Best Places to visit in Wai in 2022 | A travel guide to Dakshin Kashi

Located on the banks of Krishna River in Maharashtra, Wai is a beautiful town of old temples, iconic wadas and some absolutely amazing landscapes. The town has also been a favourite for Bollywood and many iconic movies, including Swades, Mrityudand, Omkara and Dabangg, have been shot there.

Due to its location next to the river Krishna and its numerous ghats, the town is also often referred to as Dakshin Kashi or Dakshin Varanasi. Since I've been to both the places, I would be wary of making that comparison. Wai is an amazing place just by itself. However, if you are keen to learn about Varanasi, you can read more here here.

Travel Video on Things to do in Wai

I recently visited Was with my friends and absolutely loved the town. In fact, I would love to go back there and explore it a bit more - perhaps later this year during the monsoons. Here's a travel vlog about my trip there! Do watch it and let me know what you think.

So why exactly is Wai so famous?

Well, Wai has been a prominent town since the Peshwa era and it's location next to the Krishna River also made it into an important Hindu pilgrimage centre. Even though it's changing now, Wai had also retained many of the old-style Wadas (Marathi for homes) intact even as the rest of the state did away from them. Going back in the town really feels like going back in time. You can still see some really old and huge wadas, like the Nana Phadnavis Wada in Menawali. 

Travel Guide to Wai

Wai is also a gateway to the more popular towns of Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar, and many tourists on the way often stop by here for a few hours before proceeding ahead to the hills. I would actually strongly recommend staying at Wai for at least a night to really understand it better and explore it more.]

Things to do in Wai?

As I said earlier, there's much to do in and around Wai, and are my Five recommended things to do at Wai.

1. Ganpati Temple

This is the most iconic temple at Wai and also the most visited one. The idol of Lord Ganesha is huge and it's also often called as Dholya Ganpati. The temple was built Ganpatrao Bhikaji Raste and has a huge area around the temple which is also the place where people from Wai come and socialise. I really feel temples often played the role of bringing the people of town together at one place to meet and greet, apart from being a place of worship. This tradition lives on here.

The temple is located right next to Krishna River and that adds another layer of aura to the place. Unfortunately photography isn't allowed inside so couldn't take any pictures. The temple is worth visiting just for the Ganesha idol itself.

2. Menawali Ghat and Temples

A little outside Wai is the Menawali ghat, and this also happened to be my favourite part of region. It's a quaint and calm ghat, unless of course there's a festival, and is a perfect place to see the sun go down. This is exactly what I did as well. The ghat has two temples - one dedicated to Vishnu and the other to Shiva.

This place is perhaps my favourite part of Wai. Poonam and I went there as Amit was busy with work. I absolutely loved walking round there, flying the drone and making some nice shots. I would strongly recommend going there for sunset as the view is absolutely stunning then.

3. Nana Phadnavis Wada

If you like old architecture and history, this is a must-visit place. It's close to the Menawali ghat and can be visited by anyone after paying a small fee. Those who run the place are amazingly friendly too and we actually got an excellent complimentary tour of the wada as well. The Wada was built by Nana Phadnavis in 1780 and is one of the most beautiful Wadas that I've ever been to.

As I mentioned earlier, this Wada is a favourite for Bollywood films and you can easily see why. Back in the days, there was a direct connoting route from the Wada to the Menawali ghats, but that's not open now.

4. Laxmi Narsimha Temple near Dhom Dam

A little further ahead from Menawali, is the Dhom Dam and right next to the dam wall is the ancient Laxmi Narsimha Temple. I had no clue it would be such a huge temple (check out the vlog for drone shots) and felt rather blessed to be there that day.

I was completely floored by this beautiful old temple. Made with stones in the Nagara style, the temple takes you back in time when you visit there. There's a small river close by and the huge dam and that adds another level of beauty to the place. It's a bit far from Wai so not many visitors go there, but I would certainly highly recommend going there if you love old temples like I do.

5. Hikes near Wai

Wai is primarily a religious centre, but when there are hills close by, there'll be some hikes as well. The most famous of them all is Kamalgad. We had actually planned a trek there early in the morning but none of us got up on time and so had to skip it. The fort is also known as Kattalgad or death fort, though now it's not so hard or unsafe.

Bonus tip - visit Panchgani!

Panchgani is so close to Wai that it would be criminal to skip it when you are there. I absolutely prefer Panchgani over Mahabaleshwar as a hill station and so when we had the chance to go there for lunch, we did. Of course, we also ended up going on Table Land - arguably the most popular places in Panchgani. Our day was foggy, yet the view from up there was amazing. Table Land is also India's highest plateau.

My partners for this trip were Amit and Poonam. You can follow Amit's travel blog here.

How to reach Wai?

Wai is well connected by road from all the cities of Maharashtra. Since it's on way to the popular hill stations - Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar - the roads are excellent and coming here is really easy.

Where to stay in Wai?

We stayed at Pandit Wada and I would absolutely recommend the place. It's a 300 years old house and a part of it is now available to host guests. You can connect with them here to book your stay.

Places to Visit around Pune

If you are looking for places to explore around Pune, this collection might come handy. This includes all kind of locations - temples, forts, and more.