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Morachi Chincholi

I had read somewhere about a place which has more than 2,000 peacocks in the entire vicinity. So, one fine morning this monsoon we found ourselves driving down to a small village called Morachi Chincholi in Maharashtra.

Throughout the journey I was visualizing myself surrounded by & dancing with those beautiful birds. The child in me wanted to do some more mischief, just like I used to, when I was actually a child.
dancing peacock in Morachi chincholi @lemonicks.com

Dancing in full glory.

Morachi Chincholi‘, means ‘village of dancing peacocks’, and true to its name, it indeed has abundant of them! On reaching we were told that the best time to spot the peacocks in full grandeur is in the morning between 6 and 8 am and in the evening between 5 and 7 pm.

In this village only option of a stay is a homestay. Staying in a typical village house which has no compound wall but 3 water wells, swings and lots of fruit trees from which you can pluck the freshest of Guavas, mangoes, custard apples, has its own charm. Plenty of greenery, cows, bullocks, dogs, and last but not the least… the colourful peacocks & peahens strutting around us added to our zest.

peacock in Morachi chincholi @lemonicks.com

Dancing peacock

Come evening, our host guided us in fields, set our boundaries so we do not go beyond lest peacocks fly away. He knew exactly where the peacocks had perched & the places where they dance at specific times.

“Peacocks are to appear near those trees”, he pointed towards trees at a faraway distance.
What? Won’t they come closer?
No. Then he left.

Armed with tripods we waited for peacocks to make an appearance. We could see farmers working in the fields at a distance. Soon the peafowl appeared. But they felt threatened every time one of us moved to capture a better photograph. Now we knew why our host had instructed us to sit down and not move at all. So we had to sit like fearful chicken in front of those birds. 🙂

dancing peacock in Morachi chincholi @lemonicks.com

Strolling in the fields.

I started wondering if they’d dance now. The peacocks were, however, comfortable around farmers. They hardly paid any attention to them and moving slowly, soon went about eating, wooing without any fear.

The sight of royal peacocks fanning their feathers, dancing in rhythm for their lady love was just too breathtaking. Then I noticed something unusual and it made me laugh every time I saw it. Impressed and somewhat wooed, whenever a peahen approached a dancing peacock, he’d just turn around excitedly and show her, his fluttering back.
Oh shucks! Would I have to content with capturing their derriere? Not to mention, majority of my photos have their equally beautiful derriere too!
peacock in Morachi chincholi @lemonicks.com

Derriere is equally beautiful. 🙂

I had seen pirouetting peacocks before, including ones with white feathers. But this experience of capturing them in camera while containing my excitement was something new ! Their hoarse calls sounded like songs to me. Oh! This was a very beautiful sight ! I was soon lost in their world.

Suddenly it struck; I reprimanded my husband “Have you ever sung or danced for me?”.
And there it was. My peacock dancing for me. 🙂

Plan your trip to Morachi Chincholi : The best time to go to Morachi Chincholi is during monsoon or just after that as this is breeding period for the peafowl.
Homestays are the only option. Even without any luxury, one can be assured of a warm hospitality of villagers and the authentic Maharashtrian village experience.

Road directions: It is situated on Ahmednagar-Pune Highway at a distance of around 220 Kms from Mumbai. It is reachable by NH4 or by Expressway by taking the Lonavla exit to take the NH4 to reach Talegaon. At Talegaon juncture take a left on Pune Nashik road. Travel till Khed (20 kms) and Pabal. After Pabal, take a left turn for another 10 kms to reach Morachi Chincholi.

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P.S.- This article, Morachi Chincholi belongs to Le Monde, the Poetic Travels, one of the top Indian Travel Blogs, published by the traveling couple bloggers, Nisha & Vasudevan. Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. If you are viewing this on another website other than the RSS feed reader or www.lemonicks.com itself, then that website is guilty of stealing our content. Kindly do us a favour by letting us know via Contact Us. Thank you.

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n j j

44 thoughts on “Morachi Chincholi”

  1. @Mridula,
    You go to so many places in north which we can only think of. 🙂
    Come sometime & we can plan to go together. 🙂

    Thanks, the picture is really captured well.

