For the first time in my life I actually enjoyed my Diwali vacations. One major reason for my happiness, was a trip to a place called Lonar, which is in Buldhana district.. One of my uncle’s, (I have numerous) wanted to make a documentary film about a lake in Lonar, so a few relatives and I accompanied him. I got the proud designation of ‘Assistant to Director’.
Lonar is a two hour drive from Aurangabad. We started off at 5.45 AM on Friday, 27th October and reached Aurangabad at around 8 PM. Driving in the night is a big no-no. We left for Lonar the very next morning.
Now let me tell you what is so great about Lonar and why my uncle wanted to make a documentary film on it. Lonar lake is a crater lake – it was formed because a meteor crashed on the earth 50,00 years ago. Wow! When the meteor was falling, a piece of it flew off and hit the earth about 2 kilometers away. The place it fell formed a depression and thus the now called ‘Ganesh lake’ came into existence.
Lonar lake is 2 kilometers wide 700 meters deep. So imagine how big the meteor must have been! Well, we went a little way down the rocky and grassy slopes of the crater lake and took a few shots. My work as an assistant was unfortunately very limited. The only work I was given was to lug around the tripod and some other camera equipment.
At one place there were roughly made steps leading down to the lake. Going down was no big deal. I hopped, skipped and jumped like a goat and reached there in 20 minutes. Close to the lake are banana plantations and woods. I walked through the woods marvelling at nature’s bounty. There was even a spring flowing merrily through. It’s clean and cold water was simply delicious. Near the lake were the remains of a few temples. They were dilapidated and half filled with water.
The water of the lake is high in salinity. This is why no fish or other living thing can exist in it. Earlier, people used to use the salt to make papads. Our guide told us that if we put a polythene bag in the lake, it would get disintegrated. Too many chemicals in the lake for my liking. The colour of the water looks blue-green because of the algae that lies in it. NASA has visited the lake and conducted some experiments. They reckon that the algae in the lake could be utilized to make medicines worth millions of dollars.
We walked near the edge of the lake searching for various rocks. My Uncle kept telling me the names of the rocks, but I can’t remember them now. If I do name some and get them wrong...my Ed will kill me as well as Geology teachers and students. So mums the word!
It was getting late, so we decided to go back. I huffed and puffed like the Big Bad Wolf while going up to the rim of the crater. What a long climb it seemed! Especially after eating like a pig during lunch time!
On our way back to Mumbai, we planned to see Ajanta and Ellora caves. Unfortunately, we had no time to do that. So we came back home via the expressway. That was real fun. I got back home at 1 AM, happy and excited. One of the best trips of my life!
Lonar is a two hour drive from Aurangabad. We started off at 5.45 AM on Friday, 27th October and reached Aurangabad at around 8 PM. Driving in the night is a big no-no. We left for Lonar the very next morning.
Now let me tell you what is so great about Lonar and why my uncle wanted to make a documentary film on it. Lonar lake is a crater lake – it was formed because a meteor crashed on the earth 50,00 years ago. Wow! When the meteor was falling, a piece of it flew off and hit the earth about 2 kilometers away. The place it fell formed a depression and thus the now called ‘Ganesh lake’ came into existence.
Lonar lake is 2 kilometers wide 700 meters deep. So imagine how big the meteor must have been! Well, we went a little way down the rocky and grassy slopes of the crater lake and took a few shots. My work as an assistant was unfortunately very limited. The only work I was given was to lug around the tripod and some other camera equipment.
At one place there were roughly made steps leading down to the lake. Going down was no big deal. I hopped, skipped and jumped like a goat and reached there in 20 minutes. Close to the lake are banana plantations and woods. I walked through the woods marvelling at nature’s bounty. There was even a spring flowing merrily through. It’s clean and cold water was simply delicious. Near the lake were the remains of a few temples. They were dilapidated and half filled with water.
The water of the lake is high in salinity. This is why no fish or other living thing can exist in it. Earlier, people used to use the salt to make papads. Our guide told us that if we put a polythene bag in the lake, it would get disintegrated. Too many chemicals in the lake for my liking. The colour of the water looks blue-green because of the algae that lies in it. NASA has visited the lake and conducted some experiments. They reckon that the algae in the lake could be utilized to make medicines worth millions of dollars.
We walked near the edge of the lake searching for various rocks. My Uncle kept telling me the names of the rocks, but I can’t remember them now. If I do name some and get them wrong...my Ed will kill me as well as Geology teachers and students. So mums the word!
It was getting late, so we decided to go back. I huffed and puffed like the Big Bad Wolf while going up to the rim of the crater. What a long climb it seemed! Especially after eating like a pig during lunch time!
On our way back to Mumbai, we planned to see Ajanta and Ellora caves. Unfortunately, we had no time to do that. So we came back home via the expressway. That was real fun. I got back home at 1 AM, happy and excited. One of the best trips of my life!
2 comments:
cool place. I am also feelin d inteest 2 visit it after redin ur description about it!
ya tasha the way u hav described abt the lake i hav imagin n nw feelin to go at that place
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