Vadhu and Tulapur

Both Tulapur and Vadhu hold their own importance in the history of Maharashtra. Chhatrapati Sambhaji who was the son of Chhatrapati Shivaji was killed in Tulapur and his cenotaph was built in Vadhu. Both these places are not as popular as they should have been. Hence we felt it necessary to introduce both these places to the readers through this article. It’s an earnest attempt to bring these places to the notice of the tourists from all over the world.

Location
As you go by the Pune- Nagar Road, you find Tulapur Phata a bit ahead of Vaghloli. The place is around 25 km away from Pune and this propinquity to the city of Pune makes it possible for the visitors to plan a one day trip here. Vadhu too is not very far from Tulapur and both the places can be visited in a single day.

Tulapur:
Tulapur was previously known as Nagargaon. The place is famous for the beautiful Shiva Temple. Tulapur rests on the banks of rivers Bhima, Bhama and Indrayani. Mother Nature has bestowed all her bounties upon this place and hence the visitors come here with all their senses awake and get drenched in the matchless natural beauty of the place. Tulapur is the place where the rivers Bhima, Bhama and Indrayani and this meeting is called “sangam” in Marathi language. This is the reason why the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva here is called Sangameshwar Temple.
According to a few historical references, Murarji Jagdev who was an Adilshahi Vajir reconstructed the dilapidated temple of Sangameshwar. Later Murar Jagdev thought of donating gold to Lord Shiva as much as weighed an elephant. He literally weighed gold as much as the weight of the elephant and this weighing is called “Tula” in Sanskrit. “Pur” in Sanskrit is an equivalent for English “town”. This is how the place got the name “Tulapur”.
Tulapur has seen the end of one of the most valorous Maratha Kings Chhatrapati Sambhaji, Shivaji’s son as brave as a lion. The place has thus witnessed one of the most unfortunate treacheries in the history of Maharashtra that led to the downfall of the Maratha Empire. It was one of Sambhaji’s brothers-in–law called Ganoji Shirke who betrayed the Marathas and joined forces with the commander in chief of Mughal King Aurangzeb called Mukarrab Khan. Ganoji provided all the necessary information to Mukarrab Khan so that he could attack Sangameshwar where Sambhaji had taken a shelter. Sambhaji was caught while he was busy resolving some grave issues and was just about to leave Sagameshwar.
Sambhaji was not someone who would yield to the tortures of the Mughals. His is one of the cruelest deaths in the world history. He was asked to give up Hindu religion and get converted into Islam religion. Sambhaji refused to do so and instead started singing the hymns of Lord Shiva. His eyes along with those of his friend Kavi Kalash were burned off with a hot iron rod and their tongues were plucked. Their skin was peeled off and finally all their body parts were cut off one by one. Thus Sambhaji sacrificed his life for the sake of his religion.
His funeral rites were performed in Vadhu, a place not far away from Tulapur.

Vadhu:
The cenotaph of Sambhaji is the place worth visiting here in Vadhu. After Sambhaji’s brutal murder, some brave warriors from “Patil” family collected the body pieces of Sambhaji and sewed them together. Then they performed the last rituals to his dead body. A cenotaph was built there in the later period of time. The statue of Chhatrapati Sambhaji here is just superb. All in all, the place is full of solemnity.
In addition to these two places, a ‘ranstambh’ i.e. a war monument erected near the Bhima Koregaon toll plaza is an added attraction. This is the monument erected in 1822 in the memory of the Maratha soldiers who fell at the altar of war in the last British –Maratha battle. The names of the late soldiers are transcribed on the stone.
Both Tulapur and Vadhu are unnoticed as the tourist places though they are immensely important from the historical point of view. So plan your trip to Tulapur and Vadhu and experience the solemnity in the air here.