Girivan, Sahyadri Retreat, Hadshi

On the occasion of Datta jayanti, one of our relatives called up and asked to visit their resort located at Girivan http://www.girivanpicnic.net/ near Paud village. Last year they have built a temple in the resort which was the main reason for this trip. We decided to make this a short sojourn. My cousin’s family also joined us.

We started from home at 1:00 pm. Soon we were joined by my cousin’s family near Chandni chowk. There was heavy traffic till Pirangut. As usual we had an argument at the unauthorized Toll Booth. I paid 27 Rs at the toll booth. This toll booth is illegal and unnecessary. You can always spot few goons collecting the toll. Though many times this has been highlighted in news papers, authorities are not taking any action. Road till Pirangut is in good condition with exception at Bhugaon village. After Pirangut, road was ok with broken patches in between. We reached Paud at 1:35 pm. After reaching Paud village, we took right towards Girivan. This road is in bad condition with lot of potholes. Also the road is very narrow. You have to take your car off road for oncoming traffic. We reached Girivan phata around 2:00 pm. There is a small ghat to reach Girivan. This resort actually is a scheme of bungalow plots on a hill. You can see many beautiful bungalows in it. We drove to the extreme end where the resort is located. In Girivan, they have given marathi names of flowers to all the small roads. There was Gulab path, Bahava path etc. We reached Sahyadri Retreat http://www.sahyadriretreat.com/ at around 2:15 pm.

We were welcomed by my uncle and aunty. I had visited their resort around 6 to 7 years back. It was simple farm house. However seeing the resort in its current state is definitely surprising. It’s a carefully planned resort with lots of greenery. First we visited the Gurudevdatta temple and offered prayers. Then uncle and aunty showed us entire resort. It has around 5 to 6 self contained rooms, a family hall having 8 beds and a big hall where 20 to 25 people can be accommodated. You can see nature at its best in the resort. The plants selection and the areas dedicated to specific type of plants are absolutely beautiful. There is a big pond containing hundreds of lotus flowers. From one side of the resort you can see Tikona fort, Hadshi temple and many Sahyadri mountain ranges at a distance. On the other side there was a big black mountain next to the resort. The sheer size of this mountain was scary though inviting for trekkers. The resort also has a farm growing vegetables. There are different varieties of flowers. Everything was maintained very well. Resort tour was done in an hour or so. Then we had nice hot tea.

We then went to Hadshi village which is around 3 to 4 kms from Girivan. This village has a beautiful Vitthal mandir, Shree Satya Sai baba mandir. The area is absolutely beautiful. Actually the temple is built around 8 to 9 years back. It was officially inaugurated by Satya Sai baba last year in October. We have visited this place earlier. At the parking, the smell of garam bhaji coming from the canteen couldn’t stop us from eating first. The rates are on higher side but the snacks very tasty. Then everyone took darshan in the temple. We also went to dhyan mandir which is a beautiful hall. After clicking lots of photos we started driving back to Pune. Drive back home was uneventful.

This trip was short and sweet. It gave everyone a nice break. We decided to visit Sahyadri Retreat soon and next time we will definitely stay overnight. 2 to 3 hrs are not enough to enjoy the nature.

I will post more photos shortly.

Paud Road

Silver Arrow waiting for 2nd car at Girivan Phata

You can cut sugar cane from field and get the juice. Amazing.

Shree Dutta mandir

Sahyadri Retreat garden

Lotus pond

Beautiful flowers

Beautiful

Close up shot of yellow lotus

Guns and Roses...no need of gun though :)

Red color Krishna Kamal...a very rare flower

That's Tikona

Hadshi temple

Walkway

Mountain next to the resort

Look at the number of papayas

Hadshi Temple entrance

Vithal Mandir

Beautiful Fountain and surroundings