A Trip to Satara!!!

Have you ever observed that whenever you set for a trip or campaigning, you feel excited as you are gonna enjoy there but it’s on you whether you just enjoy or enjoy with learning, learning means from the people surrounding and nature around you .

So When I got Satara as a place for a project, I felt pretty tensed because other classmates had got place nearer to Mumbai but after visit I feel that it was god’s play that I got such a beautiful place to visit.

What to say about Satara, Do you’all know that how this place was named as Satara, It is named as Satara because the city is surrounded by seven (saat) hills(tara), thus forming the word Satara. Satara is a city which has two sides, one is flourished with greenery and other is plain drought like place with shortage of water. As we had a project to cover Satara as a tourist place. We were already decided to visit all the famous places of Satara. The MTDC has not yet considered Satara as a tourist place, because the information available about Satara is not up to the mark and even website doesn't have anything on it.

Satara is place where one must visit in rainy season as this season is best for visiting Satara. In this season you will get to see lot of waterfalls flowing through the ghats and fog which you will pray for to disappear as your vehicle gets disappeared and the driver, drives your vehicle by bending out of the window to see whether any car is approaching from front side or and any obstacles are there in front or not.  In this all person visiting in rainy season misses the opportunity to see the Valley of Flowers ‘Kaas Plateau’, Its a plateau where more than 15,000 types of flowers blooms everyday. The season of flower blooming is from Sept-Oct-Nov.  But If you visit Kaas in rainy season it will be like chilling wind and a glass of hot tea with Bhajis, that will be something which you will surely enjoy.

So when I was roaming there one thing which I stroked my mind is that the language and the dialect is Marathi speaking but it is actually a melodic dialect of Satara people. In a way it is good to hear and one can understand also properly. Walking on the road full with fog and climbing the mountains and searching for places by getting down in the midst of the road and exploring is a fun in a different way.

Climbing the mountains and trekking and reaching the most famous Pratapgad, the fort which gives the sheer feeling of authoritative and respectful feeling like a king. The great view you get to see from pratapgad is marvellous, and feels untouched nature, In Pratapgad there is a very old temple of Bhavani Devi. This temple looks beautiful and it is the oldest temple from the years, when Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj use to rule. There is also some hidden route to Pratapgad and many trekkers who know that route takes and enjoy trekking to Pratapgad. It is a very huge fort, there are old Ballistic Guns and sword being kept. There is a beautiful shop of artefact's, which are being sold and one can even buy photographs of the fort,  which are available in the form of postcards, and there are key chains, decorative items and other fashionable products  being sold under the Satara Tourism initiative. There are many shops inside the fort where one can have delicious food like bhaji and misal pav. Looking at shops I couldn't resist myself from tasting food there and had myself and it was superb and tasty.

Then I went to Ajinkyatara Fort. It is close by the main Satara city. While climbing the fort I observed that the people of satara are very cautious about their health because there were some people doing yoga on the way under the tree and some were running and climbing up and down the fort. when I reached up my eyes couldn't shut my eyelids because the view was like awesome. One can give the "Ek tha Tiger" picture pose like salman khan because the whole city and the hills surrounding were visible from top of the fort. The fort have a temple inside and some historical facts  are also attached to it as the place called char bhinti is near to the fort. On the fort there were groups of people who I met, they told me that they everyday climb and walk down the fort.

The moment I left the fort, the view of the city was not going from my eyes, I felt like staying there in night and just keep on waiting and looking at the clouds passing away from the height and the activities going on in the city from the fort. The next place I visited was Sajangad, where the fort was not actually a fort but it was transformed into a religious place  known as Swami Samarth Temple and and many other temples were there on the top of the fort. Even there was some relics and ancient artefacts and idols which were preserved in the fort. After worshiping, When I was getting down the view around the fort was mesmerizing and full lush of greenery spreaded along the mountains with a small island in the middle of the lake. Then I visited Tosegarh waterfall, which is a famous tourist destination. It was a marvellous waterfall streaming and gushing water flowing down and the deepness one cannot mind of jumping off and if then directly one will reach heaven instead of reaching to the end of waterfall. Having a kidda inside I went near the mouth of waterfall and it was damn beautiful . While awaiting there watching the gushing water I thought of if one can even do water rafting keeping in mind of the danger you may face there.But as I was alone the question of rafting was not possible. Then I returned back home but when I was in Satara, I felt that the city have a very silent life with hardships as agriculture is the part of living there. Here, I got to know that there are people who like to leave their daily chore and spend time alone and observe and enjoy the simplicity and serenity of nature. Even I saw that here the food they serve is very delicious as Satara is very close to Kholapur.Here the food is spicy but it tastes really well. The best dish I had when I was in Satara was Bhakri with Rassa Chicken. It still brings water to my mouth.

In Satara, people are very religious and there is historical and cultural festivals and other activities are organised. In Satara there are many temples and religious places like pandharpur and shingnapur nearby which is making the city as religious city. In Satara, Festivals plays a very different role according to me because when I was there in Satara. The way Nagpanchmi festival is being celebrated in Mumbai is drastically different from the way of Satara. Here, the women dresses well and then do the puja and then they come out of their home and starts playing with each other. It was a very different way which I have seen till now. The women play games and complete their puja of Nagpanchmi with joy. Still there are many things which I want to write about because its endless but in the end Satara is a city where you will feel the silence, devotional powers and adventures of discovering places and learning through nature.