Tourism in Shriwardhan
Shriwardhan is the town of beaches and temples. The temple is located in Shriwardhan known as Shri Laxminarayan Temple. It is the main temple of Peshwas. The idol in the temple is quite old and it is said to be the specimen of Hoysala architecture style. The other temples Shriwardhan are of Kusumdevi, Somjai, Bhairavnath and Jivaneshwar.
There also exists a town called Harihareshwar nearby which has an ancient Shiva temple. People from far off places come and visit this place of religious importance. Shrivardhan has many beaches.
These beaches are of tourist importance. These beaches are the weekend destinations of Maharashtra. These beaches of Shrivardhan are Diveagar Beach and Kondivali beach. People from across Maharashtra come to Shrivardhan Beach and the nearby beaches all round the year.
Shrivardhan is notable as it serves as the birthplace of Balaji Visvanath, the first Peshwa (1713-1720), who was the Deshmukh of the town. In 1713, Shriwardhan was one of the sixteen fortified places in the Konkan ceded by Balaji Visvanath Peshwa to Kanhoji Angre of Kolaba. Balaji was the first Peshwa of Maratha Empire appointed by Chattrapati Shahu, grandson of Chhatrapati Shivaji, the Maratha Emperor in Western India.
History of Shrivardhan
The place nearby Shriwardhan is very old place of historical importance. The name of this pace is mentioned in Maharabharata. Shriwardhan was visited by Arjuna, one of the brothers of Pandava during his pilgrimage. Shriwardhan is well known place for traders of medieval times. In sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Shriwardhan was under the rule of Ahmadnagar Kingdom and afterwards, this place became the port. From that time, Shriwardhan acts as a sea port of Mughals and the British East India Company.
It appears in the accounts of leading European travellers as Ziffardan. In 1538, Dom Joao de Castro described Shrivardhan with little water in the pier at low tide but inside large and roomy. Though, Shriwardhan was the capital of Peshwas which is now known as Pune, the actual Peshwa started here in 1713.
Balaji Vishwanath, the First Peshwa took the control of Peshwai which was continued till 1818. The Peshwas administered the Maratha kingdom for more than 100 years.
