I had always wanted to visit the Lonar crater in Maharashtra; it never failed to fascinate me through photos and whatever information I had. So when I got an opportunity to visit Aurangabad, I made a point to make a dash to this place as well. How I reached there or returned back, is another interesting adventurous story but this post is about Lonar lake.
Although Lonar lake is third largest meteorite crater in the world, there is no commercialization of the place. Travel information on the net regarding this place is very sparse and though people are aware of this lake, not many of them have visited it. It is neither a touristy place nor been taken care of, to make one. There are no signboards and one has to depend on the local people for everything. Not that I mind it one bit… it lets me interact with them. 🙂
Besides countable no. of tourists, this place is visited by researchers, geologists and scientists from all over the world as well as by the serious nature lovers or adventure seekers.
The lake is around 50 thousand years old. The water is saline in nature; my guide mentioned it has substantial quantity of sulphur and phosphorus too. The outer diameter of the lake is 1.83 kilometers and the circumference is around 6-7 Kms. Descent to lake i.e. distance from the rim to ground level is about 140 meters.
Me holding a piece of basalt rock. It is porous and very light in weight.
It was August end and I was standing on the rim of the crater with a panoramic 180 degree view. And it instantly took my breath away ! The sylvan crater walls were enticing with lush green trees and so was abundant emerald green water…. in almost perfect round lake. It was one of the most captivating sights I have ever seen. The vast expanse of crater lake had mesmerized me forever. There was no way I could have returned back without hiking down the lake and taking a round of it.
But you try this activity only if you are physically fit, into some hiking and do not have any kind of breathing problem. My next post will be on tips for hiking to this place.
A natural wonder.
Color of the still water is an amazing shade of emerald green. I did not see any ducks or fishes; probably the water is too alkaline to support them.
From ground level, it’s just too captivating.
The crater has a vast richness in biodiversity and hence is home to a myriad variety of flora and fauna. As you walk around the lake, you can see and listen to several animals and birds like rabbit, deer, monkeys, snakes, monitor lizards, wolfs, peacocks, cuckoos, robins and pea fowls and many others creepy crawlers which are found in abundance in the dense jungle around the lake.
Mating time.
There are said to be twelve temples around the lake, not all of them functional on daily basis but good enough to make a halt during your hiking.
One of the temples.
One of the functioning temples.
Where to stay:
The only option to stay in Lonar is MTDC ‘resort’ unless you opt for much cheaper lodging facilities near the market or main bus station. The resort is situated right across the lake. Thanks to unpopularity of the place, the accommodations are usually vacant and hence easily available.
The food available at the restaurant is quite tasty and low-priced. From the restaurant one can sip evening tea watching the sun set while strong cool breeze whips against the face. What a bliss !
The other side of this poorly maintained resort is that at times the website doesn’t work and nobody picks up the phone even during office hours if you try to book the rooms. But as I mentioned, chances are very high to get an accommodation. The electricity goes off quite often and they do not have a generator. The attached bathrooms are dirty and don’t even ask me about the common lavatory on first floor adjacent to the restaurant.
A view from MTDC resort.
Getting there:
Since Lonar is a very small place, it does not have a railway station or an airport.
By Air: Nearest airport is at Aurangabad at a distance of 125 km from Lonar.
By rail: The nearest big railway station is Jalna on Mumbai-Nanded line at a distance of 90 kms. There are plenty of trains coming from every direction and from here one can hire a private/shared taxi or take a bus to Lonar.
By road: The best route to reach Lonar by road is through Aurangbad. From Mumbai, one can reach Lonar by taking the Mumbai – Aurangabad – Jalna – Lonar route. If you are coming from Ajanta caves, then the route would be via Chikhli, Mehkar, Sultanpur. But during heavy rains, dam water is released, roads are submerged and part of this route cuts off so much that even buses can not ply let alone smaller vehicles. That’s exactly what happened when I travelled.
