2025 I had the chance of spending more time on my vacation and hence I and my wife decided to take a trip to India. Not because we wanted to meet our family and friends, but more because we wanted to explore India on this trip. The answer to ‘Being an Indian how much of the country we have seen’ is not that glamorous and hence we decided to not go anywhere else but India. We planned a two-week Konkan road trip along with few day trips. However, the highlight of India trip was the visit to the Konkan region and Goa.
As this blog is going to be a big write up, I will divide this into chapters for the sake of simplicity and readability.
Chapter 1
Day trip #1 Bhuleshwar Temple
Bhuleshwar, a pretty old stone temple located on a driving distance from Kothrud, Pune. It’s an architectural phenomena one must see. Completely carved out of black stones. The Bhuleshwar Temple is a Hindu temple of Shiva, situated around 45 kilometres from Pune and 10 km from Pune-Solapur highway from Yawat in Maharashtra, India. The temple is situated on a hill and was built in the 8th century. There are classical carvings on the walls. It has been declared as a protected monument. This temple is said to have been built in the 1200 century by King Krishnadevaraya.The temple figurines were attacked and disfigured by the Mughals (Source Wikipedia). In front of the Shiva idol, gabhara, there sits the largest Nandi I have ever seen. Recent pictures below.
Visitors must be aware that any kind of Photography and Videography inside the temple is not allowed. Whereas you can take photographs just outside of the main temple and surroundings. Also this place is a bit remote on a hill side. Recommend going in day light. Although there is a small police chauki (outpost), a policeman was also there on the day we visited, it is still better to be vigilant. The surrounding is all natural. There are couple of hawkers just at the entry of the temple, selling stuff that one may be interested in, Shiva idols, bands, flowers, sweets, etc. are sold there.
Readers can read more about this temple on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhuleshwar_Temple
Day trip #2 Ranjangaon and Theur
The next stop was visiting the most reverred Ganapati temple. Ranjangaon Ganpati also known as Shri Mahaganpati Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Ganesha, one of the most revered deities in Hinduism. Situated in the village of Ranjangaon within the Shirur taluka of Pune district, Maharashtra, India. It is one of the eight Ashtavinayak temples venerating Lord Ganesha, bearing immense religious importance in Hinduism, built in 9th and 10th century during the Madhavarao Peshwa 1 era.
This temple has a large area and includes restrooms. Since this temple is located in the heart of the village there are plenty options to eat. It also has a free chappal/ shoes stand. Caution, I won’t recommend buying modak (fried) ones from here as they are pretty tough and have dry fillings.
While going from the Pune – Nagar highway the route is Pune – Koregaon – then via Shikrapur; Rajangaon is 21 km before Shirur. From Pune it is 50 km. However we had taken a different route perhaps as we went directly from Bhuleshwar.
Readers can read more about this temple on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranjangaon_Ganpati
Next stop was Theur, another Ganapati temple on the route. The Chintamani Temple of Theur what its called, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Supreme God Ganesha located 25 km (16 mi) from Pune (Haveli Taluka) the temple is “one of the larger and more famous” of the Ashtavinayaka, the eight revered shrines of Ganesha in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Chintamani Temple was also a spiritual magnet for the Peshwa rulers, especially Madhavrao I (1745–1772).
Theur is prescribed to be the fifth temple to be visited in the Ashtavinayak circuit, pilgrims often visit Theur second in the circuit after Morgaon, as it is a more convenient route.
This temple also boasts large premises including shops, eating options, free chappal/ shoes stand etc. You can buy freshly steamed Ukadiche Modak from one of the shops just outside the main temple.
Readers can read more about this temple on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chintamani_Temple,_Theur
To avoid long queue and delays I would recommend going on a weekday if that suits. If you are on a religious trip then go on an auspicious day but accept delays in darshan. This is applicable for any famous temples throughout India.
Most temples in India expects its devotees to wear decent clothes while visiting. No sleeveless, no shorts, nothing that would be overly inappropriate can be wore, If for some reason you do, you will be not allowed to enter the premises. I too was wearing shorts in both visits. The mitigation would be to cover yourself with something larger piece of cloth if you are carrying one. Females can cover their shoulders by dupatta, whereas males can cover their legs by wearing a dhoti or lungi, which many a times are readily available for a purchase from nearby stores or stores located inside the temple premise.
Avoid getting roped in by the hawkers who would want to sell something that is unnecessary. They may lure you in buying stuff saying that’s what people do, or pushing you to park your vehicle in some specific spot where they may have their own shop thereby expecting you to buy things from them.
When in doubt always ask. As mentioned Photography of any kind is strictly prohibited, inside the temple where the idol is installed, in such famous temples to keep the sanctity of the place. If mentioned (there are boards saying so) please avoid and not get embarrassed. Although it is written boldly so anyone can see and read, you will see many people tend to be oblivious of the warning and taking photos only to be later reprimanded by someone who is keeping an eye on such devotees. It’s more of a faith than policing hence in many places there may not be anyone watching you. If you still have a desire to photograph the deity, please ask the pujari (pundit) and if he allows only then take one and get out of the way. They may allow if there is less queue or no one behind you to get the darshan.
Day trip #3 Morachi Chincholi (the village of tamarind trees and peacocks)
Not aware or made aware what it is, we all thought it’s some place where one would get to see many peacocks. This was the final leg on our trip. So we head off. It was way past our lunch time and we were also looking for a place to eat. When reached in the village after asking few villagers we came to an understanding that there is no such one place to see peacocks. Whereas, Chincholi Morachi is a village near Pune-Ahmednagar Highway about 55 km from Pune. It is known for its peafowl. They seem to be in abundance all around and can be seen early in the daytime or later in the evenings. And we were bang in the between, afternoon 2pm or so, so didn’t see any. As we were so deep in the village there was nothing around as an option to eat. However there are few farmsteads who serve lunches when preordered which we only came to know about. We searched around, asked few places, some said it will take an hour to prepare, some couldn’t take our order as about to being closed. Fortunately, we hit a place (Shinde Krushi Paryatan and Resort – image below) where the owner was happy to take us in with a wait of 30mins which was certainly acceptable and appreciable to us.
It was a huge farm, mostly with trees bearing chikoos (Sapodilla or Sapota). There were few hammocks tied to the trees. Ducks, handsome ones, were roaming around. There were see-saws, slides, a closed pool, and a short high rope course too. So, all of us (6 of us including our driver) did something to spend our time until being called for lunch. And after a heavy and delicious village style lunch, we gave up (not literally as it was our last stop and it was almost 4pm) and headed back home…!
Chincholi morachi have many waterparks, private farms, where you can spend a whole day, a day outing, with your family. The booking has to be done prior to arrival to avoid rejection. The park booking also includes a lunch. Inside such parks you may get to see peacocks. Famous for its wild peacocks and agri-tourism hospitality, this village is an ideal weekend escape for families, students, and nature lovers.
All the pictures that you see in this blog have been taken by me (this time by the Google Pixel 10 Pro phone, as I couldn’t take my DSLR on the trip this time). If anyone need to use these images, please feel free to use them with proper credit.
Ranjit Tamhankar 
Leave a comment