Exploring the Lonar Crater the worlds largest impact crater in basaltic rock.

navinkurian2002

Hi Guys

THE LONAR CRATER
Description » 170 kms. from Aurangabad, is the village of Lonar. Over 30,000 years ago, a falling meteorite struck the area creating the worlds largest impact crater in basaltic rock. Botanists have recently discovered vegetation life forms, not found anywhere else on this planet, in the take of the crater. There are small temples along the lake shore.

http://www.expresstravelandtourism.c...tination.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonar_crater
http://www.iiap.res.in/outreach/lonar.html
http://tellus.ssec.wisc.edu/outreach...nar/rohit.html
http://www.indiayogi.com/content/temples/lonar.asp


Anyone been to Lonar? I am planning to explore this area. Any tips about the best way to reach there and places to stay are appreciated

Cheers
Navin

__________________
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare dream of meeting your heart's longing.

bijapuri

wow, sounds wonderful!
never been there, but would love to by the looks of it.
Let us know all 'bout it!

__________________
lookit me!!!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bijapuri/

Utube fuzzy logic:
http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=bijapuri&p =r

jivan

been there about 6-7 yrs. back. There was a govt. lodge or some kind of couple of big resthouses. There's a lake in the middle although don't think this would be a nice time to be there. Moonsoons would be better but that's upto u. Anyway, one can use the services of a local guide & takes about 3 hrs. to come to the impact area. The area is about 15-20 kms. in diameter. One can do bird-watching in moonsoon/winter season as lots of migratory birds are there. Also saw quite a few ruins & one of the ruins had some fresh running water. If I remember rightly, there was a controversy some years back as it's impact crater or not as the surrounding area also has lot of basalt. Then somewhere things got cleared or at a status quo. Don't know how things are there presently. From Pune know atleast 3 groups who take people from here each yr.

navinkurian2002

Thanks for the info Jivan .Yeah will take your advice, also was told by another freind of mine that going in this season was be extremely hot.

Cheers
navin

navinkurian2002

Finally!! Exactly one year after posting the info I got to explore the place. Though it was scorching hot and there was no electricity at the MTDC hotel during the day. The creater,the temples around the crater and the 30-50 peacocks in the forest were awesome. Will gather my thought and write a more detailed report later.

360-view-from-inside-lonar-crater

capt_mahajan

Looks interesting from your blog... another place added to my growing list, thanks.

__________________
.
Outside the machine

shahronakm

30 - 50 peacocks in the forest sounds interesting. Will look forward for your detailed report.

Ronak.

__________________
My Picture Gallery

roopesh_kohad

Here is a small description I wrote about Lonar when I went there in Dec 2005.

Lonar - This is the pre-historic site of a meteor which crashed on earth some 50,000 years ago and formed a large crater (few hundred meters in diameter) in the ground. Though there are other ’’impact craters’’ in the world but this one is the only in besalt rocks. The pH value of water in the lake which has formed inthe crater is 10.7 which points to its alkaline nature. There are no living organisms in the lake and even trees whose roots get into the lake water dies. This site is must visit for scientifically inclined and for others just for curiosity sake. The lake is beautiful and its first look will surely take your breath away. It is best enjoyed before suset. One could go down upto water level and experience the water which is harmful. There is also a temple of "Kamalja Devi" at the edge of lake. Apart from lake one could visit "Daityasudan Surya Temple" which is a small ruin of Khajuraho like temple, "Gaimukh" which is a perennial source of fresh water with some masonary work done by Peshwas to channelize the water, "Motha Maruti" Hanuman Temple which is a temple built around a magnetic rock supposedly formed from "meteor" effect. One could visit retired principal of local school who accompanied various scientific expeditions (including one by NASA) in the region and has some research material with rock samples. There is an MTDC resort near the crater and one could stay there for its absolute peaceful surroundings. Lonar is ~160 km (3.5 hrs) from Aurangabad which is the closest big city.

noflylist

Adding Lonar to my list

shahronakm

I want to visit Lonar this August, but have some doubts.

1] Will August be a good time to visit Lonar ? MTDC considers August to Jan. as the peak season. Will the rains hamper exploring the place ? I have read that bird life is very good in the area, will it be the case during August also ?
2] Which is the nearest railstation (in terms of getting direct state transport bus to Lonar) Jalna, Malkapur or Aurangabad.

Ronak.

snonymous

Just found this interesting link today
http://www.geocities.com/DrChengalva/Lonar-Crater.html

__________________
Some of My Tall Tales at http://www.travelpod.com/members/indianature
My Flickr photos at http://www.flickr.com/groups/snonymous/

JamesW

We went there last weekend. The drive from Pune took around eight hours, which was a bit more than we expected. Some sections of the road looked like they had suffered multiple meteor impacts. We stayed at the MTDC resort, which was comfortable enough, but fairly basic. Since we only really wanted somewhere to sleep it was fine.

Their restaurant was funny though. They gave us a two sided menu with Indian, Chinese, Veg and non-veg. When we asked for a chicken dish it turned out that they didn't do meat. We tried for a few of the veg dishes, but they didn't do the ones we asked for either. We ended up asking the waiter what they did serve. Lots of dals and palak aloo. We had palak aloo which was very nice. They grow spinach in the fields around the crater, so I suspect it is fresh. I suspect it's also the reason why it is one of the few menu items. There is a good view of the crater from the restaurant. We didn't get any breakfast either because the cook has a day off on Sunday!

The crater itself is worth seeing, but Lonar is in the middle of nowhere, so it might not be worth the effort for everyone. You can walk right down to the lakeside, but the crater walls are steep. We saw a couple of peacocks, and also some antelope just outside of Lonar. There are a number of ruined temples inside the crater. As it is quite jungly in there it reminded me of Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider. The ruins seemed to be populated by rowdy men who might have had a few too many. It was Independence Day, so they might have been taking advantage of the holiday.

Here's some pictures (click for larger versions):

Panoramic view of the crater.


Wife and daughter admiring the view.


Antelope near Lonar.

More here and here.

abracax

Great shots - thanks for sharing. Always wanted to go there, and now that I know it's a desolate ruin the attraction is becoming irresistible. You should check out the shots on Google Earth.

__________________
tbontbtitq (Shakespeare's password)

snonymous

Lovely photos James.

Sad to hear about the rowdy group, these groups are increasingly to be found at all such places especially on holidays - most intimidating and off putting.

Looks like the MTDC has to get its act together, I expect there are no other places on the crater's rim to give them any competition.

I did not realise it was easily drivable from Pune, most people go from Aurangabad or Jalna.

JamesW

Thanks!

Yes, they didn't have much competition. They didn't have many guests either. It would be hard to justify having stock for a full menu when there aren't that many people there. Lonar is really isolated, and you just aren't going to stay for more than a day, so I don't know if improving the facilities would encourage that many more visitors. The room was nice enough, and that's all we really wanted to be honest.

I'm not sure if 'easily driveable' is the right phrase! NH222 between Ahmednagar and where it joins NH211 is appalling. It's one lane wide for long stretches, so you need to overtake with two wheels in the dirt and cooperation from the slower vehicle, enormous potholes, and the route is very badly marked.

A bit more on the last point. NH222 takes a few surprising turns: the road itself goes straight on, but to stay on NH222 you need to turn left or right. Not that there are any signposts to tell you this! What signposts there were tended to be in a state of disrepair, and were unreadable. We relied on my iPhone's GPS and maps on more than one occasion to stay somewhat on course! The rest of the roads are reasonable, but the highway between Ahmednagar and Pune is full of lunatics.