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MahabaleshwarWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Mahabaleshwar

Coordinates:17.92172N73.6556E

FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Mahabaleshwar()( pronunciation)isa
cityandamunicipalcouncilinSataradistrictinthe
IndianstateofMaharashtra.Itisahillstationlocated
intheWesternGhatsrange.Withoneofthefew
evergreenforestsofIndia,itservedasthesummer
capitalofBombayprovinceduringtheBritishRaj.

Mahabaleshwar

HillStation

Contents
1Geographyandclimate
2Tourism
2.1Arthur'sSeat
2.2Kate'sPoint

ViewofMahabaleshwarHills

2.3NeedleHolePoint/ElephantPoint

Nickname(s):"LandofStrawberries"

2.4WilsonPoint
2.53MonkeyPoint
2.6Pratapgad
3History
4Demographics
Mahabaleshwar

5Transport
5.1Road
5.2Rail
5.3Air
6References
7Externallinks

Geographyandclimate
Mahabaleshwareislocatedat17.92N73.67E.[1]It
hasanaverageelevationof1,353metres(4,439ft)
and.
Locatedabout120km(75mi)southwestofPuneand
285km(177mi)fromMumbai,Mahabaleshwarisa
vastplateaumeasuring150km2(58sqmi),boundby
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabaleshwar

Coordinates:17.92172N73.6556E
Country
State
District

India
Maharashtra
Satara

Government
Mayor

kishor

Area
Total

150km2(60sqmi)

Elevation

1,438m(4,718ft)

Population(2001)
Total
Density

12,780
85/km2(220/sqmi)

Languages
Official

Marathi,Hindi
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valleysonallsides.Itreachesaheightof1,439m
(4,721ft)atitshighestpeakabovesealevel,known
asWilson/SunrisePoint.

Timezone

IST(UTC+5:30)

PIN

412806

Mahabaleshwarcomprisesthreevillages:Malcolm
Peth,Old"Kshetra"Mahabaleshwarandpartofthe
Shindolavillage.

Telephonecode
Vehicleregistration

0091
MH11XXXXXX

MahabaleshwaristhesourceoftheKrishnaRiverthatflowsacrossMaharashtra,Karnataka,Telanganaand
AndhraPradesh.Thelegendarysourceoftheriverisaspoutfromthemouthofastatueofacowinthe
ancienttempleofMahadevinOldMahabaleshwar.LegendhasitthatKrishnaisLordVishnuhimselfasa
resultofacurseonthetrimurtisbySavitri.Also,itstributariesVennaandKoyanaaresaidtobeLordShiva
andLordBrahmathemselves.Aninterestingthingtonoticeisthat4otherriverscomeoutfromthecow's
mouthapartfromKrishnaandtheyalltravelsomedistancebeforemergingintoKrishna.Theseriversare
theKoyna,Venna(Veni),Savitri,andGayatri.

PanoramicviewofMahabaleshwar

PanoramicviewfromSavitriPoint,Mahabaleshwar

Month
AveragehighC
(F)
AveragelowC
(F)
Precipitation
mm(inches)

Jan

ClimatedataforMahabaleshwar
Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Aug Sep

23.6 25.6 28.6

29.9 28.8 21.6
18.7
(74.5) (78.1) (83.5) (85.8) (83.8) (70.9) (65.7)
8.9
(48)

12.6 17.4
(54.7) (63.3)

18.9 18.2 17.0

16.8
(66) (64.8) (62.6) (62.2)

Oct

Nov

Dec

Year

18.8
19.9 24.0
23.8
23.1
(65.8) (67.8) (75.2) (74.8) (73.6)

23.87
(74.96)

16.4
15.8 16.3
14.1
11.8
(61.5) (60.4) (61.3) (57.4) (53.2)

15.35
(59.62)

4.6
2.8
4.6
25.1 47.0 939.8 2,546.1 1,764.3 685.8 154.4 46.5
5.3
6,226.3
(0.181) (0.11) (0.181) (0.988) (1.85) (37) (100.24) (69.461) (27) (6.079) (1.831) (0.209) (245.13)

Source:GovernmentofMaharashtra(http://cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/SATARA/gen_climate.html)

Tourism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabaleshwar

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Today,Mahabaleshwarisapopularholidayresortandhoneymoonspot,andanimportantpilgrimagesite
forHindus.
TheVennalakeisoneofthemajor
touristattractionsof
Mahabaleshwar.Thelakeis
surroundedbytreesonallsides.
InMahabaleshwaryoucanget
hotelsforallbudgetsfrombudget
TheVennalake
hotelsto3Starshotels.Youcan
gethotelfromwhereyoucanenjoy
theLake'sVieworinmidistofthemahabaleshwar'sfamousmarket.[2]

BoatsontheVennalakein
Mahabaleshwar.

