My Visit to Lonar Lake

Lonar Lake, Buldana District is a nearly circular crater, suspected to have developed due to impact of a large meteorite on Deccan Basaltic rocks of Cretaceous age.

A meteorite is a recovered fragment of natural object orbiting in space, that has survived transit through the earth's atmosphere. Such hypervelocity large meteoritic impacts on earth produces craters.

Approximately 130 terrestrial craters are currently recognised, ranging in size up to several hundred kilometers in diameter and age upto 2 Ga.

The Lonar Crater has an average diameter of 1710 m, average rimheight of 40 m and depth of 230 – 245 m. The circular depression bears a saline water lake in its central portion.

The area is located just SW of Lonar town which is linked to Mehkar and Buldana by road. Lonar is about 90 km SE of Buldana. The nearest railhead is at Parbhani, 100 km SSE of Lonar.

Pola - A Maharastrian Festival

Yesterday morning I called Kusumita (K) in her office. She was busy with development of some online questionnaire for their staff. To tease her, I asked - why are you working today there should be holiday today. Today is Pola.

Plola? What is pola? K asked. I did not told her any thing & changed the topic.

Again in evening I called her, K was in shopper stop. Again to tease her I asked - How Shopper Stop is open today, today is Pola. K got irritated and again asked what is Pola. I told K look my blog tomorrow morning.

This is for K:

Maharashtra is a vast state so as its agricultural land. Bullocks were used for agriculture in olden days and other works. So, they are one of the most helpful animals to human being. Maharashtrian farmers show their appreciation to bullocks for all the help on the day of Pola.

The festival marks the day when farmers worship their bulls and it is from the next day only that ploughing and sowing of fields is started. On the day before Pola Festival, farmers remove 'vesan' (the rope) from the nostrils of their bull. Thereafter, they apply a paste of turmeric powder and ground nut oil, on its shoulders. Finally, the bull is given a hot water bath and served with khichadi, made of bajari. On the day of the festival, the bull is taken to the nearest river or pond and given a thorough bath. The farmers then paint the bull's horns and put colorful ornaments over them. Lastly, an ornamented shawl is put over the body of the bullocks and their neck is adorned with flower garlands. After decorating the bulls, the farmers worship them. Evening time is reserved for taking enthusiastic processions of all the bulls in the area, beautifully adorned, through the streets.

Side by side, we see the farmers playing instruments like drums, bugles, lezims (a typical Indian musical instrument), etc. At some of the villages in India, even fairs are organized as a part of the celebrations. The major attractions of these fairs comprise of competitions and outdoor games like volleyball, wrestling, kabaddi, kho-kho, etc. In towns and cities, instead of worshipping bulls, people worship their statues, either wooden or earthen. Last but not the least, Puran Poli (a sweet dish) adds the perfect flavor to the festivities.

My visit to Ellora Caves

Ellora is an archaeological site in the Indian state of Maharashtra built by the Rashtrakuta Dynasty. Famous for its monumental caves, Ellora is a World Heritage Site.

Ellora represents the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture. The 34 "caves" – actually structures excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills – being Buddhist, Hindu and Jain cave temples and monasteries, were built between the 5th century and 10th century. The 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12), 17 Hindu (caves 13–29) and 5 Jain caves (caves 30–34), built in proximity, demonstrate the religious harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history.

The Hindu caves were constructed between 500 CE and 1000 CE and represent a different style of creative vision and execution skills. Some were of such complexity that they required several generations of planning and co-ordination to complete. The early caves (caves 17–29) were constructed during the Kalachuri period, while the caves 15 and 16 were constructed during Rashtrakuta period.

The construction of this cave was a feat of human genius – it entailed removal of 200,000 tonnes of rock, and took 100 years to complete.

A tourist can plan the visit of these caves according to the time available and depending upon the interest in ancient art. If a visitor has at his disposal three to four hours, then the Cave nos. 10 (Visvakarma Cave), 16 (Kailasa), 21 (Ramesvara) and 32 & 34 (Jaina group of caves) should not be missed. Thus, by visiting these caves, one can have a glimpse of the representative art of Buddhism, Brahmanism and Jainism. If a visitor has an entire day at his disposal, the Cave nos. 2, 5, 10 & 12 of the Buddhist group; Cave nos. 14, 15, 16, 21 & 29 of the Brahmanical group and Caves 32 to 34 of the Jaina group should be visited.

The caves are excavated in the scarp of a large plateau, running in a north-south direction for nearly 2 km, the scarp being in the form of a semi-circle, the Buddhist group at the right arc on the south, while the Jaina group at the left arc on the north and the Brahmanical group at the centre.

Open from sunrise to sunset

Closed on Tuesday

Entrance Fee:

Citizens of India and visitors of SAARC (Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Maldives and Afghanistan) and BIMSTEC Countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar) - Rs. 10 per head.

Others: US $ 5 or Indian Rs. 250/- per head

(children up to 15 years free)

Mendha Tope (Cannon)

It is in Daulatabad fort, Maharashtra. The real name of this excellent cannon, according to inscription on it, is KILA-SHIKAN-TOPE ie the fort breaker canaon.

There are other two names on it. One mentions the name of Aurangazeb and other speak about it's maker Mohammad hasan Amale Arab.