January 1, 2015
From: MB/Mumbai
On top of Mumbai
Mrityunjay Bose
This is one place from where you can see three lakes together: there would be very few places like this in India or across the globe. Jambulmal, the highest peak of Mumbai – located inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in the northern suburbs of India’s commercial capital, is unique in many respects.
Besides being the topmost point of Mumbai, one can see three lakes clearly from a machan – the Tulsi lake, Vihar lake and the Powai lake. On way to the top from the two plateau’s that come in between – one can see the tall buildings – the concrete jungle, a view from within the real jungle. And when one commences the ascent, one can see the majestic Kanheri caves - a complex of 100-plus caves. Plus, during the trail, one learns the art of being in wilderness and there is a chance to see a variety of animals and birds. It would not be a surprise, if one can spot a leopard or note its presence by other means.
SGNP, spread over 103 sq kms in Mumbai and neighbouring districts of Thane and Palghar - is the only national park in the world, which is located inside a metropolitan region. Often referred to as the “city forest” or “green lung” of Mumbai, there are several trails to explore inside – and the ‘Highest Point Trail’ or Jambulmal (also spelled as Jambhulmal or Jhambulmal) is the most interesting.
The great views of forests, hills, valleys, lakes and open expanses – is something which makes it interesting.
Reaching from main gate of SGNP, a protected area, one has to reach the Kanheri caves, which comes under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and from here the actual trail starts. The trail is about 3 kms – and takes over three to four hours for amateurs to reach Jambulmal machan, which is around 486 metres from the sea level.
“This trek is always quite rewarding and with every season has got it's own specialty. I prefer to go just after rains when there is a good butterfly population and some rarely seen wild flowers grow around this place,” says Isaac Kehimkar, the General Manager-Programmes of BNHS-India, who is a veteran naturalist and country’s foremost butterfly expert.
The latest Jambulmal trek of BNHS-India was conducted by Vandan Jhaveri and Prachi Galange, who has been here several times, who say that the period between November and February, offers the best to the people who love nature.
According to them, this medium-grade trek leads one through fine forest and narrow trails in the midst of thick Karvi bushes that open out to a magnificent view of the city and the three lakes Tulsi, Vihar and Powai. “Along the way one explore the biodiversity of the interiors of the park, otherwise restricted without permission. The Gaimukh plateau along the way is known for raptor sightings while the trail should afford us excellent views of forest birds like White-browed Bulbul, Puffthroated Babbler, Purple Sunbird, Indian Grey Hornbill, Brown-headed Barbet, and Greater Rackettailed Drongo,” said Atul Sathe, the spokesperson of BNHS-India.
‘It is interesting…one learns a lot while going there,” said Samir Gulavane, an avid conservationalist.
A visit here is really rich – a blend of nature, archaeology and history and how today Mumbai looks - as the trail progresses one learns about the Kanheri caves - the word comes from Sanskrit 'Krishnagiri', which means black mountains. One can see the caves, the basaltic rock, the vegetation, the water management system of those times.
As far as the SGNP is concerned, the rich and diverse forest holds more than one thousand species of plants, 40 species of mammals, 251 of birds, covering migratory, land and water birds, 38 species of reptiles, 9 species of amphibians besides a large variety of fishes. The park is a tree lovers delight in all seasons with the great amount of bio-diversity, ranging from Adina cardifolia (kadamb), Albizzia lebbek (Shirish), Pongamia pinnata (Karanj), Tectona grandis (Teak) Dalbergia latifolia (Sishum) to Acacia, Zizyphus and evergreen patches of Euphorbia .
The Kanheri caves located well within the park area is a major point of interest, presenting an accessible and interesting glimpse of the history and the culture of Buddhist India. Most of these 109 Buddhist caves, chiseled out of the volcanic rock are simple small chambers, known as viharas , the cells for monks). A few are larger and deeper chambers known as chaityas, for congregational worship. The main one which has colossal figures of standing Buddha, 7 mts in height, on each side of the entrance porch, a colonnade of 34 pillars surrounding the interior halls and an overtopped stupa (shrine) bat the far end, all carved from the stone in place. These caves are dated from 1st century B.C. to 9th century A.D. indicating a well-organized Buddhist establishment of monks existed on an ancient trade route connecting a number of trade centers & Indian ports. In this area there are nearly more than 100 inscription, out of these, three are in Pallavis, two in sanskrit, one in Devnagri & rest are in Brahmi script.
