A walk down memory lane……
The area encompassing Prabhag 36 – Deccan Gymkhana, is today one of the central points of Pune city. However, not too long ago, it was considered quite out of the way!
Deccan refers to the area around the Gymkhana by the same name. Till the late 1980s it was a serene, slightly sleepy, neighborhood with stately old bungalows along verdant avenues with plenty of open spaces where children could be seen playing their own version of galli cricket. Like most such neighborhoods in India it was jolted out of its tranquility by the advent of liberalization. Once, considered the heart of the cultural district, along with old Pune, it now is a bustling locality with numerous institutional and residential buildings, cafes, offices, hospitals, entertainment areas, restaurants, shopping malls and shops.
Important roads like Karve Road, Jangli Maharaj Road and Fergusson College Road originate here, creating a network between many areas.
The Pune municipality was established in 1858 but it was not until 1920 that Erandwane, which is part of our Prabhag, was merged into this. Bhamburda (present day Shivajinagar) followed soon after. The Jungli Maharaj Road was constructed only in the late 1920s/early 1930s and was known for a long time as ’80 feet Road’. This road connected the newly acquired Erandwane and Bhamburda villages into Pune. The Erandwane Gaothan ( the original settlement) is located on the banks of the Mutha River, just off Karve Road and Mhatre Bridge (very near the new Persistent Systems Campus).
The development of Deccan Gymkhana mainly began in the latter part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. The growth of this area is linked to the establishment of the Deccan Gymkhana Club.
The Deccan Gymkhana club and society were established on the land owned by the Shirole family who agreed to lease it in 1906 because Lokmanya Tilak had taken the initiative. While leasing the land the family had set a condition that the name — Deccan Gymkhana — would never be changed. And the name was chosen by none other than Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak himself. The Deccan Gymkhana Housing Society was subsequently established around the Deccan Gymkhana in 1926, and earned the distinction of being the first co-operative housing society in Maharashtra. The residential colony around the club was planned to help develop the club. Around 180 plots were part of the colony which came up in 1920. People were reluctant to move out of the city to this locality and at first it was only the elite who constructed houses here.
With the area offering a post office, a sports club, a tennis court, a vegetable market and civic amenities, it soon became a much sought after residential locality.
- Old Tilak Tank
Stones for construction of the club were dug out from nearby and the excavation unearthed some natural water springs. The founders decided to make use of these natural springs and converted this into a swimming pool known as “Tilak Tank”. Today the tank houses the Olympic size pool of the Deccan Gymkhana club. The club was the first to organize Olympic trials in the country in 1918, when the colonial countries were allowed to represent the Olympic Games independently.
It was the great flood of 1961 when the Panshet dam burst that really led the growth of this locality. The widespread destruction of older structures by flood waters led to new town planning concepts being put in and several new structures came up. The outbreak of plague also led to more people moving out of the city and Deccan Gymkhana grew rapidly in the post flood era.
For Pune and its citizens, Deccan Gymkhana symbolizes numerous changes the city has witnessed, adopted and accepted graciously over the past 40 years
The Blue Plaque scheme of London which commemorates the link between notable figures of the past and the buildings, in which they lived and worked, has been replicated in Pune. Several of the blue plaques can be seen in the Deccan Gymkhana area including those for Cricket legend D B Deodhar, scientist D B Limaye, musician Deenanath Mangeshkar, litterateur Sahitya Samrat Na. Chi. Kelkar and P L Deshpande , vocalist Hirabai Badodekar and economist V M Dandekar, among others.
Other luminaries who have lived here are ICS KC Bakhle, (among the First batch of Indians to be recruited in the Administrative services), V.G. Kale, Dhananjayrao Gadgil, Vishnupant Damale, V Shantaram, Jaykar (first VC of Pune University), Contractor Ranade, Vasantrao Deshpande, S.G Barve and Rear Admiral B.N Lele.
