PLACES

WAI

Wai (Wai T; 18° 05' N, 74° 00' E; RS Wathar 16 m. SE; p. 16,099) on the left bank of the Krshna, twenty-one miles north-west of Satara, is a holy town, the head-quarters of the Wai taluka. The town lies fifty-six miles south-east of Poona with which it is connected by a metalled road which branches off from the Poona-Bangalore Road at Surur seven miles east of Wai and forty-eight miles south of Poona. Wai is one of the most sacred places on the Krshna, and is thickly populated. At the west end of the town the river forms a pool partly by the aid of a stone weir built from the steps about fifty yards above a large temple of Ganapati. The face of the river for half a mile is lined with steps, and for an hour after dawn and before sunset people are incessantly engaged in their ablutions and clothe-washing. The river banks are low and overhung with grass and trees. The country round is beautifully wooded with mangoes, and the Pasarni and Pandavgad ranges form a noble back-ground to the smiling valley viewed either from north or south, while to the west the Sahyadri range rises blue in the distance, and south the Krshna winds on ever-widening and deepening, its banks clothed with fertile-soil and verdure. Wai has a big vegetable market.

Temples.

Beginning [Temple accounts are from the M. S. paper of the late Mr. E. H. Little C, S,] from above, the first group of buildings is on the north bank of the Krshna, and consists of a ghat or steps, a vada or mansion, and a temple. The ghat goes by the name of Gangapuri and is a flight of twelve steps. The first portion 200 feet long was built of cut-stone by Gangadhar Raste in 1789. To this one Bhau Joshi added seventy-six feet and Bajirav II. (1796-1817), eighty feet, making an unbroken length of 356 feet. At the back of the steps is a plain brick wall through which a door opens into the street with the Gangapuri vada now the sub-judge's court on the left and the temple of Umamaheshvar Panchayatan on the right. The temple on the right like the ghat was built by Gangadhar Raste in 1784. It consists of a vestibule and shrine and is about forty feet high. It has all the Muhammedan forms of architecture common at the period. In the four corners are separate shrines dedicated to Vishnu, Lakshmi, Ganapati, and Surya. Vishnu's shrine is on the left on entering and has a wooden hall or mandap, the back wall of which is covered with figures as are also the outer walls. The great cluster of river temples begins at some distance nearly opposite the travellers' bungalow. The first on a low ghat seventy-five feet long is a domed shrine containing a marble Nandi and the image of Dhakleshvar Mahadev. In a line with it, but near the bank on an upper ledge of the same ghat, is the temple of Gangarameshvar Mahadev built by Gangadhar Raste about 1780. It is built of basalt and consists of an open verandah with three scolloped arches and a shrine. The breadth in front is thirty-two feet and the length from front to back about twenty-six feet; while the height, including the dome of brick and stucco with blank panels, is not less than forty feet. In front is Nandi under a plain canopy. The next is a temple of Ganapati built by Ganpatrav Bhikaji Raste in 1762 at a cost of Rs. 1,60,000 near a ghat 163 feet long built by Ganpatrav's brother Anandrav Bhikaji. Besides the usual verandah and shrine in which is a huge black basalt image of Ganapati painted red, the temple has a covered court or mandap (60'X30'). The roof is flat and composed of square cut-stones cemented with mortar. The walls have the unusual thickness of four feet which gives considerable dignity to the small arches five on a side and three at the end with which they are pierced. Except the dome which is pyramidal or conical and of brick covered with plaster and fluted, the material used is gray basalt. The total height is over seventy feet.

