There are these ramparts left over from the 16th century Peshva Kingdom in the middle of Pune, India. Inside these four walls are beautiful gardens. Now it is a major tourist attraction. But when I was growing up, this is where they held big rallies and dignitaries gave speeches. In the evenings there were many roadside snack stands around the big walls. We would go for a walk and have a snack there. Over the years, I have done at least a half a dozen paintings of the majestic gate and in and around this Shaniwar Wada.

Now they have a light show in the evenings with the narration of its history. One interesting fact that always comes up in the history part of it, is that, inside these walls, where the beautiful gardens are today, there used to be a 7 story tall building which was the residence of the Peshavas. There are many other stories associated with this building. One story goes that, this whole kingdom basically went bankrupt because of their audacious dinner parties. Another one, about the Peshwa, who committed suicide by jumping into the water fountain and now his haunted spirit, guards the place. However, I have never come across any pictures or drawings of the 7story building. Therefore, I decided to reconstruct that building according to my imagination in a painting. I have chosen the surroundings to be from that era also. They do show the prominent Pune land marks such as, the SinhGad (fort on the mountaintop), Onkareshwar Temple (which used to be the crematorium temple next to the river), Parvati Temple (Peshwa’s family temple on the hill close by). This painting is my adventure into Peshawa kingdom.