Thread by @History_Mystery

Shaniwarwada is a historical fortification in  Pune, Maharashtra. Built in 1732, it was seat of the Peshwas of  Maratha Empire until 1818, when the Peshwas lost control to the British East India Company after the Third Anglo-Maratha War.

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📷An equestrian statue of Bajirao I in the Shaniwarwada complex. Bajirao I, the second Peshwa of the Maratha Empire, was the first resident of the fort as a Peshwa.
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#ShaniwarWada has 5 gates:

📷Dilli Darwaza is the main gate of the complex, and faces north towards Delhi. The strongly built Dilli Darwaza gatehouse has massive doors, large enough to admit elephants outfitted seating canopies.

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📷1:Mastani Darwaja (Mastani's Gate), facing north.

This gate was used by Bajirao I's wife Mastani while travelling out of palace's perimeter wall.

📷2:Khidki Darwaja facing east is named for armoured window it contains.

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Jambhul Darwaja or Narayan Darwaja(Narayan's Gate), facing south. This gate was used by concubines to enter & leave fort. It obtained its 2nd name after Narayanrao Peshwa's corpse was removed from the fort for cremation through this gate.

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Ganesh Darwaja (Ganesh Gate), facing south-east.

Named for the Ganesh Rang Mahal, which used to stand near this door. It could be used by ladies at the fort to visit the nearby Kasba Ganapati temple.

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📷1: A hall in the first floor above dilli darwaja (Delhi Gate).

It is said that the #ShaniwarWada complex was seven storeys high. On the top floor was the residence of the Peshwa which was called Meghadambari.

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Complex had an impressive lotus-shaped fountain: the Hazari Karanje (Fountain of a thousand jets). It was constructed for pleasure of infant Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao. It was designed as a 16 petal lotus; each petal had 16 jets with an eighty-foot arch.

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