Aga Khan Palace: Pune

Friends were requested me to start writing on places from Pune city. So People visiting Pune can get An idea about it. This is my first attempt to write blog on places to visit in Pune
We went to Aga Khan Palace in evening.

Aga Khan Palace (Clicked from iPhone)

Location: Pune Nagar Road, Kalyani Nagar, Pune 41104
GPS Location: 18.552708, 73.901510

About Aga Khan Palace:
Aga Khan Palace was built by Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III in 1892. He built this palace to create jobs to poor people from nearby villages. During 1890s nearby area was not considered as part of Pune city and highly affected by Drought.
Muhammad Shah Aga Khan was born in Karachi (Now part of Pakistan) Nizari Ismaili community.
Palace came into limelight due to Indian freedom movement when It served as Prison for Mahatma Gandhi, Wife Kasturba Gandhi, Mahadev Desai and Sarojini Naidu.

Aga Khan Palace

Visit to Aga Khan Palace:
               We went to Aga Khan Palace by 3:30-4 PM. You can reach to Aga Khan palace by Public transport or by Auto or by Cab service. It is located on Nagar road highway which is easy to locate. This place is open from 9AM to 5:30PM. They stop selling entry tickets after 5PM. The place can be seen in less than Hour if you are not deeply interested in Indian History else it has potential to keep you busy for 2-3 hours. Photography is not allowed whereas you can click photos from Mobile Camera and no need to Pay for same.

Aga Khan Palace

             Construction of Palace began in the year 1887 and completed in 5 years. As I mentioned in the blog, construction of palace created jobs to Poor people from nearby Village. Few historical documents say that work employed 1000 people. It was built in Rs 12 Lakhs (in the year 1892). Total Area is 13 acres whereas palace was built on 7 acres of land. The rest area is well maintained Garden along with Small Canteen, Samadhi of Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Desai.

Samadhi of Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Desai

               Mahatma Gandhi, Wife Kasturba Gandhi, and secretary Mahadev Desai were captured and kept in Palace from 9 August 1942 to 6 May 1944 for Quit India Movement against British. Kasturba Gandhi and secretary Mahadev Desai died during the captivity. In 1969, Aga Khan Palace donated to Indian Government to open for all as a mark of respect to Gandhi.

Mahatma Gandhi's memorial where part of Ashes kept 

             The only ground floor of Palace is open for tourist. You can see a painting of Gandhi, Painting about there freedom journey and information. You can visit the rooms in which Mahadev Desai, Kasturba Gandhi were captured and kept. Their belongs are also kept for display. Last Room belongs to Mahatma Gandhi but it is closed and you can view through glass. Samadhi of Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Gandhi is located in the Palace area. When Mahatma Gandhi died, part of his ashes was brought to the palace and built the memorial. The Palace has beautiful Garden to spend a good time.

Mahatma Gandhi's Room

Ticket rates:

Indian Nationality: INR 15/- per person

SAARC nation citizens (Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan): INR 15/- per person

BIMSTEC nation citizen (Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan, and Bangladesh): INR 15/- per person

Foreign Nation: INR 200/- per person

Thanks for reading this travel Blog. Keep traveling.

Pritesh Kulkarni

Pune