The sanyasi with a smile!A HUGE carpet of flowers. Blue flowers, yellow flowers, white flowers, pink flowers. You name it, it's got to be there! :-)
Welcome to Kaas. 110 kms from Pune, virtually in Satara, this place is just stunning! It comes to life around September each year and lasts only for a short while, only to come back to life the next year.
We left home for this heaven by around 5 a.m, and hit the road! For those of you who are late risers, the world looks VERY beautiful at 5 a.m! We reached the plateau in about 3 hours and boy oh boy was it beautiful!!! Red rumped swallows and malabar crested larks flitted about in their pretty, flower filled home. The collared dove gave it plaintive call. A mongoose crossed the road for us and I literally ran after it, but to no avail. :-(
This place really deserves a visit every year, right after the monsoons. It is EXTREMELY biodiverse!!! You find en number of reptiles, birds and amphibians over there!! Many of the plants and flowers found here are endemic. I'm sure all of you have heard of the "Valley of Flowers" in the Himalayas, where a myriad wild flowers bloom every August. Well, Kaas is like a miniature Valley of Flowers, and is, indeed, called the Valley of Flowers of Maharashtra! I have fallen in love with this place and will visit it every year for sure!!
However, it is very unfortunate that we do not even let a place as beautiful as Kaas retain its glory. It has been littered very badly.
Here are a few pictures which are more eloquent that the words! :-)
This is what Kaas is all about!
The malabar crested lark in its flower garden!
Freedom Indeed :)
ReplyDeleteHey!
ReplyDeleteCould I know who this is so that I could reply to the comment? :-)