Matheran Maharashtra
Matheran is a hill station and a municipal council in Karjat Tahsilin the Raigad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The smallest hill station in India, it is located on the Western Ghatsrange at an elevation of around 800 m (2,625 feet) above sea level. It is about 90 km from Mumbai, and 120 km from Pune. Matheran's proximity to many metropolitan cities makes it a popular weekend getaway for urban residents. Matheran, which means "forest on the forehead" (of the mountains) is an eco-sensitive region, declared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. It is Asia's only automobile-free hill station.
Location
Country India
State Maharashtra District Raigad
There are around 38 designated look-out "points" (viewpoints) in Matheran, including the Panorama Point that provides a 360-degree view of the surrounding area and also the Neraltown. From this point, the view of sunset and sunrise is dramatic. The Louisa Point offers crystal clear view of the Prabal Fort. The other points are the One Tree Hill Point, Heart Point, Monkey Point, Porcupine Point, Rambagh Point, and more. To stay there, there are plenty of hotels. There are many Parsi bungalows. Beautiful old British-style architecture is preserved in Matheran.The roads are not metalled and are made of red laterite earth.
About
Geographically the rock types are being solely composed of Deccan trap with inter trappeans of Cretaceous, Eoceuerage and laterites of still younger age. The parent element is Basalt, which has given rise to secondary rocks, known as laterite. The laterite predominates in the hills and almost cover the hill tops, therefore in the hill region the hard exposed surfaces of the laterite shows red gravelly earth. The soil has a vermicular or pisolitic structure and contains much water. Over almost the whole hill-top there is little soil cover. The topmost layer of rock is a soft porous iron-clay, through which, by the beginning of the hot season, the whole rainfall has drained.Matheran was identified by Hugh Poyntz Malet, the then district collector of Thane district in May 1850. Lord Elphinstone, the then Governor of Bombay laid the foundations of the development as a future hill station. The British developed Matheran as a popular resort to beat the summer heat in the region. Matheran is the birthplace of famous freedom fighter Veer Bhai Kotwal. He was born on 1 December 1912 in a Barber family. The state government has built a monument in his memory. The Matheran Hill Railway was built in 1907 by Sir Adamjee Peerbhoyand covers a distance of 20 km (12 mi), over large swathes of forest territory.[4]The Matheran hill railway, also known as Matheran Light Railway (MLR), was inspected by UNESCO world heritage site officials but failed to make it to the list as a World Heritage Site.
Flora and Fauna
The forest type of Matheran is semi evergreen forests.[6] The trees are evergreen, making the plateau forests very dense and even congested in places. The luxuriant growth represents the climatic climax of the forest. The laterite, porous soil along with very heavy rainfall mixed with dense fog for 4-5 has resulted in unique flora rich in diversity on the plateau. The forests show vegetation in top, middle and ground storey. The trees form a cover over large variety of shade loving herbs, climbers, ferns and mosses. The forests of Matheran have attracted many botanists who have studied the flora of Matheran: Smyth J.Y.(1871), Birdwood H.M. (1886) and (1896), Cooke T. (1887–1901), Woodrow G.M. (1897-1901), Irani N.A.(1962), Satyanarayann & Mudliar (1959), Vartak, V.D.(1966), Kothari & Moorthy (1993).[7] A good collection of the dried plants is deposited in Blatter Herbarium, St. Xavier's College, Bombay, Mumbai. Matheran has a huge number of medicinal plants and herbs. Matheran was declared an Eco-Sensitive zone(ESZ) by the Union Environment Ministry on 4 February 2003[8] and can be called a health sanatorium in itself.The declaration as ESZ has led to the stoppage of developmental activities and construction of hazardous industries.The town also has a large monkeypopulation, including bonnet macaquesand Hanuman langurs. The nearby Lake Charlotte is the main source of Matheran's drinking water. Inside the forest animals like leopard, barking deer, Malabar giant squirrel, fox, wild boar, mongoose are found.
Attractions
There are altogether 28 points, two lakes, two parks, four major worship places[12] and a race course to visit in Matheran. It takes about 2–3 days by foot for a complete tour of all the points. Important points are Alexander Pt., Rambag Pt, Little Chowk Pt, Big Chowk Pt, One Tree Hill Pt, Belvedere Pt, Olympia Race Course, Lords Pt, Charlotte Lake, Pisharnath Mahadev Mandir, Celia Pt (a water fall mouth), Echo Pt., Porcupine Pt (Sun Set Pt), Panorama Point (Sun Rise Pt), Khandala Pt, Madhavji Garden & Point, Matheran Railway Station, Louisa Point, Mayra Point, Pisarnath Temple, Matheran Shiv Mandir.View points like monkey and echo are famous for steep cliffs, deep ravines. One day trekking to vikatgad is an adventurous experience along the cliffs and deep ravines.
