Visit to the Virgin Hill Station of Panhala in the State of Maharashtra in India

I was in search of hill station that did not have shopping malls, horse riding, boating in the lake, car traffic and other modern amenities in India. Finally, I found one such hill station and was able to enjoy it during my last visit to India. This hill station is Panhala, situated in the State of Maharashtra in India. I found this hill station unique in many ways. You can only visit all the sites by foot, as there are no other conventional transports available. There are no modern restaurants or hotels, and no noise pollution any where in this hill station.

Panhala is situated only around 12 miles away from the famous city of Kolhapur in Maharashtra State. Kolhapur is an airport, which is connected through daily flights from Mumbai. There is also daily train available from Mumbai leaving at night and reaching Kolhapur in the early morning. Panhala is situated at around 3500 feet from the mean sea level. The area of Panhala is bigger than Matheran but smaller than Mahabaleshwar. There is an ancient fort here made in twelfth century. As Panhala is small in area, it is very easy to move around this hill station by walking. The history says that this town was captured by King Shivaji in the year 1659 and was fighting against Moguls from this fort of Panhala. Our first destination at Panhala was Sajja Kothi. This is a small one storey house and the view of the Panhala valley from this house is simply superb. This was the house where King Shivaji had kept his own son Shambhaji in prison for around three years. The three gates was our next destination. These gates are the entrance for entering the modern town of Panhala. The famous V. Shantaram Retreat is the next spot to be visited. This retreat is made at the grave of famous Hindi film director V. Shantaram and is known as Hotel Valley View. This is the best hotel to stay at Panhala. We also stayed at this lovely retreat. The view of famous Botanical Garden in the nearby valley from the lobby of this resort is superb. The walk in this beautiful Botanical Garden is really enjoyable as the pure and fresh air feels your lungs completely. The Sunset Point is the next item to be visited. The view of the sun setting down in the valley from this point is fantastic. Our last destination was the famous war memorial on three gates. The Britishers had tried to enter the town of Panhala in the year 1844 through these gates. The famous local King Baji Prabhu Deshpande fought the Britishers and saved the town of Panhala. The statue of this brave man with sword in his hands is kept at these gates as a monument of bravery.

The visit to famous Jyotiba Temple at Ratnagiri, around six miles away from Panhala should not be missed. This temple was made by the Sindhia family of Gwaliar in the eighteenth century. The visitors also must make sure to take round of the walls of fort at Panhala by walking to enjoy the breathtaking views all around. This hill station does not have conventional modern facilities like up to date hotels, restaurants, and the discos. However, there is one medical store, small hospital, and other few small shops for shopping. There are other economic hotels like Hotel Meghdut and Hotel Hill Top available for the tourists. The Mahalaxmi Resort operated by the State government is also a nice place to stay here. The forest department of India owns most of the land of this hill station and has ensured that this hill station is not attacked by the modern day evils and remains as beautiful as this forever. The tourists can also plan couple of days stay at Kolhapur while visiting Panhala as there are many sites seeing spots at Kolhapur.

If you are looking for the hill station not having the crowd of people, pollution of vehicles, and the other modern time evils, Panhala is the place for you. May I suggest all my AC friends and readers to start planning to visit this unique hill station of Panhala?