Feast To The Eyes! Maharashtra's Valley Of Flowers, Kaas Plateau!

Kaas plateau, The Valley of Flowers of Maharashtra! The place is full of wild flowers which are rare to be seen elsewhere.  People come here from far off places for enjoying and research purposes.

We had been here, at the Kaas Plateau, last September...I had never heard of this place before our visit.  Son wanted to have a look at this famous (for Botanical students and nature lovers) place, during our road trip to Maharashtra. We started from Satara at 6 am. Couldn't have even tea, so early in the morning.  The route was good, weather was good and so we enjoyed the ride.

We had reached here at the right time of the blooming of flowers (the season is from August to September...monsoons).  Let me quote some facts about this place from Wikipedia and  their website, Kaas website :

The Kaas Plateau also known as the "Kaas Pathar" is a plateau situated in the Western Ghat Sahyadri range, 22 kilometers from Satara city in Maharashtra and is known for various types of wild flowers which bloom during August-September every year.   The area of plateau is located at a height of 1200 mts. and is approximately 1,000 hectare. It has been declared as Biodiversity World Heritage Site by The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The place has more than 850 different species of flowers.

The flora of Kaas i. e. the entire flowering plants and their related plants are typically restricted to that particular locality only. This is because the plateau is largely formed of basalt which is directly exposed to atmosphere. The basalt is covered almost entirely by a thin cover of soil formed due to erosion and has accumulated a layer of not more than a inch or so. This soil is neither black nor lateritic. At certain places water gets accumulated because of uneven surface. Such places appear like small puddles which harbour a typical marshy flora. Because of this particular situation of soil, the plants growing on Kaas plateau are typically of herbaceous nature of like grasses. Botanically the flora is labeled as “herbaceous”. The small shrubs and trees are located at the periphery of the plateau.

Heavy fog, drizzle, little sun were taking turns to entertain us! That is me walking in the drizzle!

We came here by car.  We can't use cars here, it seems, only jeeps.  We have to hire/book for them before coming here and it is better to hire a guide too. I and son enjoyed walking nearly 3 Kms. on this road. Tab was the guide! Husband was reluctant to walk in this road!

This patch is yet to be covered with flowers and the next one has got flowers!

Karvi flowers, which bloom once in 7 years. We were lucky to see them. 

We met some nature enthusiasts like Mr.Kulkarni who are regulars here.  He said that every year the plants are depleting.  We may not recognize this place after another 5-6 years, he said.  Felt very sad.

Click on the pictures to have a good impact pl.

The plateau seems to change the colours after every 15- 20 days as the cycle of flowering plants progresses with the monsoon progress since June to October. We saw buds of different coloured flowers in between these plants.  They take turns to pop out, I think! Once the whole area will be pink, then white and then yellow!

Carnivorous flower?!        

A Botanist who was there, said that this flower is called Hanuman's mace!

This is the famous 'lotus pond' at Kaas.  Missed to add this yesterday.  We were too early to see them in full bloom.  They need Sun to open themselves.  It is a beautiful sight, we were told.  We were a bit early and the drizzle and fog didn't help them to bloom, bad luck!

We roamed in this area until around 10.30.  Had to drive for another 15mts. to locate a vegetarian hotel.  Poha and masala chai were good!

We could see boards at many places asking people not to walk on the meadow, but our people would not bother to follow them.  Could see some plastic bags and bottles on the sides of the path.  Nothing is given importance here.  We might lose this place soon.  What can government do, if people are indifferent.  

Visit this beautiful place as early as possible and enjoy! Week ends will be crowded, we were told!

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P.S.: You can have a look at a beautiful video of the flowers here!