Pingori – the village of Bravehearts, near Saswad

You have everything in this scenic road trip so close to Pune (near Saswad). Small hill temples (option to climb or drive to), remote rolling hills with kuchcha roads (but can be driven on by any car), a small village with a deep patriotic connection and finally a temple known for the samadhi of Maharishi Valmiki, the author of Ramayana.

Since we are covering so many places, it is important to understand the map first 🙂 I have shared the map for the full trip (from Magarpatta), but maps might sometimes reroute you to the main roads (with good intention of course). But some of the places require you to go on roads which maps may not like. I will give the locations of the places individually, so that you can build your own map in case the default takes you elsewhere.

First locations would be two hill temples close to each other Shri Shankareshwar Mandir (https://maps.app.goo.gl/XPHgQBxk8g9fYwDx9) and Shri Rameshwar Mandir (https://maps.app.goo.gl/6kAGPgvebDXDTM1o8). Once you are finished with the visit, the tricky part begins. You have to zoom in a lot on maps to see a narrow road connecting these temples to Pingori (https://maps.app.goo.gl/Fi1ogEtMeE9JSvir5). In fact, when i went on this road a few years back, i had to rely on the satellite view as this road was yet to be mapped. Expect lot of potholes on this road, but good enough for any car. After Pingori, the roads clear up and your next destination Walhe (https://maps.app.goo.gl/1zNQTEUwnqiXKw7g7). If you are already tired, catch the main road back to Jejuri. If you are in the mood for more nature, then choose the route i have given below as it will take you through super smooth roads through a valley famous for bird watching. Connect to Parinche (https://maps.app.goo.gl/NbEVKwAgEENpHC1Y6) and then to Pimpale (https://maps.app.goo.gl/fmNaiG1ZRbroGV139) and then back to Pune.

Ok, lets start the trip. Reach Saswad and then drive towards Jejuri. Take an exit towards Sakurde village. The village roads are narrow, but always interesting to drive through such lanes. After Sakurde, the hills open up and you wouldn’t believe that you are just 2-3kms away from a main highway. The twin temples of Shankareshwar and Rameshwar have roads until the temple, but after a 1 hr drive from Pune, it is a great opportunity to stretch your legs. So, the moment you see the first temple on your left (top of the hill), park your vehicle and start climbing, whatever way you choose!

Shakareshwar temple is a small temple, but has a big courtyard. Lovely views of the plains from the temple.

There isn’t exactly a walking trail. If you don’t walk to climb randomly, follow the kuchcha road up the hill.

Looks very far, but the climb is not more than 10 mins. We had senior citizens with us and hence they used the other car to drive up to the temples.

This (above) is how the road (up to the temples) was when we went. Good to drive on as well as to walk on!

Rameshwar Mandir was a bit bigger and more elaborate. The location was awesome. The road went amongst trees and the temple stood in the middle of a small forest.

There were lot of statues and inscriptions kept near the temple which do suggest that the main temple (before renovation) must be quite old. We spent close to an hr at these places as we walked from the base of the hill. On a cloudy monsoon day, the breeze chill would be awesome at these temples.

From there, we drove over to Pingori. This stretch is very remote through hills. I read that there were protests by the villagers few years earlier to get a pucca road. There was even a video of a politician driving on this route, to promise a better road. As of late 2023, the road was far from a pucca road, but the stretch is beautiful to enjoy nature. We reached the village centre (above).

Welcome to the village of bravehearts! Pingori, a very small non-descript village, has sent more than 150 brave-hearts to our armed forces! This fact is mind-boggling. Right at the village square, you see a very old with the board mentioning names. The first one – Capt. Shweta Rajendra Shinde. Wow!! The village pradhan’s son and daughter-in-law are both in the armed forces.

The village has setup a memorial (Shahid Smarak Pingori) for all the bravehearts from the village who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Very touching! We spoke to the villagers and the stories of the bravery of the villagers kept on coming. Was a wonderful experience visiting the village.

We then proceeded to the village temple. We walked through the village and saw many old houses still maintained in their original condition. One of the villagers volunteered to become our guide to the temple and it was great listening to the history of the village.

We also visited the manmade Pingori lake which stores water during the monsoon season to provide water to the village during the summer.

We then proceeded to Walhe. Walhe is called so because of the village’s association with Maharishi Walmiki. Wow, such an important figure in Indian epics and his samadhi (also his growing up years) are so close to Pune. Read about the history of the place before visiting.

The temple has huge paintings inside which tell you the story of Maharishi Walmiki, of his earlier years as a villain of that area to his reformation that eventually led to the penning of Ramayana. There is a small hill called “Sat Ranjan” close by. Needs a guide to trek to (connected with Walmiki). We didn’t do the trek though.

Lot of interesting places visited on this short road trip, we were on our way back to Pune. As i wrote before, choose the route to Pune depending on your leftover enthu 🙂