Hey guys! I am terribly sorry for not blogging these few days. It’s been crazy busy for me with school, projects and shows… It’s the season and I have been hosting for quite a number of events – so I had been anchoring a number of shows in the city as well as out of Mumbai … I went to Pune, Khandala, Ahmdebad, Delhi and Lonavla. Out of these places, I loved Lonavla the most.. so I thought I shall blog about it today!
5 THINGS YOU MUST DO IN LONAVLA
So basically Lonavla or Lonavale is a town and a hill station Municipal Council in Pune district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is about 64 km away from the city of Pune, 96 km away from the city Mumbai. Being a hill station, Lonavla is filled with lush green valleys, lakes, caves and waterfalls. The scenic beauty of the hilltop destination fulfills all the requirements that an exotic holiday destination should have. Here are 5 things you ought to do when you go to Lonavla..
1) You MUST visit ….
Sunset Point – Go to Rajmachi Point, popularly known as Sunset Point to see a magnificent sunset.
Forts – Chhatrapati Shivaji Fort and Visapur Fort speak of the great history.
Caves – The Karla and Bhaja cave feature outstanding views.
2) You Must eat … Chiki
Remember when Aamir Khan tells Rani Mukherji “Lonavle mein chikki khayenge, waterfall par jayenge”? Yess, Lonavala’s ‘chikki,’ is a very famous and must try out snack! It is a delicious peanut brittle sweet snack made from rich dry fruits. As soon as you enter Lonavla, you will find numerous shops selling chikki. Funny thing is all the stores are named “THE ORIGINAL MAGANLAL” – story goes Maganlal was the person who discovered this chikki and everybody blatantly duplicated his idea and started selling chikkis under Maganlal’s name. Oh and “Super Chikki” is also popular. Funny huh?
3) Treasure Island
My show was at the Treasure Island – a 3 star hotel in Lonavla. Though a little mismanaged at the reception, the hotel’s pretty and you could keep this hotel as an option if and when you decide to visit the hill station. I didn’t get to spend much time in the hotel but to be honest, I loved the lush green lawn by the pool side. There was a lovely waterfall in the background and it easily accommodated around 500 people! The stage was also beautifully decked up in the night to create an appealing environment.
4) Nirvana Adventures
Mumbai-based Nirvana Adventures offers paragliding courses (three-day learner course) or short tandem flights at Kamshet, 25km from Lonavla. The price for tandems is Rs 3000/- Per head on weekend and Rs 2500/- per head mid week. Must try!
5) The Koli temple
Located outside the Karla Caves, this temple is the place of worship of the Koli fishermen community in and around Lonavala. The temple consists of three west side facing shrines built in a row, which are surrounded by sixteen shrines of additional deities. Navaratri and Chaitra are the main occasions celebrated in the temple, with the community tribes performing Koli dance and folk music. The fishermen community sacrifice goat and chicken to please the goddess, so that their wish is granted by the deity.
So sorry for the delay in posts, once again! Will try to be as regular as possible – exam month u see! Nonetheless to make up for it, here’s a short clipping of my show at Lonavla where I hosted a Bollywood Night. Note – It’s in Hindi!
Till the next post,
Ritwika
