BHIDE WADA भिडेवाडा (भिडेवाडा बचाव मोहिम)संस्थापक -प्रशांत फुले - Pune

Bhide Wada is not just a part of history, it helped create history! It assumes much significance as it served as the location of the first school for girls in the whole country. Way back in 1848, Savitribai Phule and her husband Jyotirao Phule took the revolutionary step of setting up a school for educating girls in this wada. Despite severe opposition from various sides, they managed to continue with their efforts to educate women. The property may not be in the best of shape today, but a visit is still worth your time. Location: MH SH 114, Tulshibaug, Budhwar Peth, Pune Timings: NA Entry Fee: No entry fee

The place is counting it's last days. It's a thing of shame to us. The first girl's school was started here by Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule. Today the condition of this wada is in very poor state. Pune is called as hometown of education also the pune university was a former name, then renamed later into Savitribai Phule University. Such a big name in field of education and we can't even keep it's ancient history intact. Government should look after into this matter seriously as it's the pride of our nation and should be declared as national monument.

Historical vastu must come to their original form by repair and maintenance... That is Kranti happend in social and educational. India has move to New vision. We must save this vastu

I am looking for the Governments action for the renovation of bhidewala- where first women school started by Mahatma Phule and Aai Jyotibai Phule. This is sad reality of India. Government building big statues of other people and not doing anything for the real hero's of our society.

This is historical and revolutionary place where Mahatma Jyotiba and his wife Savitribai Phule started first school for girls in India on 1st Jan 1848.India is progressing , growing, digital India but my pics showing truth here ,we can not save heritage place like this, as condition of this place is very bad and after 170 yrs seen a lady beggar with her girl sitting in front of that historic school building #LetsGuide

This dilapidated Wada once held the first school for girls in India which was initiated by Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule. There is a small sign board on the street but no one really notices it. This Wada is an important historical monument and needs to be repaired and brought back to its former glory.

Really comendable and maybe the last survived lady student of this school would have been there when my mother was born in 1927..my mother, she was so fond of books and kept reading them in all of her free time.. In Belgaum we have a Old Mahatma Phule road close to where i live....

On January 1, 1848, Savitribai Phule, with assistance from her husband, Jyotiba Phule, established the first girls’ school in Tatya Saheb Bhide’s wada in Pune’s Budhwar Peth. The wada that housed the school is one of many traditional houses that continue to stand in Pune’s old quarters. These structures were built in the 18th century, when Pune was the capital of the Peshwas. Most typical wadas were two storeys tall, and followed a rectangular layout, with eight rooms surrounding two central courtyards, a well, and common toilet facilities. They housed many members of an extended family, and even close friends. Wadas were used as homes for members of the Peshwa ruling class, upper-class citizenry, and even functioned as offices. The common courtyards, such as the one in Bhide Wada, facilitated the beginning of several social movements as they acted as suitable meeting spaces for like-minded men and women. Savitribai Phule, who founded the school in Bhide Wada, was married to Jyotirao Phule when she was nine and he was 13. She belonged to the Mali caste, which is today classified as an Other Backward Caste (OBC), or a caste that is socially or educationally disadvantaged. Thus, at the time, she was denied formal education not only because of her gender but also because of her caste. After receiving primary education from her husband, who taught her at home, and completing two teacher’s training programmes, she became possibly the first Indian woman to become a teacher and headmistress. Opening the school, which was known as Indigenous Library or Bhide School, was revolutionary in many senses. It challenged the social order of the time, which had largely limited both the receiving of education and the opening of schools to the Brahmin caste. It refused to adhere to the curriculum followed by Brahmin teachers, and replaced the teaching of religious texts such as the Vedas and Shastras with scientific subjects like mathematics, science, and social science. The teaching methods of the Phules became so popular that it is believed that the number of girls enrolled in the schools they started outnumbered the boys enrolled in government schools at the time. However, the couple was also ostracised for their work by family and society. Savtribai Phule used to carry an extra sari to school because people hurled stones and dung at her when she left home. In 1849, the young couple was thrown out of their home by their in-laws for attempting to educate the ‘lower’ castes. Fatima Sheikh and her brother Usman welcomed the Phules into their home. Later remembered as the first Muslim woman teacher of the 19th century, Fatima Sheikh also aided Savitribai in her quest to educate women. Today, Bhide Wada is in the midst of battles over tenancy rights and lies in a dilapidated state. It was mortgaged to the Pune Merchants Cooperative Bank in the 1990s and eventually sold to Mantru Kishor Associates in 2000. A massive demonstration was held the same year outside the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) office by around 500 Anganwadi teachers who demanded that the school be given national heritage status. In 2017, over 300 people formed a human chain demanding the wada be declared a national monument. The Dagadusheth Halwai Ganapati Trust has also proposed to make a library at the location and to build a memorial to Savitribai Phule. Additionally, the Bhide Wada Bachav Mohim (BWBM) has also started the ‘Save Bhide Wada’ campaign and appealed to the government to make it a national memorial. The PMC, however, has continued to neglect the site despite promising to restore it year after year. A blue board with two photographs of the Phules and a brief description of the importance of the building are the only visible markers of the legacy of the building.