Panchgani - General Information

General Information

Panchgani attracts many tourists throughout the year. A well-known Ganesh Temple is located close by in Wai.

Panchgani's famous 'table land' has been the location for many Indian Movies, recently the location for the acclaimed movie "Taare Zameen Par" and "Agent Vinod"

One Dr. Rustomji Bomanji Billimoria set up a tuberculosis sanatorium in Panchgani in the 1940s. (The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan Award in 1961.) Panchgani has grown in popularity as a convalescence center.

In recent times, Panchgani has been facing ecological problems because of poorly controlled commercial activities, excessive traffic, and temperature inversion (because of humidity) from the new dams which have been built in the vicinity for water storage.

Panchgani was originally settled by retired Britishers, but since it was pleasant throughout the year, others also settled there. a number of attempts to start schools were made in the 19th century. In the 1890s The Kimmins School was started for European boys and girls. In 1902, the boys section separated to become The European Boys High School, now known as Saint Peter's high school, And Kimmins became an exclusively girls school. Also in the 1890s, one or two years after Kimmins was started, the Roman Catholic Order of nuns known as Daughters of The Cross started The St. Joseph's Convent Girls High School. All three boarding schools were modelled on the English Public Schools of that time, and were affiliated to Cambridge University. The Board exams would be held in December, the question papers being sent from England by sea. The answer papers sent back by sea to England, and the results declared some time in June.

Shortly afterward, other communities started their own schools. These prepared students for the Matriculation examination of the Bombay Presidency. The Parsi School, the first of these schools, later became the Billimoria School. The Muslim School became the Union High School, and is now known as Anjuman School. Both these schools were modelled on the English Public Schools. In between was started the Hindu High School, now known as the Sanjeevan Vidhyalaya. This was modelled on Rabindranath Tagore's Santiniketan. A retired teacher from the Parsi High School, Mr. S. M. Batha started his own Batha School, which is still running well. In the 1950s the newly settled Bahai community started their own little Bahai School, which was renamed the New Era School. It remained insignificant among the other schools till about thirty years, when it began expanding. Now, New Era School is probably the biggest school in Panchgani.

The high standards maintained by these schools encouraged others to set up schools as commercial ventures. As a result the number of schools in Panchgani is almost forty. Some are very good. Some not so good. but all appear to be thriving.

The fresh air and invigorating climate of Panchgani made it a good place for convalescence, especially for those suffering from tuberculosis. Thus Panchgani became famous as a health resort. A well known TB specialist from Bombay, Dr. Rustom Billimoria set up the Bel Air Sanatorium, also known as Dalkieth as a centre for the treatment of Tuberculosis, with the help of his son, Dr. Bomy Billimoria, an eminent surgeon. Till the advent of antibiotics, Dalkieth was the premier place for the treatment of tuberculosis in the whole of the Bombay Presidency.

Till the 1980s, Panchgani was almost entirely an educational centre and a health resort, with only the overflow of tourists from Mahabaleshwar coming. Now the whole picture has changed, and Panchgani is booming for better or for worse. Along with the prosperity for its people has come ecological degradation.