Arthur'sSeat
Arthur'sseatisapointatanelevationof1340mts.Thepointwas
namedafterBritishofficerSirArthurMalet(18061888)[3](Nottobe
confusedwithBritishbornactorofsamename),whosathereand
gazedattheSavitriRiver,wherehelosthiswifeandchildrenina
tragicferrymishap.

Kate'sPoint
ViewfromArthur'sSeat

Kate'spointislocatedtotheeastof
Mahabaleshwarandisfamousfor
itsviewoftworeservoirs,BalakwadiandDhom.Thepointisaround
1280mtshigh.

NeedleHolePoint/ElephantPoint
Needleholepointislocatednear
Kate'sPoint.Onecanseeanatural
Balakwadidamviewedfrom
rockformationwithaholein
Kate'sPoint
between,thusgivingthename
Needlehole.Thepointisalso
famousfortheviewofDeccantraps,whichlooklikeanelephant's
trunk.
Needleholerock,viewedfrom
thepoint

WilsonPoint

NamedafterSirLeslieWilson,theGovernorofBombayfrom1923
26,WilsonPointisthehighestpointinMahabaleshwarat1439m.KnownasSindolaHillduringthe
colonialrule,WilsonpointistheonlylocationinMahabaleshwarwherebothsunriseandsunsetcanbe
seen.ItoffersaspectacularglanceofMahabaleshwarinalldirections.

3MonkeyPoint
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabaleshwar

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Namedbecauseofthenaturalsculptureofthestoneswhichlookslikethreemonkeyssittingbesideeach
otherandportraying3monkeysofGandhiji..nestleddeepinthevalleysyoucanfigureoutfromtheoutline
ofabigstoneanaturalcutoutitgiveaeffectof3monkeysittingnexttoeachotherportrayingSEENO
EVIL,HEARNOEVIL,SPEAKNOEVIL.ThispointisenroutetoARTHURSEATPoint

Pratapgad
ItwascapturedbyShivajiMaharaj

History
ThefirsthistoricalmentionofMahabaleshwardatesbacktoyear1215
whentheKingSinghanofDeogirivisitedOldMahabaleshwar.He
builtasmalltempleandwatertankatthesourceoftheriverKrishna.
Around1350,aBrahmindynastyruledthisarea.Inthemiddleofthe
16thcenturytheMarathafamilyofChandaraoMoredefeatedthe
BrahmindynastyandbecamerulersofJavliandMahabaleshwar,
duringwhichperiodthetempleofOldMahabaleshwarwasrebuilt.
Inthe17thcenturyShivajiMaharajtookoverJavliandMahabaleshwar
andconstructedthePratapgadfortin1656.
In1819,theBritishincludedthehillsintheterritoryoftheRajaof
Satara.Col.Lodwick(LateGeneralSir)stationedatSatara,inApril
1824withacontingentofsoldiersandIndianguidesclimbedupthe
mountainfacereachingwhatisnowknownastheLodwickPoint.
StartingwithSirJohnMalcolmin1828,asuccessionofthemfromSir
MountstuartElphinstone,ArthurMalet(forwhomtheseatat"Point
Arthur"isnamed),Carnac,Frereandmanyothersbecameregular
visitors.

Ontheoutskirtsof
Mahabaleshwar,towards
Panchgani.

