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San Jose’s Sister City: Pune, India

Let’s take a look at one of San Jose’s eight sister city relationships with Pune, India.

December 13, 2022 • 
Alyson Chuyang
The plaque in front of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue in Guadalupe River Park.

Pune, India is one of our city’s newer sister city relationship.

Photo by SJtoday staff

Table of Contents
Exploring Pune ✈️
Our relationship 🤝

Suprabhat, San Jose. 👋

Previously, we took you on a trip to two of our sister cities, Okayama, Japan, and Dublin, Ireland. As a refresher, sister cities were established in 1956 to promote peace and innovation between two communities in different countries. 🌏

So today, we’re traveling to San Jose’s seventh sister — Pune, India. 🇮🇳

A panoramic shot of Pune, India.

Learn the similarities between our two cities.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Exploring Pune ✈️

Growing under the Maratha Empire during the 1500s, Pune is now India’s eighth most populous city — totaling just over 10 million people.

Adventure seekers take to its lush jungles, while history buffs indulge in centuries-old temples and palaces from the Maratha Empire, and foodies eat up the local Maharashtrian street food scene. 🥘

There’s just about something for everyone, much like our great 408.

A statue of Shivaji Maharaj on top of a horse within Guadalupe River Park.

This is the only Shivaji Maharaj statue in North America.

Photo via @californino

Our relationship 🤝

Along with its rich agriculture and mild climate, Pune boasts 107 colleges with an emphasis in engineering and science — and is one of the largest regions in India for innovative technology. Sound familiar?

Since the establishment of our sisterhood in 1992, the San Jose Pune Sister City Committee has worked on several projects to maintain our cultural bond.

  • Mutha River Park Project — San Jose helped raise funds alongside the Rotary Club of Pune-Kothrud to convert a run-down, 5-acre site into a community park.
  • Shivaji Maharaj Statue — The statue of a modern warrior who founded Pune in 1640 was gifted to San Jose in July 1999, and now sits in the Guadalupe River Park.
  • Hutatma Rajguru Project — This project was initiated in January 2007 to connect the Hutatma Ragjuru High School in Pune and St. Francis High School with the goal of providing financial assistance on both ends, and encouraging communication between students.

Despite being ~8,500 miles away from each other, our relationship with Pune is a reminder of how similar we are to regions across the globe — learn more about the San Jose Pune Sister City committee on its website.