Transportation
Matheran is well connected to Mumbai (100 km) & Pune (120 km) by rail and road, while Neral is the nearest rail station. The Matheran Light Railway (MLR) offers limited seats for each trip. You can even hire a local van to travel till the Dhindi Point. From Dhindi Point you have to walk for about 30 minutes along the railway track to reach Matheran. The only form of automobile allowed in Matheran is an ambulance operated by the Municipality. No private automobiles are allowed in Matheran. Within Matheran transport facilities available are horses and hand-pulled rickshaws. People who cannot walk are suggested to contact the Neral railway officials to check whether the toy train is operating or not.The Toy train was shutdown for most part 2016-2017. But it is now operational since January 26th 2018 and was e-inaugurated by the Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis. Only 1 Ride from Neral to Matheran and it leaves Neral @6:40 AM in the morning and reaches Matheran around 9:40 AM. Thereafter it operates shuttle rides between Aman Lodge and Matheran Station on hourly basis and at 3:30PM it returns back to Neral from Matheran. It takes 2 hours to Travel for return journey. In Matheran you will get horses as a mode of transport. Because of landslides during the rain fall, the toy train services may be terminated temporarily. The nearest airport is Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai that is located around 100 km away from Matheran. Matheran has a narrow gauge railway station in the town center. The old Matheran Hill Railwayoffers several daily trains to Neral. The toy train connected to the mainline rail route at Neral Junction. Neral Junction is well connected by local trains from CST along the CST-Karjat route. The train covers a distance of 12 miles in an hour thereby allowing the passengers ample time to soak in the beauty of the surroundings.The IRCTC conducts tour packages for the railway trip[4] Any Pune bound train from CST(Mumbai) reaches Neral in approximately two hours.to get there you have to take train from Mumbai to Neral junction;from Neral to Matheran by narrow gauge trains that depart at 8.40am, 11.00am, 5.00pm. Trekkers prefer to travel by State transport bus from Panvel to Dodhani ( 15 km). From Dodhani it is an hours trek to the sun set point of Matheran. This trek is very safe and easy to walk. Many trekkers prefer it during monsoon.This path passes through forest area, with lots of streams and lush green trees.
Location
Country India
State Maharashtra District Raigad
There are around 38 designated look-out "points" (viewpoints) in Matheran, including the Panorama Point that provides a 360-degree view of the surrounding area and also the Neraltown. From this point, the view of sunset and sunrise is dramatic. The Louisa Point offers crystal clear view of the Prabal Fort. The other points are the One Tree Hill Point, Heart Point, Monkey Point, Porcupine Point, Rambagh Point, and more. To stay there, there are plenty of hotels. There are many Parsi bungalows. Beautiful old British-style architecture is preserved in Matheran.The roads are not metalled and are made of red laterite earth.
About
Geographically the rock types are being solely composed of Deccan trap with inter trappeans of Cretaceous, Eoceuerage and laterites of still younger age. The parent element is Basalt, which has given rise to secondary rocks, known as laterite. The laterite predominates in the hills and almost cover the hill tops, therefore in the hill region the hard exposed surfaces of the laterite shows red gravelly earth. The soil has a vermicular or pisolitic structure and contains much water. Over almost the whole hill-top there is little soil cover. The topmost layer of rock is a soft porous iron-clay, through which, by the beginning of the hot season, the whole rainfall has drained.Matheran was identified by Hugh Poyntz Malet, the then district collector of Thane district in May 1850. Lord Elphinstone, the then Governor of Bombay laid the foundations of the development as a future hill station. The British developed Matheran as a popular resort to beat the summer heat in the region. Matheran is the birthplace of famous freedom fighter Veer Bhai Kotwal. He was born on 1 December 1912 in a Barber family. The state government has built a monument in his memory. The Matheran Hill Railway was built in 1907 by Sir Adamjee Peerbhoyand covers a distance of 20 km (12 mi), over large swathes of forest territory.[4]The Matheran hill railway, also known as Matheran Light Railway (MLR), was inspected by UNESCO world heritage site officials but failed to make it to the list as a World Heritage Site.