PresentdayMahabaleshwarcameintoexistenceintheyear182930.In
oldrecordsitismentionedasMalcolmPeth,butinpractisetodayitisknownasMahabaleshwar.
Addedtothescoresofmagnificentscenic"points",theperennialsprings,streams,andwaterfallsof
Mahabaleshwarplateau,withitsyearroundsuperbclimate,drewtheEnglishandotherstoMahabaleshwar.
Bytheendofthe19thcenturyithadbecomeanattractivepopularhillstationofworldrenown.Raj
Bhavan,theSummerresidenceoftheGovernorofMaharashtra,isalsolocatedhere.
"BabingtonHouse",amagnificentcolonialstylebungalowbuiltintheshapeofacrosswithadeep
varanda,elaboratemetalworkrailingandextensiveouthousesisconsideredMahableshwar'smostbeautiful
countryhouse.
ItwasformerlyoneoftheprincipalcountryseatsoftheDubashfamily,aParsishipchandlerdynastyfrom
BombaywhosoldittotheRahejasintheearly1970s.Itcontainsacentraldiningroomwitha24seater
tableandalovelylibrarypavilionwith1steditionbookscollectedbytheDubashfamily,notablyJamsetjee
"Jimmy"KavasjeeDubash,agreatbibliophilandartcollector.
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Demographics
Asof2011Indiacensus,[4]Mahabaleshwarhadapopulationof12,737.Malesconstitute55%ofthe
populationandfemales45%.Mahabaleshwarhasanaverageliteracyrateof78%,higherthanthenational
averageof74.04%:maleliteracyis84%,andfemaleliteracyis71%.InMahabaleshwar,11%ofthe
populationisunder6yearsofage.

Transport
Road

Mapoftheregion(1881)

Mahabaleshwarislocatedabout32kmfromWai.Itisaround
260kmfromMumbai,thestatecapital.Thenearestmajorcityis
Satara,around45kmaway,andis120kmfromPune.
MahabaleshwarisconnectedbytheNationalHighway4.Bus
servicesbystaterunMSRTCandprivateorganizationsconnectit
bybusesfromPune,Mumbai,SangliandSatara.

Rail
NearestrailroadisSatara,around42km.NearestmajorrailwayjunctionsincludePune(120km),Miraj
(170&km)andSangli(165km).Privatecarsandcabs,aswellasstaterunbusservicesareavailablein
theselocationstoMahabaleshwar.

Air
ThenearestairportisPuneInternationalAirport,servingthecityofPune,about120kmfrom
Mahabaleshwar.ChhatrapatiShivajiInternationalAirportofMumbaiis270kmaway.

References
1. ^"FallingRainGenomics,IncMahabaleshwar"
(http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/16/Mahabaleshwar.html).
2. ^"AirskyMahabaleshwar"(http://airskytravel.co.in/mahabaleshwar.html).Airsky.Retrieved5January2014.
|first1=missing |last1=inAuthorslist(help)

3. ^"Malet,CharlesWarre(DNB00)"(http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Malet,_Charles_Warre_(DNB00)).
WikisourceindicatesSirArthurMaletwasIndiabornBritishofficerandwascontemporaryofficertoLord
Elphinstone.Retrieved24August2014.|first1=missing|last1=inAuthorslist(help)
4. ^"CensusofIndia2001:Datafromthe2001Census,includingcities,villagesandtowns(Provisional)"
(http://web.archive.org/web/20040616075334/http://www.censusindia.net/results/town.php?stad=A&state5=999).
CensusCommissionofIndia.Archivedfromtheoriginal(http://www.censusindia.net/results/town.php?
stad=A&state5=999)on20040616.Retrieved20081101.

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Externallinks
MahabaleshwarpageofMaharashtraTourismwebsite

WikimediaCommonshas
mediarelatedto
Mahabaleshwar.
Wikivoyagehasatravel
guideforMahabaleshwar.

(http://www.maharashtratourism.gov.in/mtdc/HTML/MaharashtraTourism/TouristDelight/Hillstation
s/HillStations.aspx?strpage=MahabaleshwarHillstation.html)
Retrievedfrom"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mahabaleshwar&oldid=632661982"
Categories: CitiesandtownsinSataradistrict HillstationsinIndia TourisminMaharashtra
Mahabaleshwar TalukasinMaharashtra
Thispagewaslastmodifiedon6November2014at06:59.
TextisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlikeLicenseadditionaltermsmay
apply.Byusingthissite,youagreetotheTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy.Wikipediaisa
registeredtrademarkoftheWikimediaFoundation,Inc.,anonprofitorganization.

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