Old Mahabaleshwar is a historical place and a village in Mahabaleshwar, Satara district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a hill station located in the Western Ghats range.Old Mahabaleshwar is also known as "Kshetra Mahabaleshwar". Old Mahabaleshwar is about 7 km from Mahabaleshwar. This holy and sacred place has 3 temples: Panchganga temple, Mahabaleshwar temple and Krishna temple.
Geography
Old mahabaleshwar village is located at 17.9237°N 73.6586°E It has an average elevation of 560 metres. It's located about 150 km southwest of Pune and 340 km from Mumbai, old mahabaleshwar is a vast plateau measuring 15 km2, bound by valleys on all sides. It reaches a height of 1,439 m at its highest peak above sea level, known as hanuman Temple. Old mahabaleshwar comprises some places named as : Tandulni-Anand van bhavan, sambhaji nagar, Gera colony, and dr.Keni colony.
Tourism
Arthur seat point
Officer Sir Arthur Malet , who sat here and gazed at the Savitri River, where he lost his wife and children in a tragic ferry mishap.
Panchganga Temple
The Panchganga Temple is constructed at the convergence of five rivers Krishna, Venna, Savitri, Koyna and Gayatri. It is believed that five rivers originate from gaumukhi inside Panchganaga temple. The temple was constructed in the 13th century by "Yadava King Singhandeo". The construction improvement of the Panchganga Temple was done during the 16th and 17th Century by "Chanda Rao More" and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Panchganga temple in old Mahabaleshwar is said to be 4500 years old. However, there is no historical evidence of this claim.
Mahabaleshwar Temple is built in 1215 AD as per historical records. This temple is built in Hemadpanti style. The temple houses Shiva's bed, damru and trishul which date back to approximately 300 years. It is believed that every morning, the bedsheet is found crumpled indicating Shiva's presence at night within the temple. Ramdasi Math: Beside Mahabaleshwar temple is Ramdasi Math which has a copy of Dasbodh. Samarth Ramdas himself had edited this dasbodh copy.
Krishna Temple
Krishna temple which is 1 km away from Panchganga temple is built in Hemadpanti style, In front of the Krishna temple is Krishna valley. As per mythology, Krishna river had jumped from this place.
Where to Stay
Old Mahabaleshwar is located 7 kilometres away from Mahabaleshwar Market. Three hours away from Pune. Old Mahabaleshwar has various hotels, home stays and campsites to choose to stay at. There is one 4 star luxury resort 'Ramsukh Resorts & Spa', Super Premium Luxury Vacation Bungalows, a modern heritage bed and breakfast property called "Advait Wada", the heritage Prospect hotel and campsites like "Advait Valley Camp", Eco Camp for nature lovers, backpackers and school trips.
BOUNDARIES:- The distances of old mahabaleshwar from major cities are as follows:
From Mumbai – 292 km, From Pune – 150 km From Mahabaleshwar – 7 km, From Satara – 60 km & From Wai – 39 km The east of the old mahabaleshwar is Golegaon, Balkavdi Dam, nakinda village & Nagewadi dam, at west there is Dare, at south is mahabaleshwar & on north is Jor village. The temperature in Old Mahabaleshwar is around 08C during the winter, and sometimes reaches 29C during the summer; however the humidity level is very low. The Monsoon rains hit here hardest and the rainy season spans between June and September, allowing the region eight months of relatively dry weather.
Demography
Old mahabaleshwar has total 126 families residing. The village has population of 785 of which 408 are males while 377 are females as per Population Census 2011. Average Sex Ratio of village is 1035 which is higher than Maharashtra state average of 929. Literacy rate of village was 96.89% compared to 82.34% of Maharashtra. In old mahabaleshwar Male literacy stands at 98.00% while female literacy rate was 92.62%.
Mahashivratri Festival
Old mahabaleshwar is not only famous as a hill station but it is also famous for the mahashivratri festival. An event of mahashivratri is held every year in summer.
Wildlife
Most of Kshetra Mahabaleshwar's forest is preserved and hence the wildlife diversity in this area is rich and mostly undisturbed. Some of the wild mammals found here are :
