Kaas Plateau, it’s a beautiful “Valley of Flowers” situated 25Kms from Satara City of Maharashtra, India. My trip to this surreal beautiful place goes back to the, Year of 2011. The moment I entered the place, the poet in me came alive.

Yeh Pholon Ki Wadi,
Yeh Jheel Sa Pani,
Yaad Dilati Pariyon Ki Kayee Kahani,
Chupke Se Aake Dil Yeh Bole,
Bus Yahin Thum Ja,
Bhagti Hoyee Zindgani.

It was monsoon of 2011, and August was the month. Best part of stay in Pune, it has lot of weekend gateways to offer.

It was a random trip. Friday night after office hours, we decided, we are going to Kaas Plateau next morning. Kaas is around 130 Kms from Pune, drive of 3 hours. Next day around 8 am, we started our journey. Within 4 hours we reached Satara.

1) Thoseghar Waterfall
First we went to waterfall. The walk to the waterfall was very green and scenic, and the view of the waterfall was just spectacular. It was beautiful site, lush green surroundings. Place was stunning due to monsoon. We stayed there for an hour.

2) KAAS Lake
Then, we headed towards Lake. We sailed through the lake. Green hills around, sound of gushing winds, chirping of birds. Perfect place to rejuvenate again.

3) Sajjangarh Fort
Evening we headed towards Fort which is around 18 Kms from Satara. We climbed around 300 steps to reach the top. It has temple on the top.
We took part in the evening prayer, and was offered free food. The whole atmosphere was spiritual.
We stayed in the temple, spent our night in one the rooms available for visitors. Night we roamed around the fort, clear sky, countless stars, fresh air, twinkling fireflies . It was momentous relief from the hectic city life.

4) KAAS Plateau
Next day morning, we started our journey towards plateau.Valley of Flowers of Maharasthara. It is around 25Kms from Sajjangad.
It is a biodiversity hotspot known for various types of seasonal wild flowers bloom. Kaas has more than 850 different species of flowering plants. These include orchids, shrubs such as the Karvy, and carnivorous plants such as Drosera Indica.
Vehicles were not allowed inside the plateau. We parked our vehicle at the entrance. Started our walk. Then starts our awestruck journey, really on earth such a fairyland exists.
Endless colorful flower bed, green carpet of nature, beautiful landscape. It was beautiful site from some Walt Disney movie. For us, it was best opportunity to photograph ourselves in the unrealistic, amazingly beautiful, nature’s unbelievable creation. We didn’t realize 5 hours passed in a moment.








In 2012 this place became part of a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site. Now, one has to be pre-register to visit the plateau.

5) Chalkewadi Windmill Farms
From here was the turn of our next destination, windmill farms. It was magnificent terrain, and so many windmills dotted the hills.
They were quite intimidating, because they were really big, than anticipated. It reminded me of one of the stories which read during school days, The Adventure of Don Quixote, who thought windmills were giants, and starts fighting with them.
For me as well those windmills were  gigantic, never seen before.


After spending couple of hours, and with beautiful memory of picturesque places, we headed back toward Pune.
For these amazing captures courtesy-Fazeel Farooqui...