The Peshwe Park, is located near

Saras Baug Sarasbaug is a major landmark in the city of Pune in India. The place where the park now stands was once occupied by a small lake. However, the lake dried up and was later developed into Sarasbaug. The whole complex is known as Sarasbaug. The ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is managed by the

Pune Municipal Corporation The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC, IAST: Puṇe Mahānagarpālikā) is the civic body that governs the inner limits of Pune, India. It is in charge of the civic needs and infrastructure of the metropolis, which is spread over an area of 48 ...

. It is spread over an area of 7 acres. Now it is an energy park that stresses the importance of renewable energy in today’s times. The Adventure Park is also launched there. The idea behind the park is to remove the fear element in kids from a young age as was first mooted by its designer BS Deshmukh.

History

In 1953 the

created Peshwe Park on about where Madhavrao Peshwe had established a private menagerie in 1770. Located in the heart of the city at the base of

Parvati Hill Parvati Hill is a hillock in Pune, India. The hillock rises to above sea level. Atop the hillock is the Parvati Temple, one of the most scenic locations in Pune. The temple is the oldest heritage structure in Pune and was built during the rule ...

, this zoo exhibited animals in traditional cages.

Details

The Peshwe energy park serves the purpose of using non-conventional renewable energy and spreading its awareness. This includes a biomass pavilion, hydro-energy pavilion, information pavilion, battery operated Phulrani train, solar pavilion, etc. The park also houses the children playground that includes slides, seesaw, swings, etc. There is an induction of 50 types adventure sports games and activities like net climbing, walk rope climbing, wall climbing, grappling, tower climbing, balancing, high altitude cycling, rope skidding, crossing the pond on a rope etc are just name of few (for age groups 3-16). Nearby this playground lies the Phulrani toy train which is popular from the times when the park was a zoo. The induced adventure sport activities include wall climbing, net climbing, balancing, rope slider, skyway, tower climbing and many more. The instructors here provide the safety accessories to the children and supervise their performance and actions. There are private amusement activities like merry-go-round, horse riding, slides, etc. outside its premises. Also nearby the park lies the popular Saras Baug Ganapati and Mahalaxmi temple. A toy train called ''Phulrani'' is a popular attraction for young children here. फुलराणीचा ६१ वा वाढदिवस उत्साहात
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Shifting of park

In 1986, Mr. Neelam Kumar Khaire, the first director of the park, with assistance from the Pune Municipal Corporation, created the Katraj Snake Park on land that was to become the

Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park The Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, commonly known as the Rajiv Gandhi Zoo or Katraj Zoo, is located in Katraj, Pune district, Maharashtra State, India. It is managed by the Pune Municipal Corporation. The zoo is divided into three parts: an ani ...

. In 1997, in order to create a more modern zoo in accordance with the guidelines of the

Central Zoo Authority of India The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) is the body of the government of India responsible for oversight of zoos. It is an affiliate member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The CZA was formed to bring Indian zoos up to internation ...

, the municipality selected a site in Katraj and started developing a new zoo. The zoo opened in 1999 as the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park & Wildlife Research Centre, and initially included only the reptile park, sambars,

spotted deer The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also known as the spotted deer, chital deer, and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described and given a binomial name by German naturalist Johann Christian Po ...

, and

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

s. Although it took until 2005, all of the animals from Peshwe Park were eventually moved to the new site, and Peshwe Park was closed for animal watching.

References

External links

* {{Pune topics Zoos in Maharashtra Tourist attractions in Pune Parks in Pune 1953 establishments in Bombay State Zoos established in 1953