From Aurangabad there are several buses which ply regularly to Lonar. Private non AC car (mostly Indica) would cost you around INR 2000/- (bargain if you can) for a day trip from Aurangabad.
Best Time to visit:
Though Lonar can be visited anytime of the year, my personal choice would be just after monsoons till winters when the climate is very pleasant & favorable for hiking and the scenery is totally lush green.
Also, during Navratri, the villagers go down the lake to offer prayers at different temples & dargah. It’ll be great to be a part of them.
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This post Visiting Lonar lake is part of https://lemonicks.com.
ON MY MUST VISIT LIST
Yes, after monsoons I shall go. Love the lush greenery then. Thanks for a lovely post.
Nice info . Looks like a great place to visit.
Awesome pictures
(I wish you did not CAPTCHA code..I always have to enter three times to get it right)
Great pictures…never heard of this place…must visit
Thank you for sharing and providing such grt infos… pics were awesome…
Lovely indeed! I don’t know this part of the world much but it is so appealing!
Awesome clicks.
Nice images.
You definitely grabbed my attention with this article. I added it to my India list… :)Seems a great place to recover from the crowd, too!
MagicEye, Celine,
Yes, it is a good place away from city.
Dhiraj,
Welcome to my den.
Yes, it deserves a visit. Let us know when you do it.
And keep coming.
A,
Thank you.
I will try to do something about Captcha, right now I am travelling. Let me touch my home-base.
Nalini,
Many people have not heard since it is not a touristy place. 🙂
Pooja,
The place is more awesome than the pictures. 🙂
Have you seen these pictures ?
https://lemonicks.com/Travel/2010/10/18/photo-feature-lonar-lake/
Zhu,
Do visit this side of the world sometime, you’ll find amazing things. 🙂
Pratibha, Umashankar,
Welcome to this site.
And a big thank you. 🙂
Fida,
Thank you. I have just posted all tips & precautions to take care while visiting the place.
Let me know when you come, we’ll go there together. 🙂
We also went in August, but it was not this green.
🙂
Bindhu,
Are you looking for an excuse to go again ? 😀
First of all thanks for reading my blog and appreciating it.. You are right that we did not take full round walk around the lake. I guess, we should have covered around 1/3rd of it. All in all it was a nice experience. You visited this place in monsoon so it should have been different experience. You mentioned that you did not spot any ducks around the lake. Probably it’s because it was monsoon season. When we were there in November there were some migratory birds specially ducks..
Between, I changed the setting for commenting option.. I had no idea about it. .Thanks for the suggestion 🙂
Hi Nisha
Came across your site through a post in IndiaMike. Your list of visited places is indeed very long!!!
We will be travelling to Aurangabad from Mumbai in Feb and out of the 3 days, we plan to spend 1 day in Lonar. Could you please share information on the following if possible-:
1. Travel arrangement and details from Auragabad to Lonar and Back. The reason for asking this is we would ideally like to hike down early in the morning and we are not sure if there would be transport avilable to ensure we reach Lonar early enough
2. Guide details at Lonar if possible
3. If you did visit the Daityasudan Surya temple or skipped it entirely
Regards
Anshulee
Sushant,
You are welcome here.
Glad that you enjoyed Lonar lake. You can take the round next time. 🙂
Thanks for the settings.
Keep coming.
Anshulee,
Looks like you have not fully read this post. 🙂
Here is my suggestion.
1. Best option would be to reach there previous evening and stay at MTDC which is right in front of the lake.
Otherwise if you can afford, hire a car from Aurangabad for a day trip to Lonar. A private non AC car (mostly Indica) would cost you around INR 2000/-. But start your day really early. Buses will take more time.
2. Writing a mail to you with details of guide.
3. I skipped Daityasudan Surya temple; had to catch a train from Aurangabad that night. 🙂
There is a tourist guide name Chaitanya kayande…..If Anyone is interested to see the Lonar….Contact him.