Junnar (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʒunːəɾ is a city in the Pune district of the Indian

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. The city has history dating back to the first millennium. The nearby fort of

Shivneri Shivneri Fort (''known as Killa'') (Marathi pronunciation: �iʋneɾiː is an ancient military fortification located near Junnar in Pune district in Maharashtra, India. It is the birthplace of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of Mara ...

was the birthplace of Maratha king

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

, the founder of the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

. Junnar was declared the first tourism taluka in Pune district by the government of Maharashtra on 9 January 2018.

History

Junnar has been an important trading and political centre for the last two millennia. The town is on the trade route that links the ports of western India or more specifically of

Konkan The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau to the eas ...

with

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

interiors. The first mention of Junnar comes the Greco-Roman travellers from the first millennium, The

Indo-Scythian The Indo-Scythians, also known as Indo-Sakas, were a group of nomadic people of Iranian peoples, Iranic Scythians, Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the present-day regions of Afghanistan, Eastern Iran and the northwe ...

Western Satraps The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas (Brahmi: , ''Mahakṣatrapa'', "Great Satraps") were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central parts of India (extending from Saurashtra in the south and Malwa in the east, covering moder ...

ruled at Junnar during the 2nd century CE as shown by their cave inscriptions in the area of Junnar, at Manmodi Caves. "

Yavana The word Yona in Pali and the Prakrits, and the analogue Yavana in Sanskrit, were used in Ancient India to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" (), who were probably the first Gre ...

" Greeks also left donative inscriptions in the 2nd century CE at

Lenyadri Lenyadri, sometimes called Ganesa Lena, Ganesh Pahar Caves, are a series of about 30 rock-cut Buddhist "caves", located about north of Junnar in Pune district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. They are cut into a natural cliff or steep sl ...

and Manmodi Caves. According to Damodar Kosambi, the real name of Junnar may have been Tagara. In his opinion, the name Junnar may be the contracted form of Jirnanagar (Old city). In the 1400s, the Russian traveler,

Afanasy Nikitin Afanasy Nikitin (; died 1475) was a Russian merchant from Tver and one of the first Europeans (after Niccolò de' Conti) to travel to and document his visit to India. He described his trip in a narrative known as '' A Journey Beyond the Three Sea ...

spent many months in Junnar during the monsoon season. He describes vividly the life in the

Bahamani The Bahmani Kingdom or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval Persianate kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, the Bahmani Kingdom came to power in 1347 during the rebellion o ...

-ruled area around Junnar. After the collapse of the Bahamanis, the breakaway state of

Nizam Shahi The Ahmadnagar Sultanate was a medieval Marathi Muslim kingdom located in the northwestern Deccan, between the sultanates of Gujarat and Bijapur, ruled by the Nizam Shahi dynasty. It was established when Malik Ahmed, the Bahmani governor of ...

had Junnar as their first capital in the 1490s. Later in early 1600s,

Malik Ambar Malik Ambar (1548–1626) was a military leader and statesman who served as the Peshwa (Prime Minister) of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate and its ''de facto'' ruler from 1600 until his death in 1626. Originally a slave from modern day Ethiopia, ''C ...

the Nizam Shahi general again moved his capital there. The father of

Shahaji Shahaji Bhonsale (; 18 March 1594 – 23 January 1664) was a 17th century Indian military leader who served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire at various points in his career. As a member of the Bhonsle dynas ...

Raje Bhonsale worked for Malik Ambar early in his career. Shivaji was born at the nearby

fort.

Geography

Junnar has an average elevation of 689 metres (2,260 feet). The

Kukadi River Kukadi River (alternate spelling: Kukdi) is a river of Maharashtra, India, a tributary of the Ghod River. Its origin is near Kukdeshwar, where Lord Mahadeva's ancient temple is situated on the origin of Kukadi River. Several notable temples lie on ...

flows to the north.

Teak Forest

The Junnar area has been historically famed for its teak forest. The

Shaniwar Wada Shaniwar Wada is a historical fortification in the city of Pune, India. Built in 1732, it was the seat of the Peshwas of the Maratha Confederacy until 1818. The fort itself was largely destroyed in 1828 by an unexplained fire, but the surviving ...

