Vetal Tekdi

The freshness of a early morning walk during the winters is unparalleled. With mist and fog painting the early mornings, I decided to go for a relatively easy trek-cum-walk on the Vetal tekdi. This is essentially a small hill well enclosed within the city limits. It sepearted the areas of Kothrud, SB road,Chaturshrungi and Aundh.. It has two spurs, Fergusson College Hill and Chatturshrungi Hill. It takes its name from the Vetal baba temple which is in the vicinity of the hill.

Looking by the number of foot falls, one can easily conclude that this is one of the favorite destinations for trekking. The level of difficulty is so meager that it cannot be officially called as trekking and I would prefer calling it as a brisk walking. That probably explains as to why there are people of all age groups enjoying this piece of beautiful nature.

Another prominent identification of this place is through ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India). It deals in  Research and Development in automotive engineering for industry, product design and development, evaluation of automotive equipment and ancillaries, standardization, technical information services, execution of advanced courses on the application of modern technology and conduct of specific tests.

There are numerous trails which will help you to get to the top. I took the ARAI side of the hill. This has ample parking space for the cars and is easily accessible by road. Attaching the Google map which I followed from my home in Kharadi.

There are some places which you can see while you explore the place. There is one watch tower on top of the hill, which gives a magnificent view of the Pune city. This place is maintained by the Indian Forest Department and its trail starts as soon as you reach the Hanuman temple.

The car parking lot. The trails just start at the end of the this and they lead to the hanuman temple.

Hanuman Temple

Another must watch on this hill is the abandoned stone quarry. This place is no longer in use and has small pools of water within it. Because of this, vetal tekdi has good population of birds. Call of peacocks is common to hear though a sight of them is rare.

View of Pune city as seen from one one end of the hill.

This place is pretty dense and has a good variety of trees. Over all a nice place to have a dose of oxygen and enjoy the morning sum rise.