Pune Diary

KIRKEE WAR CEMETERY was created to receive Second World War graves from the western and central parts of India where their permanent maintenance could not be assured. The cemetery contains 1,668 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.

The KIRKEE MEMORIAL stands within the cemetery and commemorates more than 1,800 servicemen who died in India during the First World War, who are buried in civil and cantonment cemeteries in India and Pakistan where their graves can no longer be properly maintained. This total includes the names of 639 servicemen whose remains were brought from Bombay (Sewri) Cemetery for re-interment here in 1960.

On the same memorial are commemorated almost 200 East and West African servicemen who died in non-operational zones in India in the Second World War, and whose graves either cannot be located or are so situated that maintenance is not possible.

Nanjangud Temple

The main temple at Nanjangud is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, whose another name is Nanjundeshwara. Nanjundeshwara means the God who drank poison. Hindu mythology quotes an interesting legend in which the Gods and demons churned the ocean in search of the nectar of immortality. During this churning, there were lots of artefacts that emanated out of the ocean, including poison. To prevent the poison from spreading across the universe and destroying it, Shiva came to the rescue and drank the poison. His wife Parvati then held his throat tightly to prevent the poison from spreading to the rest of his body. Nanjanagud literally means the place where Nanjundeshwara resides.