, the de facto seat of government of the

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

was completed in 1732 by

Peshwa The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary when Shahu gave t ...

Bajirao I Bajirao I (né Visaji, ; 18 August 1700 – 28 April 1740) was the 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. He was appointed Peshwa at the age of nineteen by Shahu I, following the death of his father, Balaji Vishwanath. He is credited with establis ...

Teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

from Junnar was used extensively in its construction.

Demographics

Scouts at Shankarrao Butte Patil Vidyalaya

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Junnar had a population of 24,740. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Junnar has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 72%. In Junnar, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Transport

State Transport buses run between Pune and Junnar from Shivajinagar ST stand from 06:30 AM every hour. Also bus facility available from Mumbai (kalyan) for every 10–30 minutes from 05:20 AM till 12:30 AM. Same is the case from Ahmednagar and Nashik. Transportation from Ahmednagar and Mumbai takes a route of NH 222 while from Pune and Nashik will take a route of NH 50.

Junnar Tourism

Junnar area is dotted with historic places including

, the birthplace of the Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the cave temple at

, Kulswami khandoba temple wadaj, One of the famous temple of Lord Ganesha Ozar, and the walled town of Junnar itself. Also Junnar has historical underground water chain which it exists at Sayyed Wada (Nehr e Hussaini hauz) Junnar in the remembrance of Karbala. This water reservoir exist today.

Shivneri Fort

, the birthplace of Chhatrapati

Maharaj

Jivdhan Fort

Jivdhan Jivdhan (or Jeevdhan) is a hill fortress situated 1 km from modern town of Ghatghar in Junnar Taluka of Pune district in Maharashtra, India. The fort, which rises above sea level, is located in the Sahyadri mountain range. The fort was loo ...

, Jivdhan (or Jeevdhan) is a hill fortress situated 1 km near the modern day town of Ghatghar in Junnar Taluka of Pune district in Maharashtra, India.

Hadsar Fort

Hadsar, fort is among the many forts in Junnar region of Pune district which were meant for protection of the ancient commercial trade route from Mawal region to Kalyan via Naneghat. There is a marvelous sculpture design of the bastion and the fort entrance, which is not seen elsewhere. They are all carved from a single rock.

Cave temples

Surroundings of Junnar are very rich with ancient cave temples. In total there are more than 220 individual rock-cut caves located in four hills around Junnar. Junnar has the largest and longest cave excavations in India. The most famous among the caves is the

complex. It represents a series of about 30 rock-cut mostly

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

caves. Cave 7 is a famous

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

dedicated to the god

Ganesha Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva (Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions ...

. It is one of the

Ashtavinayak Ashtavinayaka () is a Sanskrit term which means "eight Ganeshas". The Ashtavinayaka Yatra refers to a pilgrimage to the eight Hindu temples in the state of Maharashtra, India, centered around the city of Pune. The eight temples house eight d ...

shrines, a set of the eight prominent Ganesha shrines in Maharashtra. Twenty-six of the caves are individually numbered. The caves face to the south and are numbered serially from east to west. Caves 6 and 14 are ''

chaitya-griha A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...

s'' (chapels), while the rest are '' viharas'' (dwellings for monks). The latter are in the form of dwellings and cells. There are also several rock-cut water cisterns; two of them have inscriptions. The layout of the caves, in general, are similar in pattern and shape. They generally have one or two sides with two long benches for occupants' use. The caves date from between the 1st and 3rd century AD; the Ganesha shrine situated in Cave 7 is dated to the 1st century AD,Feldhaus p. 143 though the date of conversion to a Hindu shrine is unknown. All of the caves arise from

Hinayana Hīnayāna is a Sanskrit term that was at one time applied collectively to the '' Śrāvakayāna'' and '' Pratyekabuddhayāna'' paths of Buddhism. This term appeared around the first or second century. The Hīnayāna is considered as the prelim ...

Buddhism.

