Kasba Ganpati Mandir

Pune's gram daivat - the presiding deity of the town - and the reason the city's Ganeshotsav procession, the Ganesha festival, starts where it does. Jijabai, Shivaji's mother, consecrated the Ganesh idol in 1639, soon after the family settled at the Lal Mahal nearby, and Shivaji is said to have come for blessings before campaigns. As Manacha Pahila Ganpati, first in honour, this Ganesha leads the immersion procession every year. The building keeps the intimate stone-and-timber wada manner that the Peshwas later refined. Steps from Shaniwar Wada; no ticket, shoes left at the door.

The first-honoured Ganesha of the city, consecrated by Shivaji's mother in 1639