Drive through the Sahaydris – Varandha Ghat

The Sahayadri mountain ranges running through Maharashtra parallel to the Arabian sea have a wealth of rich flora, fauna and cultural heritage. Its such a refreshing thing to drive through these monsoon mountains!! This weekend I had planned to explore the region around Bhor and the drive through the scenic Varandha Ghat. Varandha ghat was built by British Govt in 1850. The small ghat cuts through a small 16th Century mountain fort called as Kavlaya. The road connects Bhor on Deccan plateau to Mahad in Konkan. Here is the photo story:

As you get pass the Bhor area, you are welcomed with beautiful landscape at Neera-Bhatghar dam.

Its a photographer’s delight to have such a wonderful climate & weather while shooting such mesmerizing landscapes…

And when nature shows its true colors , you are really left spellbound…The phenomenon known as Sun Halo could be noticed in the picture below. The ring is caused by sunlight passing through ice crystals in cirrus clouds within the Earth’s atmosphere.

The back waters of the dam are equally beautiful…

A pied kingfisher waiting to spawn on its prey…

Clean and calm water making its way through lush green dense vegetation with blue sky overhead….what does one need more than this to achieve tranquility?

Don’t you feel like making a crazy dive into this water?

The most common means of transport for the common people of Maharashtra…. There are so many people who have migrated to cities for better standard of living. But their roots still lie in some remote country side places. The MSRTC buses are the preferred mode of travel for such people getting back home. There are roughly 10 major motorways and 2 trainways which climb from the konkan plateau to the upper Deccan plateau in 600 km stretch of western ghats in Maharashtra. Varandha ghat is the only remaining narrow ghat road. Driving the heavy vehicles up the ghat is a challenge particularly in the misty monsoon season. More demand of the motorways, widening of the existing motorways will pose serious threats to the species in north western ghats…

Its simply impossible to imagine these mountain ranges without waterfalls. With the onset of the monsoon, many such waterfalls get to life adding to the beauty and the wilderness of the ghats.

The mighty Sahayadris are even older than Himalayas and are responsible for the life balance of countless species including humans. The few remains of evergreen forests in North western ghats are guarded mainly by the precipitous cliffs and inaccessible patches of tough terrain….

The blanket of thick vegetation is home to wide variety of flora and fauna endemic to the Western Ghats….

The whole atmosphere is so much blended with nature…..

You can really re-discover yourself when you are in lapse of nature…

If you drive further you can visit Shivtharghal which is also known as Sundarmath. Samarth Ramdas lived here for about 22 years. It is believed that this is where the first meeting between Shivaji Maharaj and Samarth Ramdas took place.

Western Ghats is one of the top bio-diversity hotspots…Lets do our best to preserve this natural wonder!! This photo story was my bit of effort to make people familiarize with the wealth of nature we have around us. As a nature lover and a photographer, I owe the responsibility of showcasing the shades and colors of the nature through my work.