[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by yogee

Where have all the 'Magnificent Maharashtrians' gone?

Are you listening MX6, AP, vrprabhu ?

Know what?

There are times when you feel down in the dumps - sometimes one can't do anything about the situation, except to keep quiet.

To revive me, I come back to this thread and go through these pictures and posts - it helps me to visualise the good times and good friends I made..... just perks me up to get back whatever I want to do !!

It is been 2+ years since I am back at Pune, and have been wandering about. Unfortunately - (a) lack of time to sit down and sift through the photos, edit and upload them; & more importantly (b) the places which used to be offbeat are no longer so. Either there are boisterous crowds. Or, we are paying the price for development. OR BOTH.....

Magnificent is taking a beating, if you ask me

As usual, let the pictures do the talking -

This was a place, which I used to visit almost every year. Lack of rains and the upstream pollution is slowly destroying the ecology.

Circa 2008. Note the water level below the bridge. None of the piers of the bridge are visible. In fact, during a couple of years the water level was so high that the boat couldn't rowed beneath the bridge i.e. from one side to the other!



Circa 2010. No land mass seen above the water anywhere. The green patches are high points of land submerged in the water.



Now! Don't let the water hyacinth deceive you; take a look at the next picture, and you'll understand what I mean



Of course, lack of rains have compounded the problem.

It was a pathetic site to see all the beached boats - just like any other discarded piece of junk, drying away in the sun.

Fishermen - then. Farmers - now. That's what the people were doing - utilising the exposed river bed for cultivation. Just imagine, if there are standing crops in the river bed now, it must mean that they were planted in Nov & Dec - which means, there was no water then itself!! So not only was there now rains, whatever catchment was there last year was also not replenished, but has dried off!!




Reason why we used to visit....



(Picture taken by fellow t-bhpian sukiwa)

Sad to say, there were just a few of them this year - less than fifty would be my guess.....

[vrprabhu]

One more stark reality.

Can anyone believe that what is seen below




is actually how it was (circa 2008)




Not that it was clean in 2008, but it was yet another peaceful spot to watch birds - just a stone's throw away from Pune outskirts.... other than a handful of ducks, and some herons, there were none this year.

[vrprabhu]

And this is how the all time favourite has deteriorated.....

KAAS ! - Not quite a valley of flowers... more of an eye sore

scanty rainfall and the surge of tourists is taking its toll, as will be apparent from the pictures below.


1. NOW - This is Sept 2015

there were more variety of cars of the visitors than the flower species which bloomed this year....

The fences make you sort off fenced in .....forget the aesthetics, it serves no purpose because n number of govt vehicles were merrily plying down the road. Guess law makers don't want to mix with hoi-polloi, and would take in the sight, sitting in comfort in their vehicles.

I would have been better off sitting at home and going through the earlier pictures than going there (on bike) to see what I did not want to see.



2. FIVE YEARS AGO - Aug 2010

Some what better than what it is today. The fences weren't there, but the vehicles were, despite it being a working day.





3. PARADISE. 2008. (Much before the mega team-bhp meet here). Alas the images remain only in memory and as pictures in my PC.




If I say paradise ruined, won't you agree with me?

[vrprabhu]

It is sizzling outside - temperature is around 39 degrees in Pune. Bombay was relatively cooler :-(

To shake off the earlier depression, went through some of the monsoon trips and came across these. A small drive from Pune. An amazing waterfall, and in the peak of rainy season the wind was whipping back the water falling into the ravine....








And, this step well, resembles the ones seen in Gujarat .... this is also close to Pune.

Water was continuously streaming into the well - this was mid-March. We came to know that the well rarely runs dry. But the mighty Krishna (river), close to this place, is starved of water.....

[SDP]

vrprabhu, I am visiting this thread after ages. Your Kaas "now and then" images as well as the 2 similar posts before that are plain alarming. Really saddened to see how the crowd has reduced those beautiful places to their current horrible state.

The waterfall and the step-well did bring a smile to my face though!
I am not going to ask where those places are. Don't want to see them reduced to garbage dump by crowds who discovered a cool new place on TeamBHP

[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by SDP

The waterfall and the step-well did bring a smile to my face though!

I am not going to ask where those places are.

Don't want to see them reduced to garbage dump by crowds who discovered a cool new place on TeamBHP

This is what is happening everywhere. Last week had been to Diveagar and Murud-Janjira. The amount of garbage dumped is unbelievable. Add to that, the people who want to test their driving skills by driving on the beach! Don't know why the Murud-Janjira fort shows no signs of maintenance.....

As regards the waterfall and well - there is nothing else in those places, other than these. So you have to travel all the way there, just to see them. Will share the location if whoever visits these places keeps the publicity to the barest minimum

And, here are a few pictures to continue why this thread started in the first place.

I will keep the pictures and location to the minimum. In fact, I was so engrossed in viewing them through my binoculars, that I forgot that I had a camera on hand......

a. A huge colony (what's the correct word to describe a large number?) of cranes! They were circling overhead for almost 10 minutes!




b. Another set - these were flamingoes, which appeared to have been frightened away. Couldn't spot where they landed, but....





c. these two decided to give me a treat!




d. and, these two thumbed their noses (derriere's?) at me!! Excellent posterior view, heh?




There's some more to come. BTW, even though I have graduated from Canon A450 to a better version, my photography skills are still below rudimentary. And beyond a point, even a small shake negates the advantage of zoom.

[rajarams]

The rains are almost here and hence time to kick-start this thread! Have ambitious plans - every weekend a new place and 2-3 place updates every week. To start...
Kelshi Beach to the south of Velas.