Ascending the bank but hidden from view by the huge Ganapati temple is the Kashivishveshvar temple perhaps the best group of buildings in Wai. Surrounded by a wall, the temple stands in a quadrangular court 216' by 95'. It was built in 1757 by Anandrav Bhikaji Raste and consists of a shrine and a vestibule with a total length from front to back of forty-nine feet and a facade of about twenty-eight feet from side to side. A notable part of the building is a covered court called kund mandap at the east entrance with a lamp-pillar or dipmal on each side. The mandap is about forty feet square, and its flat roof is of square stone cemented with mortar and supported on sixteen lofty pillars in four rows of four each with neat semicircular moulded arches between them. The pillars about 1' 6" in diameter and about 15' high, make three parallel arches whether looked at from north to south or from east to west. In the style, Muhammedan forms largely prevail. The spire is twelve-sided, with, like the Lakshmi tower, three tiers with rows of figures and a Muhammedan dome; the temple mandap is domed and there are four pinnacles at the corners. The large bull or Nandi in front, under a plain canopy with plain scolloped arches, is carved out of a magnificent piece of black basalt. The bells and flowers with which it is adorned are very beautifully cut. The whole temple structure is of basalt and the pillars originally black are polished to the brightness of a mirror. There is a little ornamentation at the spring of the arches and on the facade but none elsewhere. But the exquisite fineness of the stone work and material and its general lightness make the building the best sight in Wai. The next, away from the river on the east side of the market, is a temple of Mahalakshmi built in 1778 by Anandrav Bhikaji Raste at a cost of Rs. 2,75,630. The temple, about seventy feet high, consists of a vestibule and a shrine, which together measure about seventy feet from back to front. The facade is about forty feet from side to side. The vestibule is open in front with two pillars and pilasters in antis. The corners at the top are rounded by scolloped work. In the floor is a trap door and the roof is formed of large slabs stretching from lintel to lintel. The mandap has two doors on each side, five pillars in depth with two in width, and on a lower step an additional range over a stylobate approached by three steps. The whole looks heavy and dark. The beauty of the Lakshmi temple is its gracefully tapering spire which has a square base with a handsome frieze above which are five dodecagonal tiers surmounted by an urn or kalas. The whole is about fifty-six feet high.

Off the west side of the street leading to the market, in a garden (200' X 100') enclosed by a high stone wall, is the temple of Vishnu built in 1774 by Anandrav Bhikaji Raste at a cost of Rs. 2,16,250. A covered court or mandap (48' X18') of five round arches, supported by square-based massive pillars five feet thick with a cut-stone roof without intermediate support, leads to a raised verandah with three small Muhammedan saracenic arches [The pillars supporting the arches are of plated work in beautifully polished black stone.] behind which is the shrine. The walls are very thick, with five scolloped arches on each side and three in front. The roof facade is worked in arabesques. The spire is roofed, and consists of three octagonal tiers. The whole about fifteen feet high is of beautifully cut gray stone and excepting the spire, very handsome. The mandap or hall is the best in Wai. There are ten other temples on the river bank of no special note, eight of them dedicated to Mahadev, one to Dattatraya, and one to Vithoba. The eight Mahadev temples built by various private individuals vary in date from 1740 to 1854. [The temple dates are 1740, 1744, 1760, 1760, 1760, 1808, and 1854. The date of one is not known.] The temple of Dattatraya was built in 1861 by a mendicant named Vyankoba Bava on a ghat or landing made in 1785 by Anandrav Raste. The temple of Vithoba was built by Tai Saheb the great-grandmother of the Bhor chief.

Besides the temples the chief objects of interest in and about the town are Raste's vadas or mansions, an old Peshva bridge, and Buddhist caves in Lohare village about four miles to the north. Of Raste's mansions there are several in and about the town. The chief of them is the Moti Bagh in a large garden with water tower and fountains about a mile and a half west of Wai. The mansion was built about 1789 by Anandrav Bhikaji Raste at a cost of Rs. 1,02,000. The interior walls are covered with paintings whose colour is fast fading away.

Old Bridge.

The Peshva bridge is to the south of the town about a hundred yards below the new Krshna bridge. It is said to have been built in the time of the Peshva government, and the inhabitants of Wai know from hearsay that wayfarers used to cross the river on planks fixed between the piers. There are eight piers remaining but the original number would seem to have been ten. The piers are irregular in size and shape and situated at irregular intervals. They stand on the rock of the river and are mostly nine feet high. They are formed by a wall of rough masonry and excellent mortar built in the shape of an oval. This was filled in with stones and plastered over with cement. The piers vary in girth from fifty-six to sixty-nine feet and the short diameters average thirteen feet. The intervals vary from fourteen to nineteen feet. So far as known the gridge was merely built to join Wai with the opposite river bank, and it did not form part of any particular line of communications. [Mr. H. R. Cooke, C. S]

Caves.

Four[ Fergusson and Burgess' Cave Temples of India, 212-213. The caves were first described by the late Sir Bartle Frere about 1850 when Commissioner of Satara, Journal Bomb. Branch Roy. As. Soc. HI. Part II. 55.] miles north of Wai, in the village of Lohare and near Sultanpur, is a group of eight excavations cut in soft trap rock, running from south-east to north-west and facing south-west. The first from the south-east is a plain dwelling cave or vihara about 27' by 21' with three cells and a pond near it. The second and chief cave has a hall 31' by 29' 6" and 8' 6" high with a bench along the left side and along parts of the front and back; four cells on the right side with bench-beds and small windows; while in the back are two more similar cells with a daghoba shrine between them. The shrine 16' square had originally a door and two windows to admit light. The capital of the daghoba or relic-shrine has been destroyed to convert it into a huge ling 6' 4" high and 8' in diameter called Palkeshvar or Palkoba. To the left of this chief cave is a much ruined excavation. Two hundred yards north-west of this is another dwelling cave or vihara of which the hall is about the same size as the hall of the chief cave and has a bench round the sides and back and four cells in the back and one on the left side, also an entrance made in the right wall running up to what may have been intended for a chamber over the roof of the cave but never finished. The roof is supported by six octagonal pillars in two rows from front to back with a stone joist running through the heads of each row, but only fragments of them are left. On the right hand wall near the back are the remains of some human figures, apparently two standing females and two seated males, all now headless and otherwise mutilated. The other caves are smaller and not of much interest.

