Drive from Pune to Pandharpur

Pune to Pandharpur – Saturday, 31st Jan 2009

I picked up my parents, uncle and aunt from Shivaji Nagar Station (they had come to Pune from Mumbai by the Indrayani Express) and left for Pandharpur at 9 am. I have a Swift (Vxi, Solid Bright Red with alloys :-), purchased in July 08. Before going to the station, I had filled up the fuel tank and the fuel would be sufficient for the round-trip.

Saturday traffic was light and it didn't take me long to hit the Pune-Solapur Highway. From Shivaji Nagar station, I took the old Mumbai-Pune Highway till Pune Station, took a left at Alankar cinema and headed straight to reach the southern end of the Koregaon Park flyover. Took a right from the circle there and then the left at the immediate signal. Going straight from there took us to the Sholapur Highway near Big Bazaar.

By 9:40, we had almost crossed the city limits and were well and truly on the highway. Soon we hit the first toll plaza on the highway (15 bucks). This toll was for the next stretch of 25 kms which is 4-lane, separated by a divider. I was initially happy to pay the toll thinking that there was a big stretch of 4-lane road ahead, but was disappointed when the joy-ride ended pre-maturely. The road from there is a simple two-lane highway, very typical of non-Golden-Quad highways i.e. you have to slow down a little near villages, watch out for the snail-speed bullock-carts and be ultra cautious while overtaking. Being on the sugar-stretch of the state, you'll also see several crawling tractors, carrying huge loads of sugarcane. Despite of all that, I could easily cruise at 80 kmph, and touch the occassional 100. The road condition was extremely good – hardly any bumps and potholes on the highway. There is a very small ghat just before the town of Kurkumbhm (actually, its hardly a ghat, just a climb-up and climb-down). We reached the reasonably-big town of Bhigwan at 11. Bhigwan is 105 kms from Pune. The only decent restraunt there is one called Sagar – which is on the right side right after a big HP Petrol pump. We took a tea-break there. My parents purchased some grapes for the trip and we left Bhigwan at 11:25.

The next big town after Bhigwan was Indapur (145 kms) which we reached at 12. No stop there, just a quick break for a natures call. We continued on our way to Themburni (166 kms) and then to Shetphal (194 kms) at around 1:20 pm. We got delayed in a traffic jam (yes, you read it right, a traffic jam!) just before Shetphal at a railway crossing. Intrestingly, I didn't notice any train passing by, but for some strange reason, we were held up there for nearly 20 minutes. Right after Shetphal, there are enough sign-boards to tell you to take right to Pandharpur.

There are several ways to reach Pandharpur from Pune. You could go via the Pune-Saswad road or take the Bangalore Highway and take a left from some town there (whose name I now forgot). The third alternative is the Sholapur highway, and even once you hit the Sholapur Highway, you could take a right from either Themburni or Shetphal. I took the later option (going by my boss' advice and the famous saying – the boss is always right :) I took the Themburni route while returning and it was then that I realized that the boss is indeed always right. The 35 km stretch from Shetphal to Pandharpur, although being a small state road, was excellent and devoid of any traffic! I could easly go at 80 there, just had to watch-out for the odd village and tractor. On this road, thanks to a misleading signboard, I took a wrong turn at one point and ended up in a dead-end village! I told myself - Always ask someone before you take a turn on a state road! Back on the correct road, I then reached a small junction where the road from Themburni joined from straight ahead and I had to take a left turn to go towards Pandharpur. I crossed the bridge over the Bhima river and took a left at the immediate junction which took me on the road to the Pandharpur bus-stand. Thanks to my research over the previous week, I had to find one hotel Aishwariya – and it wasn't a difficult task either. The hotel is on the right side right after I crossed the bus stand. We reached Pandharpur at exactly 2 pm.

Summary of the drive:
Total distance (from Pune(Shivaji Nagar Station) via Bhigwan-Indapur-Shetphal) – 230 kms
Time taken – 5 hours (including breaks worth 30 minutes and the 20 minute delay near Shetphal)

The Return Trip – Sunday, 01 Feb 2009

We had our darshan in Pandharpur on Saturday evening and our return drive began on Sunday, 1st Feb at 11 am. This time I took the route via Themburni (46 kms from Pandharpur). This small state road, however, was extremely bad and full of small potholes. To add to it, there were scores of sugarcane-loaded-slow-moving-tractors on this route. I was quite relieved to reach Themburni at 12. This route via Themburni, although is shorter, is definitely not advisable as you'd end up driving for the same amount of time.

On my return drive, I felt the urge to have a tea at almost every town. That made me stop at Themburni, then at Indapur (12:35 pm, 67 kms from Pandharpur) and also at Bhigwan (1:40 pm, 106 kms). We took a 25 minute break at Bhigwan and had lunch at the same Sagar hotel. We left Bhigwan at 2:05. One peculiar stretch on the higway is just before Bhigwan. There is a long decend and then again a climb in such a way that I actually felt like crossing a valley. The return trip was quite an effort as the truck traffic was much heavier. Being a Sunday, the closer we got to Pune, the car and bus traffic became very noticeable. We reached Pune Station at 4 pm, ending the shorter 208 kms drive.

Summary: Pandharpur to Pune Station (via Themburni-Indapur-Bhigwan) – 208 kms
Time taken: 5 hours (including a total of 40 minutes in breaks)

Happy Driving!