Pune-Okayama Friendship Garden or Pu La Deshpande Udyan is one of the largest gardens in Pune located on Tanaji Malusare road (Sinhgad road) in

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 ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India.

Details

The garden was inspired by the 300-year-old Kōraku-en Garden in

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

, so it is also called the Pune-Okayama Friendship Garden. The garden has naturally flowing water from a canal, and this flow has been spread across the garden. The garden is well maintained, and walking on the lawn is not allowed. The garden is built on 10 acres. The style is devised in such a way that people can take a walk through a garden enjoying the landscape, which changes along the garden paths. Visitors can see colourful fish from on top of a small bridge in the center of garden. This Japanese garden has been named after

Pu La Deshpande Purushottam Laxman Deshpande (alternatively written as Pu La Deshpande; 8 November 1919 – 12 June 2000), popularly known by his initials ("Pu. La.") or as P. L. Deshpande, was a Marathi writer and humorist from Maharashtra. He was also an ac ...

, a well known Marathi writer from

, India.

Pune-Okayama Friendship Garden - Phase II

The phase 2 of this garden is known as Mughal Garden and is a replica of the Mughal garden in

Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, rāsh-truh-puh-ti bha-vun; ; originally Viceroy's House and later Government House) is the official residence of the President of India at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India. Rashtrapati Bh ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. BJP corporator took up project to install Surya Namaskar statues and those have been opened to public on 19 June 2017 by

Mukta Tilak Mukta Tilak (17 August 1965 – 22 December 2022) was an Indian politician. She was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from Kasba Peth (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Kasba Peth in the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election, 2 ...

.News in Sakal newspaper in Marathi

Events

Well known film shootings have taken place at this garden such as the shoot for popular Bollywood actor Salman Khan's song "I Love you" from the movie "

Bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

Transport

The garden is located at Sinhagad road and can be reached by bus, taxi or Auto Rickshaw. This garden is a busy place during the weekends and school holidays.

References

External links

Article in Maayboli in Marathi

* ttp://wikimapia.org/568659/Pu-La-Deshpande-Garden Pu La Deshpande Garden, Pune (Wikimapia) Parks in Pune Gardens in India India–Japan relations {{Pune-geo-stub