History.

Its position on the Krshna in a beautiful valley and the Buddhist caves in its neighbourhood, [Dr. Burgess' Antiquarian Lists, 58-59.] show Wai to have been a holy town and an old Buddhist settlement. Wai is locally believed to be Viratnagari [Hence the name Vairatgad given to the fort in the neighbourhood] the scene of the thirteenth year of exile of the Pandavas [Lady Falkland's Chow Chow, 191-192.] Nothing further is known of Wai until Musalman times. In 1429 Malik-ut-Tujjar, the Bahamani governor of Daulatabad, after subduing the Ramoshis and other banditti of Khatav and the Mahadev hills, marched to Wai. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 50.] Between 1453 and 1480 Wai is mentioned as a military post of the Bahamanis from where troops were ordered in expedition. [Briggs' Ferishta, II 483.] About 1648 Wai was the head-quarters of Bijapur mokasadar or manager. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 109.] Afzal Khan, the famous General of Bijapur was for some time the subhedar of Wai. When Shivaji declared independence for the Maratha territory, he took possession of Wai, and Wai was the scene of the last halt of Afzalkhan, before he was killed in his encounter with Shivaji at Pratapgad in 1659, and his expedition. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 131.] From this time Wai passed to the Marathas. In 1687 it was attacked by the Bijapur general Sharjakhan who suffered here a defeat at the hands of the able Maratha general Hambirrav Mohite who however was killed on the occasion. This victory enabled the Marathas to occupy much of the open country they had previously lost to the Moghals. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 267.] The latter got possession of Wai again in 1690 in the reign of Rajaram (1689-1700), but it was regained for the Marathas in the same reign by Santaji Ghorpade the oldest representative of the Kapshi Ghorpade family. Ramchandrapant, one of the chief men of the time, and afterwards made minister or amatya, proposed a stratagem whereby Santaji managed to completely surprise the faujdar of Wai, took him prisoner with all his troops, and established a Maratha post or thana in the town. On its capture the Wai district was given in charge of Shankraji Narayan a clerk of Ramchandrapant who retook from the Moghals the important fortress of Rajgad in the then Bhor State. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 286.] Wai then fell into the hands of the Peshvas, but in 1753 was occupied by Rajaram's widow Tarabai with the aid of 5,000 Ramoshis and Marathas. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. I, 463.] About 1774 Ram Shastri, the spiritual and legal adviser at the Poona court, retired from the government in disgust to a sequestered place near Wai on hearing that Raghunathrav finally connived at the murder of his nephew Narayanrav Peshva. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. II, 6.] About 1790 the Raste family of Wai first began to rise to influence at the Peshva's court at Poona where they sided with the ministerial party against the encroachments of Mahadji Shinde. [Grant Duff's Marathas, Vol. II, 226.] In October 1791 Major Price, describes Wai as a town of great importance, the property of the elder brother of the Raste family who had built several neat stuccoed temples. The town was locally believed to be the scene of the exploits of the Pandav brothers, one of whom slew in battle the giant Kichak and dragged the body to the summit of the eminence hard, by now named Pandavgad and the toe of the giant was so large that, in tearing it along, it ploughed up the very deep ravine which terminates near the entrance of the town from the eastward. The large tumulus on the hill north-east of Wai, with a temple on its top, was said to be formed of the body of the monster and three of his companions burnt to ashes by the conqueror. [Memoirs, 275-276.] In 1796 when Nana Phadnis found Bajirav Peshva siding with Shinde to compass his ruin he retired to Wai. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. II, 259.] The next year Haripant Phadke, the Peshva general was sent to bring Nana back to Poona. But as he advanced with 4,000 horses Nana took alarm and fled to the Konkan.[ Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. II, 261.] In 1798 Parashuram Bhau Patvardhan of Tasganv was confined at Wai, but soon released on quelling some disturbances in the neighbour-hood. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. II, 278.] In 1827 Captain Clunes notices Wai as a town with a large population, formerly belonging to the Raste and still their residence. About 1850 Lady Falkland (1848-1854) writes of Wai, 'I know nowhere a more lovely spot than Wai, and although I often visited it during my stay in India, I saw new beauties every time. Here, there is grand scenery, as well as pleasing quiet spots and charming bits. The view from the travellers' bungalow is perfectly beautiful. Behind the city rise hills of all the shapes which are peculiar to the mountains in the Deccan. There are round, peaked, flat-topped hills; some covered with rocks, looking from a distance like forts and castles'. [Chow Chow, I, 188; Murray's Bombay Handbook, 194-195.]

