India Travels

Mumbai, Mahabaleshwar, Mussorie
in the Monsoons:

The past few weeks I have been travelling.

Landing in Mumbai, I reached Panchgani via Pune and explored the beauty of Mahabaleshwar in the monsoons and stopped over in Lonavala on the way back.

After the Sahyadri mountains, it was time for my favourite destination: the Himalayan mountain region. So it was another trip to Delhi for onward journey to Dehradun to end up in the hill stations of Mussorie and the adjoining town of Landour.

A few pictures of my travels:-

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Part 1

Wild Lilies on the way to Panchgani:

View from Echo Point:

View from Kate's Point, Mahabaleshwar:

Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Lonavala:

Pineapple slices on the way back to Mumbai:

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Part 2

Raisina Hill, New Delhi:

View of Mussorie mountains:

View from Lal Tibba, Landour Cantonment:

Doon Valley on the way back to Dehradun:

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Part 3

to be continued.....

Monsoon Magic

Continuation of my post titled:

Lonavala, and Karla Caves

2. Valvan Dam

Hardly 2 kms away from the heart of Lonavala is the area from where it is a peaceful walk to the Valvan Dam. The huge Dam is fed by the Kundali river. The large water body has a beautiful greenish-blue tinge to it. Photography is not allowed.

On one side at the bottom is a neatly kept garden adorned with a wide variety of colourful flowers and other plants. The Khopoli power station sources a major portion of its water from this Dam.

3. Whispering Woods and Shivaji Udhyan

The Reywood Whispering Woods with a park has sprawling gardens, tall trees and spacious open spaces. It began to rain as I reached these woods. Without an umbrella or any rainy wear, I got partly soaked in the showers. For some reason, I decided to cut short my walk in the Whispering Woods.

4. Bushy Dam

Pulling off my sneakers, it was fun wading uphill to the Dam through the overflowing waters of the Bushy Dam but it was not easy to walk bare feet through the stony paths. Though swimming is not allowed at the Dam, a few did manage to pass through the barricade and jump into the deep waters for a swim.

Soon it started raining cats and dogs. The downpour revived many memories of rainy days of the past. It was a pleasant time listening to the blissful sounds of the rain with a good cup of tea in a nearby shack.

At one point, even though the showers were continuing relentlessly, I decided to walk back fully aware I’d be drenched in no time. I liked the feel of the rainfall on my face as I lifted it ever so slightly, and shortly I was fully soaked in it like parched earth does after a long summer drought. At times, rainfall can be celebratory and the feeling of getting drenched in it is sublime!

5. Bhaja Caves

The Bhaja caves are also Buddhist caves similar to Karla Caves with the same Chaitya style but on a smaller scale. It was another climb of half hour or so to reach the Bhaja caves through a pleasant drizzle. I understand why people enjoy trekking in the rainy season.

Close to the main entrance are some stupas, few inside and most of them outside the caves. Close by was a small natural waterfall where a group of youngsters were chilling out in the cascading waters.

The view from the top of the surrounding hills that were the stronghold of the erstwhile Maratha rulers is delightful. Far in the distance in the opposite hills, I could see two forts: Visarpur Fort and the Lohagad Fort. A trek to the top of Lohagad Fort and return is something that I have been longing for a while, but for lack of time I had return to Mumbai next morning. So that will be another trek, another day...

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The return journey of approximately two hours by a luxury Volvo bus to Mumbai through the Pune-Mumbai expressway was comfortable. Beautiful scenery of green hills and vast fields can be enjoyed all the way back, however, upon reaching Panvel, I felt it was like getting back into the concrete jungle. The spirit of Janmashtami was being celebrated on the streets of Mumbai and they were delightful sights.

Lonavala is not directly connected by Air but it is well connected by Rail and Road links. The railway stations of Lonavala and Khandala have the trains from Mumbai (110 Kms) and Pune (66 Kms). Trains halt at both Khandala and Lonavala. The Mumbai-Bangalore National Highway connecting western and southern India passes through Khandala-Lonavala.

