(Continued
from)
After
lunch, we are on our way to hills of Western Ghat mountains once
again. This time we take a new route, which is still westwards but
slightly to the south. This road actually leads to one of the famous
forts from Maratha history “SajjanGadh,” called great not
because of any epic battles fought here, but because it was the place
of residence of one of the most revered saints of the seventeen
century Maharashtra, “ Swami Ramdas.” This fort still is an
important religious place and on two particular days of the Hindu
calender, devotees throng here even today, to worship Lord Rama.
However,
we have no plans to visit the fort. A after travelling a distance of
about 10 or 12 Km, we leave the winding road, that would climb up to
the “Sajjan Gadh” and push forward on a narrow mountain road,
along the hills.
Geologists
say that western ghat mountains are not mountains in their true
sense. They are actually the faulted edge of the Deccan plateau
formed during the break up of super continent of “Gondawana,”
some hundred and fifty million years ago. After this break up, as
Indian mainland kept drifting towards Asia, a huge volcanic explosion
took place around 65 million years ago depositing huge amounts of
lava that resulted into formation of the basalt rock here. All this
upheaval, created vertical cliffs and deep valleys along the western
edge of the mountains, creating a scary landscape of valleys as deep
as 3000 feet and mountain tops carved out of black basalt rocks.
During
the monsoon months (June to September), south-west monsoon winds
bring moisture laden heavy clouds to India's west coast. They meet
their first barrier, when mountain cliffs of western ghats present a
formidable obstacle to them. This makes the clouds rise higher and
while doing so, they let huge amount of moisture go off on the
eastern edge of the mountains. At these places, the rain fall is
extremely heavy, touching figures of 3000 to 4000 mm annually. Most
of the rain water just flows away, forming hundreds of rivers and
rivulets of various sizes. Because of the huge water flows in this
terrain, consisting of deep valleys, it is possible to see many
spectacular water falls along the entire ridge of Western Ghat
mountains. The list of waterfalls here is very long, however some of
the more famous falls can be listed as Palaruvi, Kedumari, Koosali,
Jog, Magod, etc. One of these big waterfalls is nearby and we are on
our way to visit it.
One of
the largest reservoir of water in the western ghat mountains, has
been formed at Koyananagar by damming the river Koyana. On the
eastern side of the reservoir, rises another mountain ridge of about
3000 feet height. Because of the extremely heavy monsoon rainfall,
hundreds or rivers and rivulets originate on this ridge and flow
either westwards into Koyananagar reservoir or eastwards. “Tarlee”
river is one such eastwards flowing river that originates on this
ridge. This river has been dammed on the ridge itself and forms a
small reservoir known as “Thoseghar Lake.” The river, further
flowing east-southeast, encounters a deep gorge at a place that is
roughly midway between two villages of “Chalkewadi” and
“Thoseghar.” The river jumps down in this gorge of at least 500
meter depth in a spectacular fall, breaking down in several streams;
out of these the two most prominent once have been named after “
Rama” and his brother “Laxmana.” The waterfalls are known by a
general name as “Thoseghar Waterfalls.”
The
bus stops and we all get down. There is a makeshift ticket booth,
where visitors need to pay a nominal entry fee. As usual, few shops
can be seen around selling cool drinks, tea and snacks. The tourism
department has built us a nice paved path for the visitors to go
deeper in the gorge so that they can view the falls in real glory.
To start with the steps are small and distanced apart. Soon the path
becomes narrow and steps become taller. The whole area is deeply
wooded and is a regular forest. After climbing down around 100 to
150 feet, I can see a crowded platform full of visitors, with
everyone making full use of the photo op. I reach the specially built
observation platformr. Ahead of me is a deep gorge around 500 meter
deep and the water oozing out from several streams on ridge top
appears to be jumping down with a careless kind of attitude. Some of
the falls are quite small; around 15 to 20 meters. The two big once
however, appear to be jumping straight down.
The
whole setting here is quite spectacular. The weather beaten,
vertically cut, cliff faces in basalt, look super imposing and the
deep gorge has some kind of eerie feel about it. The water releasing
itself into the gorge has a non benevolent, “I don't care”
attitude as it carelessly jumps down with a roar. After watching the
falls for few minutes, it is time to return. On way back we visit
another vista point, from where a better view of water just about to
jump down can be had. I take photographs and relax a bit before the
final climb up begins.
Soon I
am back to the spot, where our bus has been parked and after a
refreshing cup of tea, we start on our return journey. In just one
day, I have managed to see two of nature's great wonders. My mind is
filled with amazement and as I keep thinking about these two places,
I doze off.
(Concluded)
4th
October 2014
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