India · State of Mahārāshtra · Pune
Dhankawadi, Pune — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Dhankawadi holds the southern edge of Pune along old Route 4, a borough that pilgrims reach for Sant Sadguru Shri Shankar Maharaj.
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Where to stay in Dhankawadi
How the choice of base plays out on the ground.
The names that carry Dhankawadi are Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, Shivsrushti and a shrine, not a hotel row. Most travellers sleep in Pune proper and drive the six and a half kilometres south along old Route 4 for a morning at the zoo, then take in the Blades of Glory Cricket Museum before turning back. Shankar Maharaj's pilgrims keep another clock.
Coming for the shrine itself means an early start, and it suits you if that hour on its ground matters more than the range of rooms you could pick from in central Pune.
Few places to stay in Dhankawadi — most visitors book in Pune nearby.
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The old Route 4 frontage
Pilgrim traffic for Sant Sadguru Shri Shankar Maharaj arrives along old Route 4, and the shrine ground sits by that frontage rather than back in the lanes behind it. Rooms are few around here — worth securing early.Find hotels in The old Route 4 frontagefamilies pairing the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park with the cricket museum in one dayRajiv Gandhi Zoological Park side
The zoo, Shivsrushti and the Blades of Glory Cricket Museum stand close enough together that one southern base covers all three without re-entering the Pune traffic. Rooms are few around here — worth securing early.Find hotels in Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park sideHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
About Dhankawadi
What are the main landmarks in Dhankawadi?
Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park is the largest of the three names attached to the borough, and the Blades of Glory Cricket Museum and Shivsrushti are listed beside it, which puts a zoo and a museum of the game inside one strip of southern Pune. Sant Sadguru Shri Shankar Maharaj outranks them. The devotional traffic that follows his name gave Dhankawadi its standing as a pilgrimage centre, and it shapes the borough's reputation more than any ticketed gate does.
What is the history of Dhankawadi?
Dhankawadi began outside Pune rather than within it, an outlying borough on the southern approach that the city later grew to meet. What changed its standing was not a boundary order but a following: the influence of Sant Sadguru Shri Shankar Maharaj turned the borough into a pilgrimage centre, and that draw outweighs the older description of a settlement Pune had not yet reached. Old Route 4 carried the pilgrims in.
Where is Dhankawadi?
Dhankawadi lies on the southern edge of Pune, some six and a half kilometres out along old Route 4, just north of where the bypass leaves it.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Dhankawadi?
The old Route 4 frontage: pilgrims who want the Shankar Maharaj shrine within walking reach at first light. Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park side: families pairing the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park with the cricket museum in one day. Pune city centre: travellers who want a choice of rooms and will drive out to the zoo.
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Updated October 2026