250 Yr Old Nana Fadnavis Wada & Meneshwar Temple | Menavali | Wai | Satara | Near Dhom Dam

I travelled to this place from Satara which is around 39/40 km. The route I took was Satara-Pachwad-Wai-Menavali. Its 251 km from Mumbai and 92 km from Pune to Nana Fadnavis Wada. While coming from Mumbai or Pune, one must take left from a village called Surur. Then reach Wai using Wai-Surur Rd. After travelling through Wai, one can reach menavali via Menavli Rd.
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Nana Fadnavis (12 February 1742 - 13 March 1800), born Balaji Janardan Bhanu, was an influential minister and statesman of the Maratha Empire during the Peshwa administration in Pune, India. James Grant Duff states that he was called "the Maratha Machiavelli" by the Europeans.
Nana Phadnavis settled the village and built a Wada (A mansion with inner courtyards), a Ghat (steps) leading from the mansion to the Krishna river, and two temples, one dedicated to Lord Vishnu and another to Meneshwar (मेणेश्वर) Lord Shiva. The architectural combination of a wada-type residence, a ghat on a waterbody, and a temple was typical of the Peshwa era. However, most of these palatial structures fell into disuse and disrepair after the lands and estates of the owners were taken away by the government after India became a republic in 1947. The Nana Phadnavis Wada on the bank of the river Krishna at Menavali is one of the very rare places where such a combination is preserved intact. The Nana Phadnavis wada is a large structure with six quadrangles, or courtyards, and a perimeter-protection wall. This construction of the complex was completed around 1780. Other notable wadas nearby are the Raste Wada and Ranade wada in Wai.
After Nana Phadnavis died in 1800, the Peshwa Baji Rao II confiscated the wada. Governor-General Wellesley (brother of the Duke of Wellington) returned the property to Nana's wife Jeeubai on 25 March 1804. After her death, Sir Bartle Frere (Governor of Bombay) handed over the property to Nana's descendants. The Nana Phadnavis wada today remains with his descendants. Having split the major part of his properties between themselves, the wada is still owned jointly by them all.
Ghats, which were originally nothing more than simple stone steps descending into a river, evolved during the Peshwa era into an elaborate arrangement of terraces with separate areas for different activities such as bathing, washing, filling water, and performing religious rites. Temples were traditionally built on ghats.
Nana, being the Peshwas' "Phadnavis", transcribed and maintained their documents of accounts and administrative letters in the ancient "Modi" script. These documents, known as the famous "Menavli Daptar", were preserved in the wada at Menavali.
There is a dark, musty, narrow, steep staircase concealed in the metre-thick wall, leading to the floor above. The staircase was once secret and easily secured, admitting only one person at a time into Nana Phadnavis's darbar hall. Nana Phadnavis's reception "darbar" hall has an attached bedroom with a teakwood bedstead. The bedstead is an intricately carved four-poster. The floor is paved with clay and cow dung.
Wadas are systems of open courtyards with increased security. Nana's corridors on the upper floor are lined with teakwood lattice work. A concealed escape stairway in the wall leads out of the wada. Descending the stone steps leads to the ghat on the river Krishna. On descending the steps and turning right, one sees a peaceful and rather drab view of Pandavgarh in the distance.
The bell house of the Meneshwar temple houses a six-hundred-and-fifty-kilogram bell. This bell was captured by Bajirao I's brother Chimaji Appa from a cathedral in the Portuguese fort at Bassein. Dating from 1707, the five-alloy bell bears a bas-relief of Mary carrying the infant Jesus Christ cast into it. An ancient tree with a massive coniform trunk has a platform constructed around it as old as the wada itself.
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[@priyankadesai312]

Awesome.....great work !

[@PrathameshManeVlogs]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@shasha1691maddy]

Nice one, I hope we restore our forts too.

[@PrathameshManeVlogs]

I hope so too