The caves of Junnar are grouped according to the following classification: * Tulja Leni or Tuljalena, on the Tuljabai hill, 4 km west of Junnar. * Shivneri group or Sivaneri group, 3 km southwest of Junnar. :* East facing group (1, 2, and 3) :* West facing group :* South facing group * Manmodi group, on Manmodi hill, 3 km south of Junnar. :* Bhimasankar group :* Amba-Ambika group :* Bhutalinga group *

or Ganesh lena group, 5 km north of Junnar. About 20 km to the northwest of Junnar, the

Naneghat Naneghat, also referred to as Nanaghat or Nana Ghat (IAST: Nānāghaṭ), is a mountain pass in the Western Ghats range between the Konkan coast and the ancient town of Junnar in the Deccan plateau. The pass is about north of Pune and about ...

caves can also be seen.

Saudagar Gumbaz

The monument is located in Hapusbaug village, 10 km away from Junnar. It was built in the 17th century, and is considered the finest building from the islamic era of the town. The tombs has a double-storied facade with a single large space.It is an example of an early post-

Bahmani The Bahmani Kingdom or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval Persianate kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, the Bahmani Kingdom came to power in 1347 during the rebellion o ...

type architecture. It is on the

List of Monuments of National Importance in Maharashtra This is a list of Monuments of National Importance (ASI) as officially recognized by and available through the website of the Archaeological Survey of India in the Indian state Maharashtra. The monument identifier is a combination of the abbrevia ...

Yavana Inscriptions

Several inscriptions related to donations by

Yavanas The word Yona in Pali and the Prakrits, and the analogue Yavana in Sanskrit, were used in Ancient India to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" (), who were probably the first Gre ...

(

Indo-Greeks The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic-era Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India. The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" loosely describes a number of var ...

) have been found at the Junnar caves.Religions and Trade: Religious Formation, Transformation and Cross-Cultural Exchange between East and West, BRILL, 201
p.97 Note 97
/ref> These inscriptions are located in the Shivneri Caves: * One inscription mentions the gift of two cisterns to the monks by a Yavana donor named Irila. * Another inscription mentions the gift of a dining hall to the

samgha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...

by a Yavana donor named Chita. At Manmodi Caves, another Yavana donor named Chanda dedicated a hall front to the

Samgha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...

. Similar donations by Yavanas can be found at the

Nasik Caves The Trirashmi Caves, or Nashik Caves or Pandavleni is a holy Buddhist and Jain site and is located about 8 km south of the centre of Nashik (or Nasik), Maharashtra, India. Most of the caves are Viharas except for Cave 18 which is a Chai ...

and the Great

Chaitya A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...

of the

Karla Caves The Karla Caves, Karli Caves, Karle Caves or Karla Cells, are a complex of ancient Buddhist Indian rock-cut architecture, Indian rock-cut caves at Karli, India, Karli near Lonavala, Maharashtra. It is just 10.9 Kilometers away from Lonavala. Ot ...

Agritourism

Agritourism or agrotourism, as it is defined most broadly, involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. Few popular such venture, "Parashar Agri & Village Tourism centre", is situated in village Rajuri of Junnar Taluka, and other Rashmigreenland Agri Tourism Center, located at the foothills of Leynadri temple, Golegaon, Junnar. An emerging group of youth from junnar are trying new trends into the business of agrotourism. Arranging Treks, tours, leaving in countryside, tents under the sky are features you can try out here with them. Easy accessible from Pune, Mumbai and Nashik.

Leopard

There have been numerous cases of leopards attacking people and livestock in Junnar in recent years with many fatalities. According to field studies, carried out in Junnar, the man-leopard crisis has been brought about not only by development but by the recent translocations of the leopards. The problem is most acute in areas bordering Junnar Forest Division where sugarcane plantations provide a good hiding place for leopards.Shingote, R.J., 2011. THE PREDATORS OF JUNNAR: LOCAL PEOPLES’KNOWLEDGE, BELIEFS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEOPARDS AND LEOPARD CONSERVATION (Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University

/ref> There is a leopard rescue centre located at Manikdoh for this cause also Manikdoh dam one of bigger dam is situated Near Junnar.

References

External links

Junnar Tourism Website
{{Pune district topics Maharashtra Cities and towns in Pune district Former capital cities in India