Sarasbaug Talyatla Ganpati

History

• The Indian Express reports that after the lake was made, Nanasaheb Peshwa built a small house and a garden named Saras Baug, reached by boat. In 1784 his grandson Shrimant Sawai Madhavrao installed a Ganesh idol. Because the trunk faces the side where Siddhi sits, the idol was named Siddhivinayak. The Indian Express
• The Times of India likewise dates the temple to Madhavrao Peshwa in 1784 and the name Sarasbaug to Nanasaheb. It quotes historian Mandar Lawate on later changes: the lake began to be filled with debris in 1915, the garden took shape around 1950, the sanctum went from one door to three, and the temple was renovated from 1969 and inaugurated in 1977. The Times of India
• The Indian Express says the Pune Municipal Corporation filled and levelled the abandoned lake in 1968, cleaned the island, and made the larger garden around the temple. A museum added in 1996 holds more than 600 Ganesha idols. The Indian Express

Why it matters

• Both papers treat it as one of Pune’s historic Ganpati temples, remembered specifically because it stood in water. The Indian Express says the Siddhivinayak here has a reputation as a wish-granting deity, which is how devotees speak of it, not a claim this guide can test. The Indian Express · The Times of India

Location

• The temple stands in Saras Baug. The Indian Express describes the old island in the former Parvati Lake, in the garden Pune uses today. The Indian Express

Hours

Not stated in the sources used for this entry.

Aarti and rituals

Not stated in the sources used for this entry.

Festivals

Not stated in the sources used for this entry.

How to reach

Not stated in the sources used for this entry.

Best time to visit

Not stated in the sources used for this entry.

Crowds

• The Times of India, writing in 2009, said the temple drew almost 10,000 devotees a day and about 80,000 during Ganeshotsav and other festivals. That is a 2009 figure, not a current count. The Times of India

Nearby

• The Indian Express describes Saras Baug as one of the old gardens of central Pune, with a Ganesh temple in the centre, and about 50 food stalls on the northern side known as a khau galli. In 2023 it reported that the Pune Municipal Corporation had decided to build a food court and walking plaza there. The article says the work would begin; it does not say the new court was already open. The Indian Express
• A small water channel around the stair to the temple is what the Times of India could still see of the lake. The Times of India

Access

Not stated in the sources used for this entry.