Jewels of the sahyadri plateau

Ah, this post is all about the jewels of nature. I wonder and I am certain that these little wonders of nature inspire us in many ways. That if we try giving a shape to objects around us and bring it in sync with the nature's theme, every design looks beautiful. Only when I carefully observe that I can find these little wonders more beautiful. Gorgeous in their design, symmetry and presentation. Nature has all its mathematical formulations to its perfection that we fail to understand the logic behind its formation. Those intricate details, symmetrical arrangements, their laws of attracting pollinators and protecting themselves by mimicking during attacks are some (among many more) of the interesting facts for me to wonder always. Some of those little jewels I sighted during my recent trip to Satara are presented below. 

Smithia hirsuta - the mickey mouse flower

Dipcadi montana

Eriocaulon and the pollinator 

Eriocaulon 

The trumpet flower - Ramphicarpa

Eriocaulon stellulatum

Cyanotis cristata

Impatiens oppositifolia 

Drosera indica - the carnivorous plant with a kill

Utricularia purpurascens

Rotala sp

Pogostemon deccanensis

Euphorbia 

Exacum lawii

Begonia crenata

fly on a Paracaryopsis flower

Ceropegia vincaefolia

Murdannia simplex

Habenaria longicorniculata 

Habenaria heyneana

Peristylus densus

Murdannia lanuginosa

Ceropegia media

Utricularia graminifolia

Aponogeton satarensis

(C) Srikanth Parthasarathy

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Wider Scapes' of Sahyadris

Presenting here some of the wider shots of Sahyadri landscapes. It is a real treat to visit the plateaus in the month of September and it turned out to be one awesome trip this time as well.

(Kindly click on the pictures to enlarge them)

The beautiful Kas lake in Satara

Sun shine on the gorgeous backwaters of Koyna in Satara

Breathtakingly beautiful backwaters of Koyna river in Satara 

Panorama of the Thosegar waterfall 

Yellow flowers and the backwaters 

Yellow carpets of Smithia hirsuta

Plateau overlooking the Kanher dam in Satara

Lonely tree along the yellow/green carpets of the beautiful sahyadri plateau

Gorgeous tree personified

Sahyadri slopes overlooking Urmodi dam

(C) 2012, Srikanth Parthasarathy

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a moon-lit dream

perhaps! that night was on of the best night's i've ever witnessed. I do have a lot of good nostalgic memories of some events in the past. But this one beat them all!

Rain was playing with me beautifully, everyday; making me forget everything else and enjoy its play. I was completely in a trance for those three days of my visit to the Kaas plateau. It was 10.00 pm on the Sunday night and was about to rain. I could feel each rain drop falling on my face had a story to tell me and to move me out of this world. And we were on the move. 

I had never seen such a beauty around me in the night and those Sahyadri slopes looked gorgeous in the night. Moon light was all over and the black shades overtook most of the moments; leaving the rain drops fall helplessly. The road wasn't straight but our direction looked right. Many toads on the road - a few jumping, a few waiting for us to go away, and some lying flat on the road. Many road kills; as many killer roads. We could hear calls everywhere, and we tried reaching them. We saw a lot of beauties and we were moving on to see more. 

As we moved on, the rain danced along. Within some time, we reached the woods and habitat drastically changed. It turned more humid and wilder by the distance. We saw couple of hares shying away from us. And some eyes that were blinking through the trees. It was a place more known for many mammal movements. We slowed down our bike after sighting him standing tall. On the road, staring straight into our eyes. The light made him notice us and he started coming towards us. As he approached we tried to bend down and escape. He flew away. A majestic Eurasian Eagle Owl appeared wilder in the night. It was a whew! moment for us. 

The night turned much wilder with the dramatic rain play over the woods. We stopped the bike again. And we noticed some mammal crossing the road and running into the paddy field. We searched with the torch light but we failed spotting it. We thought it was a Civet. (guess)

Finally we reached our destination for the day. An empty tourist bungalow welcomed us. There was no human in the bungalow. It was as silent as a valley. We started walking towards a small trail that goes into the woods. We saw some more frogs and we were not yet sighted any snakes. The place is supposed to be known more for Sloth Bear movements and I also heard some stories of their attacks as well. After all, it is their territory. So we had very less time to get out of that place. We climbed down for about 20 minutes into the valley and our torch lights were no effective because of the bright moon light. 

For the first time something happened to me. I stopped talking, I was completely blank to see what I was seeing. I thought It was a dream. I had to pinch myself to reassure that what I was seeing was real. Mouth wide open and eyes stuck with a sight; I witnessed something that I had not seen in my life. It was the moon-lit waterfall gorgeously flowing down into the valley. I got goosebumps looking at it. I had only 2 minutes to absorb the beauty in my eyes. I could not hear anything else other than my heartbeat and the wild roar of the waterfall. It never did notice our presence there. But we thought every frog, every small insect, every leaf of a tree were noticing our presence very much. 

(I was struggling to get a picture. It was a real test for me to prove myself that I have learnt some photography in the past. With what I was seeing around, I forgot how to take a picture. The picture i took may not be 1% justification of what I witnessed) 

What I saw was a moon-lit dream for sure!

Thoseghar waterfall under moon light. Photographed on 12th September, 2011 at 00:45 hours. 

With a beautiful dream captured in my eyes, with goosebumps all over my body, with an unbelievable expression on my face, I returned back to my room in Satara by 3 am. 

Thanks to Vishal Prasad who is based out of Satara and working towards conserving Kaas Plateau, for taking me to Thoseghar waterfalls in the night and giving me so much learning on the amphibians and reptiles. It was a thrilling night for sure. Vishal is a herpetology enthusiast and is also doing his research with BNHS. 

Srik

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kaas landscapes

Grass lands of Sahyadri hills at the half way to the kaas plateau

Lonely tree welcoming us to the kaas plateau. 

Nature enthusiasts enjoying their time at the kaas plateau

Yellow carpets of smithia giving a grand look to the lonely tree.

Beautiful sahyadri slopes at the kaas plateau

A forest guard carefully watches to ensure the flowers are not dis-respected.

White carpets of eriocaulon 

Pink carpets of Impatiens at the kaas plateau

Many varieties of flowers seen at the plateau. Blooming together smiling together. 

Pink carpets amidst the carvia plants

A time comes when all these carvia plants will be in bloom. Guess once in 7 or 9 years.

Gorgeous looking trees, a small pond amidst the impatiens flowers makes it a spectacular sight.

Sun play over the plateau 

Tiny water stream at the plateau cuts through the pink carpets. 

Sahyadri slopes overlooking the Urmodi dam.

Flat grass plateau and the yellow carpets here and there

Gorgeous tree at the kaas lake 

© Srikanth Parthasarathy

September 2011

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