Memoirs of 2009: Travelogues – 5 [ Unlocking the mysticism behind the ever alluring Lonar Crater ]

Buldhana district comes under the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. In spite of being surrounded by few of the richer districts of Maharashtra such as Aurangabad, Jalna, and Amravati, as a whole Buldhana district is very poor. Such is the state of the district even though it contains one of world’s highly preserved treasures; the well known astronomical gem – the Lonar Crater.

We recently had a chance to visit the place. Just to add to reader’s knowledge, Lonar lake is created by a meteor hitting the earth. It is the second largest (largest in Asia and the only one in India) impact crater in basaltic rock. The crater is quite huge with about 1.5 Km diameter. It is a lake which has huge importance for the studies of geologists, ecologists, archaeologists, naturalists and astronomers to conduct various experiments.

The place is clean and heavenly beautiful. I somehow found some kind of mystic peace in the surroundings. The crater, the salt water lake, various old and dilapidated temples especially, the Daitya Sudan temple, the surrounding mountains, each and every surrounding monument possess in itself an ascetic mysticism. The place is highly secluded and lonely. (In spite of we being there in a tourist season and we witnessed lacs of tourists at Ajanta just the other day which is hardly about 250 odd Kms from Lonar.) After spending a few hours in that area, I started thinking as to why such a geographically and archaeologically important site has been left highly ignored. Well, after doing some mental analysis, I found few logical answers:

1. Location of the place: Lonar is not located very near to any major city. The nearest city is Aurangabad which is about 200 to 225 Km. away.

2. Lack of amenities: The place is highly secluded placed in inner parts of Buldhana with not much amenities available in the surrounding areas. In the whole of Lonar, we could find only one decent hotel of that of MTDC which is being recently built. As can be guessed, the hotel is not at all well maintained in spite of it being situated at a scenic location.

3. Difficulties in reaching towards the lake: Somehow, Maharashtra tourism department has not created concrete steps to reach towards the lake. Whatever steps available are quite broken and the way towards the crater is extremely steep which makes it almost impossible for small kids or 50+ people to even think of getting near the lake.
This has simply acted as a blessing in disguise as the area surrounding the lake remains quite clean.

4. Presence of salt water: Lonar lake is a salt water lake meaning that it can’t be used as a source of potable water. I guess that also might have led to its ignorance by localites.

5. People’s perceptions: Indian tourists often visit places which fall under only few select criteria such as pilgrimage, historical monument, hill station or a beach resort. Lonar crater doesn’t fall under any of this thus taking a backseat in people’s priorities.

I think all the above reasons have given this place a kind of loneliness, aloofness, a feeling of separation from the crowd. This loneliness which is observed in and around Lonar has given it an enigmatic appeal of its kind. We saw few once beautiful temples in ruins. Their architectural styles resemble that of Konark temples. But again, there are hardly anyone willing to pay a visit to them – No pujari and no devotee.



I was simply amazed by this place. Thoughts galore in my mind! According to me, Lonar Crater is just like an ascetic saint, abstaining from all the worldly desires, meditating peacefully in a secluded place, away from crowd; a Yogi in its own right. Like a saint, this crater hardly cares for any attention from the tourist, scientists or even the government for that matter. It is vast and deep at the same time which shows its magnanimity. It is above all the worldly pleasures, the joys, excitements, fears, sorrows, and pains of life. Like a true saint, the crater looks worldly wise and modest at the same time for all its uniqueness.

All of these are my perceptions. The interpretations would change from person to person. But the mystic and enigmatic charisma that the crater carries with itself is quite unique in its own right and I do hope that such a charisma would persist for many centuries to come.



Next: Decoding the expressions of few of the amazing Ajanta paintings