Population.

The population of the town according to 1951 Census was 16,099. Of this the agricultural classes numbered 4,786 and the non-agricultural classes 11,313. Of the latter, 2,497 persons derived their principal means of livelihood from production other than cultivation; 2,414 persons from commerce; 579 persons from transport; and 5,823 persons from other services and miscellaneous sources.

Municipality. Constitution.

Wai is a municipal town with an area of 1.25 square miles; the municipality was established in 1855. It is now governed by the Bombay District Municipal Act, 1901. Fifteen members make up its municipal council, in which one seat is reserved for women and one for the scheduled castes. Besides the managing committee, there are committees for sanitation, education and health.

Income and Expenditure.

The income of the municipality for the year 1957-58, excluding extraordinary and debt heads amounted to Rs. 1,78,562; municipal rates and taxes being Rs. 1,26,933; revenue derived from municipal property and powers apart from taxes Rs. 19,329, grants and contributions Rs. 29,067 and miscellaneous Rs. 3,233. The expenditure incurred for the same year came to Rs. 1,59,283; general administration and collection charges being Rs. 46,276; public safety Rs. 7,287; public health and covenience Rs. 85,311; public instruction Rs. 13,937; and miscellaneous Rs. 6,472.

Water Supply.

Well water and river Krshna form the main sources of water supply for the people. There are two public wells and nearly 700 private wells. Water from the river is used for road-watering. A water supply scheme was prepared in 1954-55 at an estimated cost of over Rs. 6 lakhs.

Drainage System.

There is no underground drainage in the town. At present there are kaccha drains in the town. Sullage water is allowed to collect in cesspools and is periodically cleared by the municipality.

Roads.

There are three miles of asphalted roads, two miles four furlongs of metalled roads and eight miles of unmetalled roads in Wai.

Market.

The municipality has constructed one vegetable market at a cost of Rs. 32,000. The market consists of 57 stalls. The municipality has provided shops in the grain bazar, built at a cost of Rs. 36,000. There is also a mutton market with ten stalls.

There is a bridge on the Krshna which passes through Wai.

Education.

The District School Board manages primary education. The municipality pays an annual contribution of Rs. 1,400 based on the percentage of annual letting value to the District School Board. There are three High Schools viz., The Dravid High School, The Kanya Shala and the Maharshi Shinde High School. The municipality gives a contribution of Rs. 100 each to the last two. The Mahila Mandir of Wai runs a Montessori School which gets a grant of Rs. 400 from the municipality. There is one Government Training College for men, and one private library called Tilak Granth Sangrahalaya, to which an amount of Rs. 125 is paid by the municipality as contribution every year.

Medical Facilities.

The municipality runs one dispensary situated in Madhali Wai. The District Local Board gives grant-in-aid to this dispensary. One veterinary dispensary is run by the District Local Board. A contribution of Rs. 1,200 is paid to it by the municipality. In case of epidemics prompt measures are carried out by the municipality. The municipality runs a family planning centre towards which the State Government pays an annual grant. The scheme for distribution of milk to the under-nourished children was started in October 1958 with the help of the local social workers. The municipality has started a scheme for distributing medicines free of cost to poor patients.

Other Amenities.

Two hand pumps are kept ready in case of fire emergency. The municipality maintains two parks in the town and has a playground for children.

Cremation and burial places are managed by private bodies.

Prajnya Pathashala

Wai has become a notable centre of culture on account of the Prajnya Pathashala established by the late Svami Kevalananda. The Kevalananda Smarak Mandir was recently opened there by the President of India. The Pathashala is engaged in preparing the Dharma Kosha and is publishing the Meemansa Kosha prepared by the Svami, runs a press known as Prajnya Mudranalaya, publishes a Marathi monthly periodical known as Navabharata, and conducts the Ekalavya Vasatigrha, a hostel where students of all castes and creeds are housed. Among the other activities of the Pathashala are a spinning class and a hand paper making centre.

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