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How to reach

From Pune - 90 km, Travel time - 100 min
From Pune Banglore Hwy ( SururPhata) - 18 km, Travel time - 25 min
From Wai - 3.5 km, Travel time - 8 min
From Panchgani- 16 km, Travel time - 25 min
From Mahabaleshwar - 36 km,. Travel time - 60 min
From Satara - 30 km, Travel time - 60 min

Wada will be open on all days of the week; timings are 9:30 am to 6:00 pm
Ticket details - Rs. 70 entry fee, parking Rs. 30.

Uniqueness of Place

About Wada

This palace(wada) at village Menavli was constructed by Rajamanya Rajashri Nana Faadnavis in 1770s and is situated on the banks of Krishna River. The 250+ year old wada structure comprises of the main stone plinth above which rises the two storeyed wooden framed structures with walls made of bricks and dried mud, hay and lime mortar. The wada has some excellent specimens of art in the form of well-carved wooden ceilings, and cypress pillars with cusped arches and maratha style wall paintings, that are adorned with faunal and floral motifs.

About Nana Fadnavis

In the path of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's Hindavi Swarajya! To Maratha Samrajya , Nana Fadnavis is an important page in the history of Peshwas for nearly sixty years after the battle of Panipat. This immensely intelligent and diplomatic personality has gained a respectable place in the list of those who ruled the state on condition! Today, we, the Menavlikar Phadnis brothers, are proud to be called the descendants of such a man.

He had sensed the British threat to the Maratha power and started negotiations with the French to counter the British motives of expansion. During his lifetime, he was successful in keeping the British away from the Maratha Empire.

About Restoration efforts at Wada

The Menavlikar Phadnis brothers have undertaken the mighty task of restoring the wada with the intention of keeping the splendour of the wada for at least another 250 years.

It was inaugurated at the Meneshwar Temple on the Krishna River Ghats about fifteen years ago by reviving the Mahashivaratri festival started by Nana Fadnavis. Menavli Wada is a masterpiece of Maratha architecture, Peshwai period murals, great history and Modi script office combined.

About Giant Baobab Tree

In the outskirts of the palace, there is a huge tree with a broad trunk; this tree is called as Baobab tree. This tree is native to Africa. It is around 250 years old and has longevity of 1100 years! As per Hindu Mythology “samudra manthan” wherein Gods and Demons came together to churn the sea and manifest many blessings like Amrut, Kamdhenu and Kalpavruksha or the Baobab tree; hence this is also known to be a well-wishing tree.

Unique Services Offered

The wada provides a rich heritage experience to the visitors by providing special services like listening to the history narrated by the wada itself in the form of smart audio guide, (“मी वाडा बोलतोय”), carrying home personalized souvenirs with visitor’s name written in “modi” script, and own digital photo with traditional Pagadi (turban). Moreover visitors can feel connected with the “vaastu” by walking bare feet on the cool cow-dung floors and reliving the cultural events that took place in the wada.

Smart Audio guide (“मी वाडा बोलतोय”)

It provides a smart audio guide to listen to the rich heritage information of Peshwai Era in a Storey-Tel form. This is called “(“मी वाडा बोलतोय”), in which the wada itself will narrate detailed information about the architecture, significance of each room in the wada, cultural events that took place here, some important incidents about Nana Phadnavis/Peshwai and much more. The audio guide provides music enabled content, authentic information by professional researchers, which is narrated by famous Bollywood Voice over artists. One can get a feeling of connection with history and culture while listening to the details of architecture of wada and special incidents of Nana Fadnavis.

The Smart Audio Guide is easy to use on the mobile device of the visitors. The app gives flexibility to listen to selective spots of the wada, choice of language, map route of the wada, choice to listen as per time available and speed and more

“Modi script” souvenirs

Visitors can carry home personalized souvenirs badges with their own name written on it in “modi” script. Modi was a script used to write Marathi for an estimated 700 years. All administrative paperwork of the Peshwas was carried out in the Modi script.