The leprosarium at Poladpur was founded by an Indian, Haripant Kelkar, in charge of the local Mission School in the late nineteenth century. Kelkar raised local funds to provide shelters for a small group of lepers who had gathered outside the village. In 1895 the Rev. W. E. Wilkie Brown, passed through Poladpur en route to Mahableshwar. Kelkar offered him hospitality and took him to see the lepers he had housed. Brown was impressed, and the Mission for Lepers was subsequently informed of Kelkar’s endeavours and provided finances. As a result, the Home grew in size and permanency. At the start of the twentieth century, patients built a small church, which was superseded by a more permanent structure built in 1912. Although Kelkar was moved away by his Mission, the leprosy work continued, superintended by the Foreign Missions Committee of the Church of Scotland and financed by The Mission to Lepers. In the mid 1940s around 180 patients were resident. In 1943 Dr. Victor Das joined the staff as resident physician, and he was to be a pivotal figure in improving life at the asylum in future decades. During his residency a new church was constructed and dedicated in 1954, and a new hospital block was completed in 1959.

Source: D. A. Miller, Two Pioneers at Poladpur: And What Followed. The Mission to Lepers: London, 1960.

This leprosarium was linked to Taluka Roha at Pui, one was used to house women, the other men. It is still open.