Our locality can still boast of several celebrities including actors like Amol Palekar and Mohan Agashe, entrepreneurs like Anand Deshpande (of Persistent Systems) and danseuses Maneesha Sathe and Rohini Bhate.
Major landmarks in this area:
LAKDI POOL
(Also known as Sambhaji Bridge) was built in 1750s by Nanasaheb Peshwe at around the same time as the Parvati Temple and is the oldest part of this locality. It connects Deccan Gymkhana to the old city area. Originally built of wood (hence it’s name), it has been rebuilt 3-4 times since, the most recent transformation being done after the 1961 Panshet flood.
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THE DECCAN GYMKHANA CLUB
Deccan Gymkhana Club
is amongst the most popular sporting facilities inPune. It was established in 1906 with Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Vishweshvariyya taking the lead. Established in 1906 in Pune, Deccan Gymkhana is one of the oldest sports clubs in India. Spread over 15 acres of area, the club has eight sports departments for cricket, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, gymnasium, billiards and cards, tennis and basketball.
Several important national and international sports organizations, including the Maharashtra Cricket Association, the Olympic Committee among others were founded here . It is not surprising then that many of India’s well known sports people have a connection to this club. Ranging from Cricketer D.B Deodhar, Billiards veteran Wilson Jones, Swimmers Sanjay Karandikar and Shailesh Tamhankar , TT player Sujoy Ghorpode to Tennis players Shashi Menon, Nandan Bal, Sandeep Kirtane, Nitin Kirtane and Radhika Tulpule all have used this club to hone their talents.
Along with PYC, Deccan Gymkhana encouraged participation by women, a rarity in those days, providing swimming facilities in Tilak Tank and badminton in PYC.
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Ladies Branch..Durgabai Kale Hall for Badminton for Women (before 1970)
PYC GYMKHANA
In 1900 the Poona Young Cricketers Hindu Gymkhana was formed, the birth of what is popularly called PYC now. The pavilion was built in 1906 and the Gymkhana conducted various sports like cricket, chess and carrom to begin with. CK Naidu, D B Deodhar and Vijay Hazare are among the luminaries from this Club. The Ladies Wing of PYC was an excellent initiative, started by Indirabai Deodhar in 1934, that gave the women a common platform and space of their own. Apart from spots, the ladies also organised cultural events like plays in which the male roles were enacted by women.
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GOKHALE INSTITUTE
In 1905 the Servants of India society was formed by Indian Nationalist leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale. On the Fergusson Hill lies the spot where Gokhale took the vows of the Society – poverty, obedience, and service to nation. A column to commemorate this stands at the spot today, which is in the campus of the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. The bungalow where Gokhale lived still stands in the precincts of the Society. So does a massive banyan tree under which Gokhale and M.K. Gandhi used to muse over the political issues of the day.
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BHANDARKAR ORIENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, (BORI)
- Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
This was founded on July 6, 1917 in honor of the work done by Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, the foremost pioneer of scientific Orientology in India. It has one of the largest collections of rare books and manuscripts in India, collected over a period of 90 years. The collection covers several languages and scripts such as Sanskrit, Prakrit, Indian regional languages, Classical, Asean and European languages.
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PRABHAT STUDIO
- Prabhat Studios – 1935
Was originally established in 1928 in Kolhapur and was shifted to Pune in 1933 (at the location of the present day Film and Television Institute on Law College Road). At that time it was considered the most sophisticated cinema studio in all of Asia. In the 1930s Pune was the leading film production destinations in India.
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ILS LAW COLLEGE
The Indian Law Society established the Law College in 1924, which has since then become one of the premier institutes for legal studies in India.
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Other landmarks are the Deccan Gymkhana Post Office (1924), Abbasaheb Garware College, Kamala Nehru Park, St Crispin’s Church on Karve Rd, and the FTII.
Note: This information will be updated as we get more details and pictures as we receive them. In case you have interesting details please mail the same with your contact details to dgpspune@gmail.com
