Bicycle excursion in Pune II - Empress Botanical Gardens
by on June 4, 2008
We hit the road again last Saturday. I think it is turning into a habit now where we need our weekly long-ride fix else we start showing withdrawal symptoms, curl up into a ball and turn pale-skinned.
This week we set our eyes upon Empress Botanical Garden on Solapur Road in Camp. Amongst the concrete morass that Pune has been turning into lately, 59 acres of green cover stands out like an emerald. It is a prominent landmark on the most obscure city map, rivalled only by the racecourse just next door.
Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara, Camp
We left home at 7:00 am and made a beeline for Camp again. Before anything else, we visited Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara in Camp itself, which is one of the largest in Pune. It was still quite early when we reached there and we were able to spend some time in peaceful meditation in the prayer hall. The ragi's were at work completing their daily quota of kirtan's, but far from being disturbing their melodious tunes added a pleasant spiritual touch to the environment.
Empress Botanical Gardens
Our next stop, after the customary breakfast at Modern Café, was Empress Gardens .
The history of the gardens is sketchy, but it was once owned by Sardar Vithalrao Purandare, a general in the Peshwa Madavrao's army and governor of the Saswad province. The British took over the management of the gardens after 1838. In 1845, when it came under the purview of Sir Charles Napier, he rechristened it as the Garden of Dr. Don . It was renamed Empress Garden in honour of Queen Victoria when she was proclaimed the Empress of India on May 1 1876, although it was called Soldier's Garden in colloquial conversation. When possession of the garden was handed over to the Bombay Government, it delegated the maintenance to the Agri-Horticultural Society of Western India.
The garden gates open from 6:30 in the morning as it is a popular spot for joggers. With several armed forces residences and hostels in the vicinity, I am sure that there is no dearth of eager exercise enthusiasts. A stream running through the premises and a children's park make it popular during weekends and vacations with picnickers with their little ones in tow.
We took respite from the heat in the gardens for well over an hour. When we returned to the parking lot of the gardens, I realised that my front tyre had been punctured. Pushing the cycle 2 kilometres towards the nearest repair shop at Wanowari was no fun. Luckily the mechanic was quick and friendly and managed to patch the tyre in no time. I returned to St. Patrick's Cathedral where Ami was waiting for me to return.
We rolled back to M.G. Road and had dosa's for lunch. After a bit of window-shopping at the stores we returned to our cycles and began the long ride home.
In all, it was a simple ride with little adventure other than the tyre puncture. Empress Gardens are about 12 kilometres from our home. But given the added trips of the gurudwara and M.G. Road I would pin our total distance travelled at about 35 kilometres for the entire trip, which is not bad for a single morning.