A small village, a clean beach and a religious sand-dune!
Most of the narrows streets in the village had a canal running through them. This would make the place almost kerela-ish during the monsoon, with a small canal running through every street.

There are sand dunes next to the backwaters. But the remarkable thing was the type of sand. They were indeed like a typical sand dune and none like the ones you will find next to a river/sea. This was the "mystery" bit. The sand was super soft. The villagers have prevented a bridge construction across the river as it would mean removal of the sand dune.

There is also a maalaxmi temple in the village. A short uphill drive from the temple will lead you to Yakub Baba Darga. As the villagers told me, the existence of the temple and the darga close to each other signifies the peaceful coexistence of the communities in the village and that the Darga was a place of worship of people from all religions. This darga has connections to the Shivaji era with his family having personally taken up the work of construction of it.The darga is located on a hill overlooking the coast and the view from it is awesome.

A good place to visit for a calm weekend.

[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by rajarams

The rains are almost here and hence time to kick-start this thread! Have ambitious plans - every weekend a new place and 2-3 place updates every week

Thanks for the tip, Rajaram. I will check out your site for updates

I too, am hoping for copious rains this monsoon - most of the places are bone dry.

However, the lack of rain did help me to spend a day in solitude, ruminating on our past....

This is a pretty ancient temple, which gets fully submerged in monsoon. Villagers told me that normally in the months of May & June, water recedes and you can make it to the temple by a boat.



My idea was to hire a boat and do a 'pradikshna' i.e. 'parikrama' (err..... circumambulation, is the apt word, I guess!) in the lake. But it was quite hot, and wanted to sit somewhere shady. So went around for another view (from two different angles) ....








And, venturing into the interior (no roads, just some dirt trails) will bring forth sights like these (I remember a novel by Enid Blyton where she writes about an island full of birds, dodos?), when I see the birds...

[rajarams]

is this the one in Bhigwan, the backwaters of Ujjaini dam?

[rajarams]

Malhargad (a.k.a Sonori Fort) near Pune City.
An easy trek to a remote fort. Dive ghat is famous for its photographic opportunities during the Palkhi season. This ghat section is close to the city, around 10 kms from Hadapsar.
This fort is located around 4 kms inroad from this point. This 4 kms are kuchcha, but manageable in any car (A swift also came along with me). We did this trek in early monsoon when the heavy rains had not yet set in. So, we had greenery, a cool breeze, but the heavy rain stayed away enabling us to take even the infants along!

From the parking (the name given to the place until which you can take your car), it is an easy climb of around 30 mins. There are some rocky sections at the top, but nothing that can beat some four-legged climbing.

There is nothing much left of the fort other than the boundary wall. There is a temple also on top.



Can be a good evening nature trail !

[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by rajarams

is this the one in Bhigwan, the backwaters of Ujjaini dam?

Right.

Originally Posted by rajarams

Malhargad (a.k.a Sonori Fort) near Pune City.
An easy trek to a remote fort.

This fort is located around 4 kms inroad from this point. This 4 kms are kuchcha, but manageable in any car (A swift also came along with me).

From the parking (the name given to the place until which you can take your car), it is an easy climb of around 30 mins. There are some rocky sections at the top, but nothing that can beat some four-legged climbing.

Can be a good evening nature trail !

I made two aborted attempts before I could eventually find a way up. The first two were from Kalewadi side - but after a certain point there is no trail nor can you guess where is the entrance. Though the locals say there is a route.

Finally we took the route through Sonori - via Panse Wada. The last few metres is tough - and it is indeed four-legged!

This where we parked the car - could have taken it slightly ahead, but the ruts on the trail were sure to scrape the underside. Took about 45 minutes from here to the top.



View of the fort & from the fort -





Sunset by the beach was what I used to enjoy, but this trip changed that. You are right, the evening trek there is an excellent idea - was doubly rewarded with a magnificent play of light and shadows when the sun went down. These pictures don't do an iota of justice :-(







The locals said there is one more route to the fort and they must be right, because when we were going back, we saw a few local youths come up the fort (through some other way?)

[rajarams]

Jarsheshwar Temple near Khadakwasla - A remote temple PLUS a beautiful private road of 8-9 km to drive on!


Just before splendour country club, you will see a private road (with a barrier) branching off to the right. This road is beautiful to drive on, offering wonderful views of khadakwasla backwaters. The last half a km was not built (when i went), but you can just park anywhere and walk to the temple.

If you are in the area i.e. sinhagad, panshet, khadakwasla, this is an interesting diversion, though i went on a trip exclusively in search of this temple

[Anupam]

Originally Posted by rajarams

Jarsheshwar Temple near Khadakwasla - A remote temple PLUS a beautiful private road of 8-9 km to drive on!

Dear Rajaram, thanks for sharing, may i request you and all folks here to also share gps link of these places so that we can plan it easily

[parambyte]

Lovely! I love driving through Maharashtra as well, though when I compare it to Karnataka, I feel Maharashtra has a lot less tree cover and it seems to be losing more trees faster...

[rajarams]

Krishnabai Temple in Mahabaleshwar
Many go to Mahab during the monsoon but restrict their visit to the marketplace (which is actually good for bargain shopping) and the main view points. The religious go to the Old Mahabaleshwar temple. But not many visit the Krishnabai temple which is less than 100 metres away from the Old Mahabaleshwar temple.

The 270 degree view from the front of the temple is amazing and is literally on top of the clouds. This temple is supposed to the source of the river Krishna and according to the priests there, there is a small perennial water source which is the starting point of the river.


The location of this temple on google maps is 17.964570, 73.665259.
If you are in Mahabaleshwar, go here!