhandegar, Godavli, Amral, Khingar and Taighat. Some claim gani means hill or is derived from gaon (village).
Chesson took charge of the hill station in 1863 and transformed its landscape and demography. Improbable as it may sound, back then this was a treeless zone. Chesson’s greening endeavour covered the hills with groves of silver oak, fiery poinsettia and other plants of the western world. He also helped populate the place with local labour to enable ease of living for the British.
Blending the charm of colonial bungalows, old churches and elite residential schools with strawberry farms, fruit orchards, hiking trails, viewpoints and adventure; Panchgani is an ideal short break.
We trudged up to Sydney Point, a small hillock near the hotel, taking a tricky shortcut to catch the sunset. A pony nibbled away in a wayside meadow. Beyond the railing at the top, we caught sight of the sweeping Krishna Valley where the river curved around the hill to fill the reservoir of Dhom Dam at Wai. The site was named in honour of Sir Sydney Beckwith, former Commander in Chief of the Bombay Army in 1829.
The following morning we drove around town to discover institutions like St Joseph’s Convent School and Kimmins High School, established in the 1890s. Initially they catered only to European children with privileges extended to Indian royalty. Later, schools were established for specific communities but after Independence, they became more inclusive. The European Boys School became St Peter’s Boys School with late rockstar and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (then Farrokh Balsara), among its famous alumni.
Strawberry land
A quick breakfast of cream rolls and buns from Roach, one of the oldest family-run bakeries, and a cup of chai at a local café, fired us up. The weekly Budh Bazaar (Wednesday Market) was on, where locals sold organic produce, leather goods, provisions, utensils and other wares. Farm fresh vegetables and fruits brightened up the stalls as vendors tempted us with boxes of glossy red strawberries. The old Beatles ode to innocence, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, could very well be a theme song for this lovely town.
After devouring generous scoops of fresh strawberries in ice cream at the Mapro Garden café, we slipped the bottled goodness of squashes, jams and preserves — mulberries, strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries — into our bags before taking an excursion to Mahabaleshwar.
At Mahabaleshwar, the colonnaded ancient Mahadev or Panchganga Mandir teemed with people. At the edge of the tank, a relentless stream emerged from a cow-shaped stone spout that watered the valleys on its onward journey as the mighty river Krishna. The site is also the source of four other rivers — Koyna, Venna, Savitri and Gayatri. Most tourists flock to Venna Lake for boating. But we chose a hardier option — a trek to Arthur’s Seat. This picturesque highpoint encompassing gigantic masses of stratified rocks is dedicated to Sir Arthur Malet, who often sat here brooding over the death of his wife and child in a ferry accident.
The route had several scenic lookouts. At Monkey Point the three natural rock formations hailed as Gandhiji’s famous apes sat motionless amidst a landscape of craggy mountain folds. At Tiger Springs, a favourite watering hole of big cats in the past, tourists collected spring water in bottles. Hunting Point served as the hunting grounds for British officers.
We drove to New Mahabaleshwar to reach Needle-hole Point, named after an intriguing rock formation. Near a precipitous escarpment we sat on a grassy meadow, gazing at the uninterrupted stretch of the Deccan Traps, wrinkled and furrowed like an elephant’s trunk. Sindola Hill, rechristened as Wilson Point after Sir Leslie Wilson, former Governor of Bombay, is Mahabaleshwar’s highest point.
By evening, we were back in Panchgani atop Parsi Point. We zipped to Tableland, the town’s most popular hangout. Being the second largest volcanic plateau in Asia and the highest after the Tibetan plateau, it spans a 4.5 km stretch that has turned into a hub of activity.
Yawning caverns and caves like Devil’s Kitchen on the southern side of Tableland held mythological links, claiming to be the site where the Pandavas camped during the days of the Mahabharata. A few indentations in the ground marked by a rock circle were tagged ‘Pandava’s footprints’ and the Pandavgad caves in nearby Wai lent credence to this legend.
On our way out, we stopped at Wai. Regarded as the Dakshin Kashi of Maharashtra, the town has several beautiful temples and ghats. A rusty sign near Dhom Dam lured us down a small lane that ended at the exquisite doorway of Shri Narasimha Temple. In the courtyard, a carved Nandi squatted in a pavilion set in a lotus-shaped tank, guarding Lord Shiva’s shrine. We hiked up the bund to see the sparkling reservoir and temple of Dholya Ganapati, built in 1762, in the distance. Up in the hills, the mist rolled in. It was time to head back…
Fact file
Getting there:
Panchgani is 285 km from Mumbai and 100 km from Pune via NH-4. Local attractions nearby include Mahabaleshwar (18 km) and Wai (10 km).
Tours:
Guides offer sightseeing packages covering Old & New Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani and Wilson Point, charging Rs 450.