A regional administrative center during the British Raj, Pune, India, is known largely as the former home of Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh, the charismatic guru whose controversial spiritual ranch in the northwestern U.S. eventually folded when Rajneesh was deported from the U.S. for tax evasion. Rajneesh died in the early 1990s, but his spirit lives on: Osho Commune, a huge center for meditation and spiritual search in the heart of Pune, continues to attract Westerners by the thousands.
Pune, which is 100 mi/160 km southeast of Mumbai, also has developed as an IT center from the presence of many multinational businesses.
An expressway with several tunnels passes through the Western Ghats between Pune and Mumbai and has reduced the traveling time to less than three hours. Remains of forts built by Maratha rulers and the traditional local culture are worth observing there.
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