Vishrambaag Wada is described at Wikipedia as “a fine mansion” situated at central Pune’s Thorale Bajirao Road. It was the luxurious residence of Peshwa Bajirao II, the last Peshwa of Maratha confederacy, in early seventeenth century. The same one that built Shaniwar Wada and that I showed you on a picture: the horse rider statue.
The 20,000 sq. ft. wada presently houses a post office on its ground floor, a few other offices of the municipal corporation and a small museum of Maratha artefacts .
The structure is famous for its fine entrance and the balcony with carved woodwork.
And indeed, agreed, that entrance is spectacular. But man, was I shocked by the state it is in. This is supposed to be one of the restored or renovated wada’s and it looks like a mess. What a shame!!!!
It looks so deteriorated, while the beauty is very obvious. I hope it will receive better treatment and that it will be conserved well.
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| Maybe the yellow board says it is under renovation right now???? Or is this just wishful thinking of me? |
A bit about it’s history:
Vishrambaag Wada was built in 1807 at the price of Rs 200.000. It took six years to complete the construction. Bajirao II preferred this residence to the ill-fated Shaniwar Wada, (destroyed by fire, remember?) the citadel of the Peshwas.
Bajirao II stayed here for eleven years after which he was arrested by the British and detained in Bithur near Kanpur. His wife, Varanasibai, continued to stay here for a while before joining him in Bithur. Soon the British took over Pune.
It is said that Bajirao lived here with 6000 servants!!!
Impressive history!
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