The Indian Nomad

Around 50 kilometers from Pune, aloof  in the middle of Paddy fields and Ghats, a small road head towards a hill top where one of the oldest Buddhist caves are located. These shrines came into existence  within the period of 2 nd century BC to 2 nd century AD. The place,definitely made for prayers by Buddhist monks  corroborated by Stupa kind of structure in its main hall.Not very far away and dated around  the same time,are the caves  of more celebrated  Ajanta and Ellora. We climbed  around 500 steps before reaching the cave site. Karla and Bhaje are situated on different hill tops but the kind of architecture and model does replicate. There are around 16 caves out of which cave 8 is main hall and only accessible to visitors. It is believed these caves are of Mahayana Buddhism. The Caves used to act as Buddhist monastery. There are pillars on both sides of the hall and a stupa is present at the end of hall. On some pillars,eng...

Relationship between Monsoon and Western Ghats is quite special. It is one of the first region of our country where monsoon hits after the scorching summer. As a result, many getaways have come up over the years in the Sahyadri. I am listing out my 5 favorite weekend getaways in Western Ghats which you should try this monsoon.                                                 Lonavala/ Khandala         There is a reason why Aamir khan asked Rani Mukherjee to come to Khandala. This small town on Mumbai-Pune highway is the most famous weekend getaway and you can feel its beauty only by being there.                                                               Matheran   ...