  2. Nice! Back in India, my home’s in Indore, but on the outskirts of the city, next to a lake beyond which is a forest. So, as a kid, summer vacations, especially near monsoon time, was all about spotting dancing peacocks in the jungle and finding small unripe mangoes 😀

    Nowadays, as the number of trees have reduced (sigh!), the peacocks are becoming more adventurous and they often visit the gardens of my house as well! My mom took some photos a while back.. http://idrinkmyteasweet.com/2010/05/30/garden-mein-mor-nacha-meri-mom-ne-dekha/
    She later even took videos of peacocks dancing on our terrace! 🙂

  3. Thanks for telling about this wonderful place. I would have appreciated also a picture of your husband dancing for you! 🙂

    I love peacocks but somehow the images never capture their shining colours the way nature has made them!

  4. Wow ! I did not even know of this place. Ok. this has now joined the list of places to visit around Mumbai during monsoons. And before I forget, beautiful photograph of the er… derriere 😀

  5. @Shirinidhi,
    For some reason your comment had landed in spam. 🙂

    @Lori,
    Can you please give me the link of that post ?
    White peacocks are rare in India. I have a photo with a white peacock in Australia. 🙂

  6. @Abhijit,
    Your comment had a link in it and my spam filter doesn’t like it. 😀 Good that you mentioned here & I checked. 🙂

    Even I have some videos which I am yet to upload. Do check my account on Youtube. 🙂

  7. oh my… 2000 peacocks… i wish i could see themm..and homestay and eating fresh guavas …mouth watering stuff this is..makes one feel like going there…and maybe the peacocks were living with the farmers around for so long that they were not afraid of them… but marvelous pics i say… bravo 🙂

  8. @PNS,
    Ha Ha yes, derriere is also good. 🙂

    @Israr,
    Living in cities sometimes we miss so much of these rural, closer to nature things that we envy them.
    Yes, the peacocks are very comfortable with those farmers.

  9. Wow!! Very nice pictures. Truly loved the first click. Looks a promising place. Homestays are indeed growing 🙂 … Thanks for the share. I will try to check out whenever I plan a drive to Goa from Delhi 🙂

  10. @Dheeraj,
    Thank you.
    Hmmm… Will it come on the route from Delhi to Goa?

    Looks like you are a great fan of roads…. unlike me. 🙂

    P.S.- Your link isn’t working.

  11. Awesome Nisha, I love these pics 🙂

    Another place I can recommend for dancing peacocks in NID campus in Ahmedabad 🙂 There are so many of them that we even forget they exist and hence they dance more and more to get our attention (apart from the peahens, of course) 🙂

  12. Hey Nisha, I guess it will not come on road from Delhi to Goa but again we need to go to Pune as well to meet few of my friends and then resume journey towards Goa with them. This is the plan whenever that trip materialize, as of now my little one is too young and not ready for such long drive 😀 … may be as he turns one then we will give a try next year.

    Perhaps, I am a big fan of roads because it helps me meet my two passions simultaneously: Driving as well as Traveling 😀 …

    P.S. Yes had tough time last day due to some changes done by hosting guys. Now, it is fixed and links are working.

  13. There is a Chincholi in Belgaum Dist. too., I was wondering if this is the same until I read the directions. Staying in the village would be lovely is’nt it?

  14. Wow! These are exquisite shots Nisha. I have seen peacocks in Rajasthan and UP, dancing also, but never been able to capture them. I am too mesmerised by the view to do anything else, next time I must try taking a shot or two. Thanks for sharing this.

  15. @Santosh,
    You are welcome. 🙂

    @Dheeraj,
    Don’t take your little one for such a long road journey just because you love it, he may not like it. 🙂

    Have been going thru all your photos & stories.

  16. @Arti,
    Yeah, it’s difficult to capture them for to reasons. One, they are mostly very distant from us. Second, they are very fidgety in nature.
    Glad that you liked them. 🙂

    @Neeraj,
    Sure, let me know when you visit it. 🙂

  17. Morachi Chincholi is really nice weekend getaway near Pune. I’d visited morachi chincholi with my family. At morachi chincholi we have experienced the authentic rural lifestyle. We’d enjoyed all sorts of rural activities at morachi chincholi. We are too busy in our daily routine,here we get a welcome escape from hectic daily schedule. We were touched by the hospitality provided by the local villagers. It was the amazing experience ever.

  18. Morachi Chincholi is great place to enjoy holiday. Here you can enjoy rural activities i.e. bullock cart ride, tractor ride, magic show, puppet show. It is best place to enjoy with family. Morachi Chincholi is famous for their peacocks. There are lots of peacocks.

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