Uruli Kanchan

Uruli Kanchan is a village 33 km east from the city of Pune in the district of Pune, Maharashtra, India. The village has been famous for the last sixty years for the Naturopathy Center (Nisarg Upchar Ashram) started by Mahatma Gandhi and his disciple Manibhai Desai. The village is also the location of the BAIF Development Research Foundation, an NGO started by Manibhai Desai in the 1960s. BAIF is well known throughout India for its program of breeding high yielding livestock and promoting sustainable rural development.HistoryUruli was first mentioned in a copper plate issued by Shilahara king Aparajita in 993 AD. The plate refers to Pune region as Punaka vishaya and included Theur, Uruli, Chorachi Alandi, Bhosari etc.Under British colonial rule, Great Indian Peninsula Railway started train services between Mumbai and Sholapur in December 1858 with Uruli Kanchan as one of the Stations on the route. The Train Station at that time served as a transit point for pilgrims traveling to Jejuri from Uruli using a dirt road. The train was also used for transporting Pomegranate to the markets of Poona and Bombay. The annual Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhi procession has been taking a halt for lunch in Urali en route to Pandharpur in the Hindu Shaka month of Jeshtha for centuries.