Related Posts:

• Lonavala, and Karla Caves
• Singing in the Rain

Lonavala, and Karla Caves

Known as the Jewel of the Sahyadhris, Lonavala is at an altitude of 625 m asl while its twin town, Khandala, is slightly lower. The place has cool and pleasant weather through most of the year. Around 1811 the British developed Lonavala and Khandala as hill resorts.

Monsoon paints the Sahyadri region in different hues of green. The scenery everywhere was that of verdant hills and gentle valleys with pristine woods and many beautiful cascading waterfalls.

I caught the evening train from Dadar and reached Lonavala railway station 130 kms away in approximately two hours. A late evening autorickshaw ride reached me to the MTDC resort in Karla.

The resort is spread over quite a large area and has many cottages and a small water park. River Indrayani flows touching the boundaries of the resort. I could not find much of activity at the resort except finding a few people dining at the restaurant and generally chilling out in the lovely weather. I have been to better resorts elsewhere, however, the cottage I was assigned was sufficient for a comfortable night’s sleep.

Prime attractions in Lonavala and Khandala are many. The ones I chose to visit were:

1. Karla Caves

Karla Dweller

The first thing on the agenda in the morning, after a good breakfast, was to proceed towards the historic Karla Caves, about 12 kms away.

Path to climb to the Karla Caves

With clean and crisp air enveloping me, I particularly enjoyed the 40-45 minute climb up the hill offering scenic views of Lonavala and Khandala in the distance.

A scene from atop

Upon reaching the top at Karla caves, the first impression that I got was that the place was not maintained well. I am not sure if part of the mess around was because of the monsoon season.

Entrance to the Chaitya

The rock cut caves built in 80 BC is a good sight but I was kind of surprised to find that the structure was almost blocked at the entrance of the principal cave by a temple named after goddess Ekveera.

Entrance, with Temple to the right

The caves of Karla, being the largest of the Buddhist caves in the country, reminded me of the rock cut caves of Udaigiri in Madhya Pradesh, and those at Petra in Jordan though the beauty of the latter is quite different.

Rock cut art

Close to the entrance of the main hall, Chaitya, stands a huge pillar with lion carvings similar to the ones I found in the Asoka Pillar in Sanchi.

Pillar

The outer walls of the cave have walls outlined with carvings of couples and elephants.

Chaitya Griha

What I found remarkable about the main cave is its arched roof supported by wooden beams. In spite of it being more than 2000 years old, the wooden roof has survived the onslaught of elements and seemed to be in amazingly good condition. It was a pleasant feeling at the Chaitya because of the effect that natural light created there. The diffused light and shadows created a sense of solemnity to the place.

Main Hall

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While descending, I admired the verdant hills and thought of the proximity of this place to Mumbai. Just a couple of hours travel away from bustling Mumbai and it’s so easy to land in a place of rolling hills abounding in peace and tranquility!

to be continued...

Related Post: Singing in the Rain

Singing in the Rain

Following a little more travels and just having recovered from a bout of flu, I’m here. I wonder if the flu had anything to do with getting soaked in the rains in Lonavala? Oh, but the feeling of getting drenched in the showers was exhilarating and definitely worth it. Certainly so for one who is presently tolerating temperature in the range of 45 to 50 degrees Centigrade these days, but thankfully in the sanctuary of air-conditioned surroundings!

So..

I travelled this time to Mangalore, Mumbai (I still miss the byname Bombay) and a few places in the Sahyadhri range of the Western Ghats.

The range is home to hill stations like Matheran, Lonavala, Khandala, Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Amboli Ghat within Maharashtra, some of which I've been to. It brought back few memories of my last year’s summer trip to Matheran and earlier visits to Lonavala-Khandala but I find monsoon is a fine time to enjoy the Sahyadhris. More details in posts to follow.

Here’s a coup dóeil:

Mangalore serenity

Smooth sands at dusk

On the way to Karla caves

Bushi Dam

Ascending to Karla Caves

Rock-cut caves