Vele, Satara


Vele is a village in the Western region of Maharashtra state in India. It is located in the Satara district of Maharashtra. Before it was a part of Bombay State and Princely state of Satara district|Satara]. It is located adjacent to Kanher Dam built on Venna River. There is a big temple of Bhairava at the village entrance. Also there are number of temples in closed vicinity of village. Surrounded by greenery and farms, agriculture is the main occupation in the village with more than 80% of the total area being used for agricultural activities. Though agriculture constitutes a mainstay of the economy of this village, besides a sizeable population working at various plum government positions does bolster the financial position.

History

The village was established on banks of Venna River by the Maratha Shinde clan who were hereditary Deshmukh and had received a hereditary Desmukhi Watan Inam of during the pre-Shivaji era. As per the current available documents Sidhoji Shinde was the founder of Shinde family of Vele. Descendants of Sidhoji continue to stay in Vele and Satara. Hereditary Administrative rights of Peteshwar devasthan located near to village on Kaas plateau road belonged to Shinde Deshmukh family.

Demographics

The official language is Marathi with its own dialect. Language varies in its tone and a few words. People from all castes which include Maratha , Hindu-teli, Mang, Boudhh, Chambar, Mali, Lohar, Shimpi, Kosthi etc., live here. Maratha comprise the majority of the population. Clan prominent in Vele is Shinde.

Geography and Climate

Vele belongs to Desh or Paschim Maharashtra region and to Pune Division. It is located 15 km from district headquarters Satara. Nearby villages are Kamthi, Vennanagar and Kanher.
The climate is tropical monsoons as it receives a heavy rainfall during the monsoon season with the summers being hot and winters being chilly. The average temperature during the winters can range from 9 deg C to 25 deg C.

Education, infrastructure and development

Vele has long tradition for education. It has Marathi High School which was established during British Raj, this was the school where many prominent persons from Vele took their early education. Presently, village has education facility of both Marathi and Semi-English schools.

Library

Villagers of Vele set up a Public library in the ancestral house of Shinde Family in village, with the thought of offering kids of village something which they had never experienced before. Although the initiative saw a mere participation initially, but the number tremendously rose to a regular visit of students in a year's time. Setting up a library helped in achieving many things like students of different backgrounds come together to read, study and interact under the same roof. Library covers a vast range of books; newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines. The students and also villagers are free to read as per their choice.

Dams and irrigation projects

The village has one dam named Kanher Dam. Almost all the villagers of Vele donated their fertile agricultural land which they had owned for generations, for construction of Kanher Dam around 40 years ago. River on which this dam is built is the Venna River. The height of the dam above lowest foundation is while the length is. The volume content is and gross storage capacity is.

Agricultural and cropping pattern

Black cotton soil is the predominant soil type found here as is the case with most of the districts on the Deccan Plateau.
Major crops are rice, Cotton, Wheat, Gram, Sugarcane, Groundnut for 5 to 6 months.
Major crops are Bajra, Kharif and Rabi, Jowar, Groundnut for 3 to 4 months.

Notable people

Vele is the birthplace of Indian film actor- Sayaji Shinde who has acted in Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam films.
From early child Sayaji Shinde faced the challenges of life. Electricity reached this village as late as 1981.

Transport

Road

Vele is located about 15 km from Satara, 122 km from Pune and around 270 km from Mumbai, the state capital. The nearest major city is Satara. Bus services by state-run MSRTC and private organizations connect Vele by jeeps from Satara.
Medha and Mahabaleshwar are the nearby towns having good connectivity.

Rail

, Jarandeshwar Railway Station are the railway stations reachable from Vele. However Pune Junction railway station is major railway station 135 km from here.

Nearby

Tourist places

Airports

Colleges

Districts