Pune or Poona [key], city (1991 pop. 2,493,987), Maharashtra state, W central India. It is a district administrative and commercial center with automotive vehicle works, appliance factories, and other manufacturers. There are several palaces and temples from the 17th and 18th cent., when Pune was the capital of the Marathas. Under British rule it was an important military center. Pune Univ., a meteorological observatory, a national chemical laboratory, and a national-defense academy are in the city. It was also the original center of the Transcendental Meditation movement.
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