The Shriram Wada

The Shriram Wada, a sprawling structure in the heart of Pune city, was bought by Shriram Bhikaji Jatar (SBJ) around 1890 on his retirement. It was bought from his own earnings. He did not receive any property from his father (Bhikaji). Shriram Jatar left this property to his sons and in the year 1927 approximately, Bapurao bought it from his brothers (a value of ₹20,000/- was placed on the Wada) after selling a property in Nagpur (documentation available with me.) After Bapurao’s death (1951), the Shriram Wada was sold.

It is a huge Wada with 3 floors and numerous rooms. It has entrances on two sides, as it straddles two lanes in Narayan Peth. There is a water well at the back. There used to be a cowshed with 3 or 4 buffaloes. The main entrance used to be from the north, but now it has been changed to the south. It used to be number 340, Narayan Peth, but now the number has changed to 387/388.

Lokmanya Tilak was a tenant here and the Wada has become known for this now.

Here are the photographs of the Wada. The front entrance has a board of the “Maharashtra Rashtrabhasha Sabha” which operates from this building. Unfortunately, this board hides the marble name-plate of our ancestor, Shriram.

Exterior of the wada

The photo below shows the marble engraving of Shriram’s name. We asked the authorities to remove the board so we could take the photo.

A board directing you to the room where Lokmanya Tilak stayed

Information and photographs provided by Sudhir Jatar.