Satara is a historical city with rich heritage. It was the capital of the erstwhile Maratha empire. There are beautiful temples and historical places in the city. Ajinkyatara being the major landmark of the city. Satara also played an important role in the independence movement of the country. Gandmala stands witness to this where 17 peoplelaid there lives in the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. Ajinkyatara Fort was built by Raja Bhoj. There are 17 doors to the fort with “Buruj”. In the north of the fort a beautiful temple of Goddess Mangalai Devi is located. The city is situated around the fort.
There are many ancient temples in the city like the Krishneshwar temple, Gare Ganpati, Abhayankar Vishnu mandir, Bhairoba temple in Karanja, Bhavani Mata Mandir, Shiva temple near Kanharwada and the famous Dholya Ganpati which is also the village deity.
Among newly built temples the Chidambaram temple is the most famous one. It is the replica of the famous temple of Lord Chidambaram situated in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. There are many lakes inthe city like the Mangarwar lake, Moti lake, Phutke lake, Sakhar lake, Hatti lake, Mandare lake to name a few. On the way to Sajjangarh abeautiful temple of Lord Ganapati is situated. Kurneshwar, Datta and Hanuman templea are also in this premises.
5km from the city Yawateshwar temple is located. Kass is another attraction of this place. It is famous for its beautiful climate. Kass lake provides water to satara city. Thosegarh and Chikhaldara are another famous tourist spots. Thosegarh is famous for itsbeautiful waterfalls. It has also evolved as a center for generating wind energy through wind mills.
14km from Satara Dhavadshi village is situated. Rani laxmibai belonged to this place. Peshwe’s guru Swami Brahmanand stayed in this place. He built the temple of Lord Rama and a lake which are examples ofbeautiful masterpiece. Mahuli and Degaon are another famous places in Satara. River Krishna and venna meet at Mahuli and Shetra Mahuli are located on the banks of these two rivers. Shetra Mahuli is the birth place Ramshastri Prabhune. He was a famous judge in the court of the Peshwas. Degaon pateshwar is an ancient place famous for its 1000 Shiv Lings.
Satara has emerged as a famous tourist spot with many hotels and lodges for the tourist. Maharashtra Tourist Development Corporation guest houses are also available at affordable at rates.
Satara has played an important role in the field of education specially in the rural areas. Rayat Shikshan is a very trust providing modern and technical education through its colleges and schools in the Satara distrist and the adjoining rural areas. Chatrapati Pratapsinha Maharaj started English medium school in the year 1836. This school was later taken over by the British. This school is renamed and today it is known by the name of its founder Shrimant Chatrapati Pratapsinha Maharaj. Bharatratna Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and Justice Gajendra Gadkar are the alumini of this school.
How To Reach :
By Road/Bus :
Satara is well connected to all nearby towns through buses, and frequent buses will be available to the towns and cities of Pune, Mumbai, Raigad, Khandala, Guhagar, Chiplun, Baramati, Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani. Both semi deluxe buses and deluxe buses will be available to Satara and important cities like Mumbai and Pune will even have air conditioned coaches that ply to Satara. Bus fares for the normal class of travel will range around Rs 150-200 from the nearby locations within the state.
By Plane/Air :
By Train/Rail :
Satara has a railway station that is fairly active, and many trains that run from the neighbouring state of Karnataka pass through this railway station. You can opt for trains from Bangalore and Mysore that pass through Satara and reach Dadar, Gandhidham, Ajmer and Jodhpur.