Birla Ganpati Temple Shirgaon near Somatane Toll Plaza

|| Om Ganeshaya Namah ||

This was one of our instantly planned trip and yes, it turned out to be a wonderful one, as always (wink). The trip to Prathi Shirdi Shirgaon Sai Baba Temple. On our way back we happened to pay a visit to Ganpatiji too. Just near Somatane Toll Plaza, we have a huge idol of Ganapati situated on the left on NH4 - Birla Ganpati Temple.

If you are coming from Pune, take left after Somatne toll plaza, and after approx 500 meters, you have to take another left to reach the parking place, which is base to climb to reach the top. It can also be easily reached by Morya Temple Road which is near Somatne Phata Bus Stop. Earlier we were thinking that it would take around 30 minutes to reach the top, whereas we completed within 10 minutes, it would be around ~200 stairs.

NH4 view looks really cool from the top, specially in the monsoon season. Jain Kalash Mandir is quite visible from the top, just across NH4 Old Mumbai Pune highway. From all corners of the top temple boundaries, there are flash-lights focussing to Ganpati idol. Beauty gets doubled during night. There was also a garden from the back side, but it was not open during our visit. 

Thanks to Amit, Veena, Paresh, Parul, Meenal, Tanuj, and cheerful kids to making this trip more wonderful.


If you are interested, Other places to visit near Pune:

Sunset and Moonrise at Vetal Hill, Pune

ISKCON NVCC Temple at Katraj-Kondhwa - Pune

Aga Khan Palace & Gandhi National Memorial in Pune

An Eve at Parvati Hill and Temples

Saras Baug - A Stork Garden, Pune

Katraj - Snake Park - RG Zoological Park