MATHERAN – BLISS AMID THE SAHYADRIS
1. The
smallest hill station in India J
but definitely significant in stature and reputation, Matheran meaning “Forest
on the Fore head “is the only automobile free hill station that I know of …
absolutely no honking tourist cabs or vehicles competing with nature that one
sees in other hill stations .Developed by the British as usual, in order to
beat the heat it is a visual delight to witness the beauty of the Western
Ghats.
2. As
written above, there is lots to see in Matheran but for me I wanted to visit
this place in peak monsoon in order to capture the beauty of the Sahyadris from
a photographer’s insight. So on one rainy Sunday I left Mumbai and drove
towards Matheran on the monsoon filled tarmac roads covering a distance of
around 150 Kms
3. The
final approaches to Matheran was totally crowded with hundreds of revellers out
to enjoy the beauty of this place. I parked the vehicle and came upon a
gentleman who agreed to be my guide for the day. The instructions that I gave
him were very precise... I wanted to cover more than 60 % of the walkable
trials and path.
4. So
we set out and covered the following scenic points :
(a)
Panorama Point
(b)
Louisa Point
(c)
One tree hill point
(d)
Monkey point
(e)
Porcupine point
(f)
Alexander point
(g)
Echo point
(h)
Chowk point
(i)
Garbut point
(j)
Shivaji Ladder
(k)
Governor hill
(l)
Malet spring
(m) And many other … It is said that there are 38
designated points out there. There are a lot of parsi bungalows admist the
green foliage. Some are run down while some are still standing strong with
ancient wrought iron gates covered with moss.
5. The
entire area of the Matheran is like a flat piece of hill that has various view
points on its periphery as mentioned above. I wanted to capture the various
views from these points and that was the primary objective of this one day
trek. It was a hike of around 12-14 km
in all and I finished it by seven in the evening. The pics depict the views as seen below
