It’s a miracle that I found myself gaping at this most incredible scene at 7.30 in the morning, almost 550 km away from home, in a place called Lonar that I had heard about, yet never made any plans to visit. In fact, none of my co-travellers had, either.
The decision to go there was made on a whim while eating breakfast in the artillery mess of Aurangabad. We landed there next morning, having hit the road at 4.00 in the morning. We were all bleary eyed as none of us had slept the previous night and without knowing what to expect as we had not made any previous study of the place. We were struck dumb by the sheer scale of this cosmic phenomenon when we realized that we were standing on a rim of a vast crater created due to a meteoric impact about 50,000 years ago. In the early morning light, the lake at the base and the thick vegetation on the crater wall seemed to resonate with the echoes of the past eons.
Lonar, situated about 140km from Aurangabad in Maharashtra, is the rarest of the rare geological site- a 1.8 km in diameter crater formed due to the impact of a 50m meteorite- the 3rd largest of its kind and the oldest. Its depth is about 170 m, the base of which is a saline lake with a pH of more than 10.
The decision to go there was made on a whim while eating breakfast in the artillery mess of Aurangabad. We landed there next morning, having hit the road at 4.00 in the morning. We were all bleary eyed as none of us had slept the previous night and without knowing what to expect as we had not made any previous study of the place. We were struck dumb by the sheer scale of this cosmic phenomenon when we realized that we were standing on a rim of a vast crater created due to a meteoric impact about 50,000 years ago. In the early morning light, the lake at the base and the thick vegetation on the crater wall seemed to resonate with the echoes of the past eons.
To think that I almost did not go on this trip, made all sorts of excuses to three intrepid students who wanted me to join them on their sojourn to Ajanta and Ellora. Even after reaching Aurangabad, I was wondering why I was there for the umpteenth time. Of course, the rock cut marvels still reveal some new insights every time I visit them. It was almost a chance that one of them said let’s go to Lonar. Everyone was excited by the idea. I was instantly reminded of Shekhar Gupta’s recent article- “Maha Crater” in the Indian Express. While reading it, I had mildly felt ashamed of myself for not visiting Lonar despite of going to Aurangabad so many times. Call it miracle or serendipity- there I was within less than a week.
Lonar, situated about 140km from Aurangabad in Maharashtra, is the rarest of the rare geological site- a 1.8 km in diameter crater formed due to the impact of a 50m meteorite- the 3rd largest of its kind and the oldest. Its depth is about 170 m, the base of which is a saline lake with a pH of more than 10.
http://www.khagolmandal.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=6
The lake, the surrounding forest on the crater walls and the rim constitute a unique eco-system home to several animal and bird species and colonies of bacteria and algae that border in colorful bands the water edge. There are steps that took us down on a steep slope towards the base, encountering a couple of ancient stone temples and their remains.
We walked about four km upto the 'Sita Nahani' temple where preparation was on for cooking a feast for the devotees. We collected some samples of what we thought were the remnants of the cosmic impact, sorely missing a site museum or an information centre. 
Later, we made our way to the 'Daityasudana' temple- a Vishnu temple built by the Deogiri Yadavas in the 12th century. The temple has stylistic traces from the Hoysala and Khajuraho temples and boasts of beautiful sculpture on its walls. We had our siesta in the temple mandapa- biding our time till the sunset.
In the evening, we visited another temple of note, the 'Gomukh' temple well-known for its water source, kund and the ghats- a very popular place for the devotees who believe that taking a dip in its waters would wash away all their sins.
Earlier, we had gone to the MTDC resort for breakfast. Shekhar Gupta has used very mild language to describe its horrors. In a way, the sorry state of the MTDC ‘resort’, a complete lack of awareness and information about this potentially loaded site, it’s deterioration due to garbage thrown by the devotees and soap and detergent laced outflow from the Gomukh temple in which the devotees bathe and wash clothes- this monumental negligence is symptomatic of the condition of Maharashtra politics.
We walked about four km upto the 'Sita Nahani' temple where preparation was on for cooking a feast for the devotees. We collected some samples of what we thought were the remnants of the cosmic impact, sorely missing a site museum or an information centre. Later, we made our way to the 'Daityasudana' temple- a Vishnu temple built by the Deogiri Yadavas in the 12th century. The temple has stylistic traces from the Hoysala and Khajuraho temples and boasts of beautiful sculpture on its walls. We had our siesta in the temple mandapa- biding our time till the sunset.
In the evening, we visited another temple of note, the 'Gomukh' temple well-known for its water source, kund and the ghats- a very popular place for the devotees who believe that taking a dip in its waters would wash away all their sins.Earlier, we had gone to the MTDC resort for breakfast. Shekhar Gupta has used very mild language to describe its horrors. In a way, the sorry state of the MTDC ‘resort’, a complete lack of awareness and information about this potentially loaded site, it’s deterioration due to garbage thrown by the devotees and soap and detergent laced outflow from the Gomukh temple in which the devotees bathe and wash clothes- this monumental negligence is symptomatic of the condition of Maharashtra politics.
It was hard not to feel despondent and yet, the greatest reward of going to Lonar was awaiting me. It was in the form of the most spectacular sunset over the opposite end of the crater rim- of a kind I had never seen before. I came away totally grateful.
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