Flora and Fauna
The forest type of Matheran is semi evergreen forests.[6] The trees are evergreen, making the plateau forests very dense and even congested in places. The luxuriant growth represents the climatic climax of the forest. The laterite, porous soil along with very heavy rainfall mixed with dense fog for 4-5 has resulted in unique flora rich in diversity on the plateau. The forests show vegetation in top, middle and ground storey. The trees form a cover over large variety of shade loving herbs, climbers, ferns and mosses. The forests of Matheran have attracted many botanists who have studied the flora of Matheran: Smyth J.Y.(1871), Birdwood H.M. (1886) and (1896), Cooke T. (1887–1901), Woodrow G.M. (1897-1901), Irani N.A.(1962), Satyanarayann & Mudliar (1959), Vartak, V.D.(1966), Kothari & Moorthy (1993).[7] A good collection of the dried plants is deposited in Blatter Herbarium, St. Xavier's College, Bombay, Mumbai. Matheran has a huge number of medicinal plants and herbs. Matheran was declared an Eco-Sensitive zone(ESZ) by the Union Environment Ministry on 4 February 2003[8] and can be called a health sanatorium in itself.The declaration as ESZ has led to the stoppage of developmental activities and construction of hazardous industries.The town also has a large monkeypopulation, including bonnet macaquesand Hanuman langurs. The nearby Lake Charlotte is the main source of Matheran's drinking water. Inside the forest animals like leopard, barking deer, Malabar giant squirrel, fox, wild boar, mongoose are found.
Attractions
There are altogether 28 points, two lakes, two parks, four major worship places[12] and a race course to visit in Matheran. It takes about 2–3 days by foot for a complete tour of all the points. Important points are Alexander Pt., Rambag Pt, Little Chowk Pt, Big Chowk Pt, One Tree Hill Pt, Belvedere Pt, Olympia Race Course, Lords Pt, Charlotte Lake, Pisharnath Mahadev Mandir, Celia Pt (a water fall mouth), Echo Pt., Porcupine Pt (Sun Set Pt), Panorama Point (Sun Rise Pt), Khandala Pt, Madhavji Garden & Point, Matheran Railway Station, Louisa Point, Mayra Point, Pisarnath Temple, Matheran Shiv Mandir.View points like monkey and echo are famous for steep cliffs, deep ravines. One day trekking to vikatgad is an adventurous experience along the cliffs and deep ravines.
Transportation
Matheran is well connected to Mumbai (100 km) & Pune (120 km) by rail and road, while Neral is the nearest rail station. The Matheran Light Railway (MLR) offers limited seats for each trip. You can even hire a local van to travel till the Dhindi Point. From Dhindi Point you have to walk for about 30 minutes along the railway track to reach Matheran. The only form of automobile allowed in Matheran is an ambulance operated by the Municipality. No private automobiles are allowed in Matheran. Within Matheran transport facilities available are horses and hand-pulled rickshaws. People who cannot walk are suggested to contact the Neral railway officials to check whether the toy train is operating or not.The Toy train was shutdown for most part 2016-2017. But it is now operational since January 26th 2018 and was e-inaugurated by the Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis. Only 1 Ride from Neral to Matheran and it leaves Neral @6:40 AM in the morning and reaches Matheran around 9:40 AM. Thereafter it operates shuttle rides between Aman Lodge and Matheran Station on hourly basis and at 3:30PM it returns back to Neral from Matheran. It takes 2 hours to Travel for return journey. In Matheran you will get horses as a mode of transport. Because of landslides during the rain fall, the toy train services may be terminated temporarily. The nearest airport is Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai that is located around 100 km away from Matheran. Matheran has a narrow gauge railway station in the town center. The old Matheran Hill Railwayoffers several daily trains to Neral. The toy train connected to the mainline rail route at Neral Junction. Neral Junction is well connected by local trains from CST along the CST-Karjat route. The train covers a distance of 12 miles in an hour thereby allowing the passengers ample time to soak in the beauty of the surroundings.The IRCTC conducts tour packages for the railway trip[4] Any Pune bound train from CST(Mumbai) reaches Neral in approximately two hours.to get there you have to take train from Mumbai to Neral junction;from Neral to Matheran by narrow gauge trains that depart at 8.40am, 11.00am, 5.00pm. Trekkers prefer to travel by State transport bus from Panvel to Dodhani ( 15 km). From Dodhani it is an hours trek to the sun set point of Matheran. This trek is very safe and easy to walk. Many trekkers prefer it during monsoon.This path passes through forest area, with lots of streams and lush green trees.
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