Lush Greens of the Monsoons – Pawankhind – India
I just got back from my trip to Pawankhind, a place quite untouched yet, and unbelievably green in the monsoons. The place is beautiful and worth a visit in the rainy season. Its about a 5 hours drive from my city, Pune. I couldn’t help but write about it in my blog because never in my life have I seen velvet-like greenery, so lush and so captivating that it seems so unreal. Every hill, tree, grass, and a square inch of land has various shades of rich green. Of course, it comes with a whole bunch of leeches and other insects but its worth the sight. I don’t want to write much, I would rather have you see pictures of what I am talking about……hope you all agree with me!
The lush greenery
Another random picture captured on our way
The above first picture is one of our drives through the mountains of the Western Ghats separating the Konkan region from the Deccan plateau. We waited every 10 feet to breathe in the stunning view of the verdant landscape.
Aerial View of the Dam Waterfall at Pawankhind
We got this magnificient view of the waterfall from our resort.
View of the Waterfall at Pawankhind
The waterfall in the picture is vigorous and enchanting. It was worth a view!
The Forest of Pawankhind
What surprised me was the dense jungles of this area. I had not imagined such a dense forest exist in the middle of Maharashtra! I know my state has a whole lot of jungles, but this was way more dense with tons of leeches, red ants and insects that I have never seen in my life!
A Beetle
While in Pawankhind, we hiked down to a place called Pawankhind (khind means pass) known after the heroic deed of Bajiprabhu Deshpande. This small pass (truly speaking, it is hardly a pass!) through which Bajiprabhu Deshpande, one of the Sardars or lieutenants of the famous Maratha king – Shivaji lead his troops and fought a rear guard battle in order to help Shivaji escape from Panhala Fort (fort close to Kolhapur). He was the hero who sacrificed his life for his king and country. This place is steep with an astounding view of a waterfall.
Pawankhind is a small pass through which Bajipraphu took his troop and fought a war for the popular Maratha King - Shivaji
We decided to hike through the fringes of the forest. Since we weren’t very equiped and the forest was full of wild life, we decided to explore the areas around the lake. Thats where saw a small swampy area adjoining the lake. After taking a deeper look, we realised that its actually a patch of quicksand. This was my first experience or view of how quicksand looks. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go too close it due to the heavy, weedy and thick vegetation.
The quicksand in the fringes of the jungle
The two pictures below are just somethings that I found very cool and different while we were walking through the jungles.
Shell with a fern growing inside
Raindrops caught in the web
Below are some panaromic pictures of the rish green landscape, forest, lake and waterfall!
The lush green landscape of the area
Panaromic view of the backwaters of dam alongside the dense jungle
[...] Lush Greens of the Monsoons – Pawankhind – India August 2009 4 [...]
Beautiful, very scenic.
Superb snaps
[...] Monsoons makes Maharashtra heaven on Earth! The pleasing velvet tones of greens, the clear streams, the rush of the tides in the Arabian Sea, the sprinkle of the rains and the wholesome waterfalls…..the list can go on… View from the rolling green hills [...]