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Panchgani Paachgani | |
|---|---|
Hill station | |
 View of Panchgani Hills | |
  Panchgani Location in Maharashtra, India | |
| Coordinates:17°55′30″N73°48′00″E / 17.925°N 73.8°E /17.925; 73.8 | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Maharashtra |
| District | Satara |
| Elevation | 1,293 m (4,242 ft) |
| Population (2001) | |
• Total | 13,280 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Marathi |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 412805 |
Panchgani, calledPaachgani, is a hill station andmunicipal council inSatara district inMaharashtra, India. Panchgani attracts tourists throughout the year. It is also known for having many conventboarding schools.[1]
Panchgani is around 108 kilometres fromPune and 250 kilometres fromMumbai.
Panchgani was developed by the British during theBritish Raj as a summer resort under the supervision of Lord John Chesson in the 1860s. Panchgani was developed as a retirement place because its climate remained pleasant throughout the year. He surveyed the hills of this region with Rustomji Dubash and finally decided on this nameless area around the five villages: Dandeghar, Godavali, Ambral, Khingar, and Taighat. The place was aptly named Panchgani, meaning "land between five villages", and Chesson was made superintendent.
To develop the infrastructure, Chesson encouraged various professionals - tailors, dhobis, butchers, vegetable vendors, building contractors - to also settle in Panchgani. The area below the bazaar was allotted to them, and is now known as thegaothan. He is credited with planting plant species from the western world in Panchgani, includingsilver oak andpoinsettia, which have flourished since then in Panchgani. Chesson is buried in the graveyard of St. Peter's Church. In 1971 or '72, his death centenary was observed in a big way when for the first time, the town folk and the schools participated together in a ceremony to remember the founder of Panchgani.[citation needed]
A number of schools were started in the 19th century across different communities, and Panchgani started flourishing as an educational town.
In the 1890s,Kimmins High School was started for European boys and girls. 1902, the boys' section separated to become European Boys High School, now known asSt. Peter's School, Panchgani, and Kimmins became an exclusive girls' school. In 1895, the Roman Catholic order of nuns known as "Daughters of The Cross" startedSt. Joseph's Convent School, Panchgani. All three boarding schools were modeled on the English Public Schools of that time, and were affiliated toCambridge University. The board exams would be held in December, the question papers being sent from England by sea. The answer papers were sent back by sea and the results were declared in June.
Shortly afterward, other communities started their schools. These schools were affiliated to matriculation examination of the Bombay Presidency. The Parsi School, the first of these schools, later became the Billimoria School. The Muslim School became the Union High School, and is now known as Anjuman-I-Islam School. Both these schools were modelled on the English Public Schools.Hindu High School was started, now known as the Sanjeewan Vidyalaya. This was modelled onRabindranath Tagore'sShantiniketan. TheNational Spiritual Assembly of theBaháʼís of India runs theNew Era High School. A retired teacher from the Parsi High School, Mr. S. M. Batha started the S.M. Batha School, Panchgani International School and junior College[2] is also one of theBest School in Panchgani .
The fresh air and invigorating climate of Panchgani made it a good place for convalescence. A well-knowntuberculosis specialist fromBombay, Dr.Rustomji Bomanji Billimoria set up the Bel Airsanatorium, in the 1940s, as a centre for the treatment of TB. Till the advent of antibiotics, "Dalkieth" (Bel Air) was the premier place for the treatment of tuberculosis in the Bombay Presidency.
Panchgani is nestled in the middle of five hills in theWestern Ghats aliasSahyādri mountain ranges. There are five villages around Panchgani named Dandeghar, Khingar, Godavali, Ambral & Taighat. TheKrishnā River flows in the valley on which theDhom Dam has been built approximately 9 km fromWai. The east of the Panchgani is Wai, Bavdhan & Nagewadi dam, at west is Gureghar, at the south is Khingar & Rajpuri & on the north is Dhom Dam.
The five hills surrounding Panchgani are topped by a volcanic plateau, These plateaus, alternatively known as "table land", are a part of theDeccan Plateau, they were raised by pressure between the earth plates. The area has highseismic activity, with anepicenter nearKoynānagar where the KoynanagarDam and ahydroelectric power plant have been built.
In recent times, Paachgani has been facingecological problems because of poorly controlled commercial activities, excessive traffic, andtemperature inversion (because ofhumidity) from the new dams which have been built in the vicinity for water storage.
The temperature in Panchgani is around 12 degrees Celsius during winter, and sometimes reaches 34 degrees Celsius during summer; humidity level is very low except in the Monsoon.Monsoon rainy season spans between June and September.
| Climate data for Panchgani | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 23.9 (75.0) | 25.1 (77.2) | 28.9 (84.0) | 31.2 (88.2) | 31.3 (88.3) | 24.2 (75.6) | 20.7 (69.3) | 20.8 (69.4) | 21.3 (70.3) | 24.7 (76.5) | 23.2 (73.8) | 23.1 (73.6) | 24.9 (76.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.2 (57.6) | 15.3 (59.5) | 18.5 (65.3) | 20.6 (69.1) | 20.1 (68.2) | 17.2 (63.0) | 17.1 (62.8) | 16.4 (61.5) | 16.4 (61.5) | 17.3 (63.1) | 14.7 (58.5) | 13.9 (57.0) | 16.8 (62.3) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 4.1 (0.16) | 1.3 (0.05) | 4.8 (0.19) | 25.9 (1.02) | 43.9 (1.73) | 261.1 (10.28) | 697.2 (27.45) | 404.1 (15.91) | 221.5 (8.72) | 126.7 (4.99) | 66.0 (2.60) | 8.4 (0.33) | 1,865 (73.43) |
| Source:Government of Maharashtra | |||||||||||||
As per Census India 2011, Panchgani town has a population of 13,393 of which 6,974 are males and 6,419 are females.[3] Males constituted 52.07% of the population, and females, 47.93%.[4] The population of children between age 0-6 is 1,368 which is 10.21% of total. The sex-ratio of Panchgani is around 920 compared to 929 which is average of Maharashtra state. Literacy rate of Panchgani is 80.56% out of which 84.6% males are literate and 76.16% females are literate. There are 9.62% Scheduled Caste (SC) and 2.75% Scheduled Tribe (ST) of total population in Panchgani.[4]
Panchgani is known for itsboarding schools established since the late 19th century. They attract students from the nearby cities of Mumbai and Pune. The schools in Panchgani are:
Strawberries are cultivated year round in Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar region. The strawberry grown here has been granted aGeographical indication status.[14]
Tourism- The town is a popular tourist resort in Maharashtra due to its proximity to Mumbai and Pune. In the past till around the 70s the town used to close down for tourists in the monsoon season but now this is year round tourist destination
The global charityInitiatives of Change opened "a centre for introspection and dialogue", a 68-acre campus calledAsia Plateau at Panchgani in 1967. Over the past four decadesAsia Plateau has been used for holding training programmes and conferences ofInitiatives of Change, particularly to address issues of corruption and governance within companies and public institutions. On certain occasions, the centre is used for programmes of like-minded institutions.[15] It is also running a model farm and rural training centre calledGrampari, aiming at propagating good practices in the Indian villages, to foster hygiene, local democracy and economic development. There are also various Jam and crushes stores found throughout the Town
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The "Table Land " was a shooting spot forRaja Hindustani,Mela,Taare Zameen Par. Television seriesPyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani were filmed here. In 2021Kartik Aaryan filmedFreddy (2022).[16]
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