There are many cultural villages around Pune. The concept is simple. In a single place of about 2-3 acres, a village type atmosphere is created and a large number of activities are made available for kids and elders. The activities range from Magic shows, folk dance, Kath putali show, Camel rides, Tatto, Mahendi to even "tel malish". There is unlimited food.
Overall, it makes a nice evening with the family and friends.
There are 4 such popular places in all the four directions of Pune. Sanskruti after Hadapsar, Chowki Dhani on Nagar Road, Abhiruchi on Sinhgadh road and Lekha Farms on Dehu Road bypass. Here is a brief review of our experiences at these places.
1. Sanskruti:
This was our first experiece of such a village and we went with a friend's family.
This is located on the Pune-Solapur Road, ahead of Hadapsar.
As we entered the gate, a tall man greeted us. The kids enjoyed this tall guy a lot. There were refreshments like Pani Puri and Rasana juice. Soon after everyone got involved in various activities ranging from Magic Show, Pottery, Tattoo, Puppet Show, Folk Dance etc. The activities were quite fun, specially for the first timers like us. The puppet shows are pretty good at all the places. The Magic Show is a standard one everywhere. So, if you have seen one, it is as good as see all others.
As the time passed on, and most of the activities were done, we headed for lunch. The lunch was typical Gujarati fare when we went and the food was quite good. The desert was ice cream and gulab jamuns.
The charge was reasonable when we went, but as per its website now the charge is about Rs. 350 per head.
Overall it was a pleasant experience and we would definitely like to have another visit when we get a chance.
2. Lekha Farms
This one is similar to Sanskruti. The theme is again Rajasthan. The difference is that it usually has less crowd compared to other places, and hence we enjoyed it more than the rest.
The food and the activities are similar to the once described in Sanskruti. An additional attraction is a small swimming pool. It was in decent condition, but nobody was using it. The food was excellent, better than the rest.
The entry charge is reasonable, but its best to call first and check the latest entry charges.
3. Chowki Dhani
This is the most popular of all the cultural villages in Pune. And it can easily be felt once we reach there. It is full of people and we happened to visit during Diwali time, so there was a very heavy rush.
There are a large number of activities, apart from the standard ones we had seen so far. The additional activities are Camel and Bullock cart rides, Massage and even Tel Malish.
This one has more commercial feel as a lot of activities are packed in a relatively smaller area. If you happen to visit during rush time then the fun as not as much. So, to get the maximum fun, try to visit when there is likely to be less crowd.
The charge was on a higher side and is still is.
4. Abhiruchi
This place is based on Maharashtrian theme. The acitivities are lesser compared to other places and since a lot of construction has come up in surrounding areas, the feel of a village is lost here. An additional attraction is a poorly maintained mini-rail. They would start it only if there were minimum 10 people. It also has swimming pool, but was unusable due to poor maintenance.
I will not recommend to anyone to visit this one.
Based on our experience, we found Sanskruti to be the best among all.
