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Overview
Among the most famous monuments in Pune is Shaniwarwada. It was commissioned by Peshwa Baji Rao in 1729. The palace is remarkable architecture and an example of efficient town planning observed during the rule of Peshwas. The sprawling palace had great fountains, courtyards, fruits, trees, courtyards, offices and audience halls and substantial portion to enable people reside.Shaniwar wada burned down in 1827, in a fire that lasted for 15 days. It is still a mystery why the fire was not put down or noticed by the people. The fire engulfed itself all the artifacts and beauty of the palace. All that survived is the long gate with impressive outer stone walls, bastions and small gates. Inside the massive wada is the city center, which gives a line of what could have been the face of the palace before the fire broke out.
The wada signifies the extinction of life once lived inside the palace. Evenings at Shaniwada is given to families and children . People sit and chat in the fortified parks and enjoy the evening in the lapse of this cultural heritage received from the Peshwas.
Places of Interest
Shaniwarwada has five gates:Dilli Darwaza (Delhi Gate), facing north : The Dilli Darwaza is the main gate of the complex, and faces north towards Delhi. Chhatrapati Shahu is said to have considered the north-facing fort a sign of Baji Rao's ambitions against the Mughal empire, and suggested that the main gate should be made chhaatiiche, maatiche naahi! (Marathi for of the chests of brave soldiers, not mere mud).
The strongly built Dilli Darwaza gatehouse has massive doors, large enough to admit elephants outfitted with howdahs (seating canopies). To discourage elephants charging the gates, each pane of the gate has seventy-two sharp twelve-inch steel spikes arranged in a nine by eight grid, at approximately the height of the forehead of a battle-elephant. Each pane was also fortified with steel cross members, and borders were bolted with steel bolts having sharpened cone heads. The bastions flanking the gatehouse has arrow-loops and machicolation chutes through which hot substances could be poured onto offending raiders. The right pane has a small man-sized door for usual entries and exits, too small to allow an army to enter rapidly.
Even if the main gates were to be forced open, a charging army would need to turn sharply right, then sharply left, to pass through the gateway and into the central complex. This would provide a defending army with another chance to attack the incoming army, and to launch a counterattack to recapture the gateway.
As the ceremonial gate of the fort, military campaigns would set out from and be received back here, with appropriate religious ceremonies.
Mastani Darwaja (Mastani's Gate) or Alibahadur Darwaja, facing north : This gate was used by Bajirao's mistress Mastani while travelling out of the palace's perimeter wall.
Khidki Darwaja (Window Gate), facing east : The Khidki Darwaja is named for an armoured window it contains.
Ganesh Darwaja (Ganesh Gate), facing south-east :Named for the Ganesh Rang Mahal, which used to stand near this door. It could be used by ladies at the fort to visit the nearby Kasba Ganapati temple.
Jambhul Darwaja or Narayan Darwaja (Narayan's Gate), facing south :This gate was used by concubines to enter and leave the fort. It obtained its second name after Narayan Peshwa's corpse was removed from the fort for cremation through this gate.
Palaces
The important buildings in the palace includes the Thorlya Rayancha Diwankhana (Marathi:The court reception hall of the eldest royal, meaning Baji Rao I), Naachacha Diwankhana (Dance Hall), and Juna Arsa Mahal (Old Mirror Hall).
Since the buildings were destroyed in the fire of 1828, only descriptions of the living areas of the fort are available. All the state halls in the buildings are said to have doorways with exquisitely carved teak arches, with ornamental teardrop teak pillars shaped like Suru (cypress tree) trunks supporting the ceilings, which were covered with beautiful teak tracery, carved creepers and flowers. Exquisite glass chandeliers hung from the ceilings. The floors were made of highly polished marble, arranged in a mosaic pattern and adorned with rich Persian rugs. The walls contained paintings with scenes from the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.litrally no one can witness of this constuction so my firm statement is there was no any construction on earth of pune but only on papaer workis exist because today what we seen is only foundation steo
The buildings are said to have been designed and constructed by many well-known artisans, including Shivaram Krishna, Devaji, Kondaji Sutar, Morarji Patharwat Bhojraja (an inlay-work expert from Jaipur) and Ragho (a painter).
One of the buildings in the Shaniwarwada complex was seven storeys high. It is said that the spire of the Sant Dnyaneshwar temple at Alandi, 17 km away, could be seen from the uppermost terrace of this building.
The Fountain
The complex had an impressive lotus-shaped fountain: the Hazari Karanje (Fountain of a thousand jets). It was constructed for the pleasure of the infant Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao. It was designed as a sixteen petal lotus; each petal had sixteen jets with an eighty foot arch. It was the most complicated and intricate fountain of its time.
Captain More who visited the Shaniwarwada in 1791 described it as “very magnificent. A hundred dancers can dance here at a time. In one corner is a marble Ganapati statue and the palace is flanked by a fountain and a flower garden.”
History
By 1758, at least a thousand people lived in the fort.In June 1818, the Peshwa, Bajirao II, abdicated his Gaadi (throne) to Sir John Malcolm of the United Kingdom and went into political exile at Bithoor, near Kanpur in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India.
On February 27, 1828, a great fire started inside the palace complex. The conflagration raged for seven days. Only the heavy granite ramparts, strong teak gateways and deep foundations and ruins of the buildings within the fort survived.
How to Reach
Distance from Pune Airport : 16 Km (30 Minutes by car)Distance from Pune Railway Station : 3 to 4 km (by auto 10-15 minutes)
Distance from Swarget Bus Stand : 15 minutes
Distance from Shivaji Nagar Bus Stand : 5 minutes
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