“This site is very important for archeological studies, coming here is always enriching,” said Vinayak Parab, a journalist, whose photographs on of archaeological sites of Mumbai, has been published in ‘Stories of Stone: Historic Caves of Mumbai’ co-authored by Dr Suraj Pandit and Arun Narayanan.
According to Vidya Ahthreya-founded Mumbaikars for SGNP: “It is the only ‘city forest’ of its kind benefitting diverse groups of people. This is especially true of the tribes which depend on this forest and exude immense respect towards its wildlife. For example, some of the tribes worship large cats and there are local beliefs about not harming this animal as it would invite bad luck. This has perhaps influenced the tolerance levels of communities that have lived in close quarters with wildlife but have still managed to ensure the survival of a large cat like the leopard in the concrete jungle of this metropolis.”
From: MB/Mumbai
On top of Mumbai
Mrityunjay Bose
This is one place from where you can see three lakes together: there would be very few places like this in India or across the globe. Jambulmal, the highest peak of Mumbai – located inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in the northern suburbs of India’s commercial capital, is unique in many respects.
Besides being the topmost point of Mumbai, one can see three lakes clearly from a machan – the Tulsi lake, Vihar lake and the Powai lake. On way to the top from the two plateau’s that come in between – one can see the tall buildings – the concrete jungle, a view from within the real jungle. And when one commences the ascent, one can see the majestic Kanheri caves - a complex of 100-plus caves. Plus, during the trail, one learns the art of being in wilderness and there is a chance to see a variety of animals and birds. It would not be a surprise, if one can spot a leopard or note its presence by other means.
SGNP, spread over 103 sq kms in Mumbai and neighbouring districts of Thane and Palghar - is the only national park in the world, which is located inside a metropolitan region. Often referred to as the “city forest” or “green lung” of Mumbai, there are several trails to explore inside – and the ‘Highest Point Trail’ or Jambulmal (also spelled as Jambhulmal or Jhambulmal) is the most interesting.
The great views of forests, hills, valleys, lakes and open expanses – is something which makes it interesting.
Reaching from main gate of SGNP, a protected area, one has to reach the Kanheri caves, which comes under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and from here the actual trail starts. The trail is about 3 kms – and takes over three to four hours for amateurs to reach Jambulmal machan, which is around 486 metres from the sea level.
“This trek is always quite rewarding and with every season has got it's own specialty. I prefer to go just after rains when there is a good butterfly population and some rarely seen wild flowers grow around this place,” says Isaac Kehimkar, the General Manager-Programmes of BNHS-India, who is a veteran naturalist and country’s foremost butterfly expert.
The latest Jambulmal trek of BNHS-India was conducted by Vandan Jhaveri and Prachi Galange, who has been here several times, who say that the period between November and February, offers the best to the people who love nature.
According to them, this medium-grade trek leads one through fine forest and narrow trails in the midst of thick Karvi bushes that open out to a magnificent view of the city and the three lakes Tulsi, Vihar and Powai. “Along the way one explore the biodiversity of the interiors of the park, otherwise restricted without permission. The Gaimukh plateau along the way is known for raptor sightings while the trail should afford us excellent views of forest birds like White-browed Bulbul, Puffthroated Babbler, Purple Sunbird, Indian Grey Hornbill, Brown-headed Barbet, and Greater Rackettailed Drongo,” said Atul Sathe, the spokesperson of BNHS-India.
‘It is interesting…one learns a lot while going there,” said Samir Gulavane, an avid conservationalist.
A visit here is really rich – a blend of nature, archaeology and history and how today Mumbai looks - as the trail progresses one learns about the Kanheri caves - the word comes from Sanskrit 'Krishnagiri', which means black mountains. One can see the caves, the basaltic rock, the vegetation, the water management system of those times.
As far as the SGNP is concerned, the rich and diverse forest holds more than one thousand species of plants, 40 species of mammals, 251 of birds, covering migratory, land and water birds, 38 species of reptiles, 9 species of amphibians besides a large variety of fishes. The park is a tree lovers delight in all seasons with the great amount of bio-diversity, ranging from Adina cardifolia (kadamb), Albizzia lebbek (Shirish), Pongamia pinnata (Karanj), Tectona grandis (Teak) Dalbergia latifolia (Sishum) to Acacia, Zizyphus and evergreen patches of Euphorbia .
The Kanheri caves located well within the park area is a major point of interest, presenting an accessible and interesting glimpse of the history and the culture of Buddhist India. Most of these 109 Buddhist caves, chiseled out of the volcanic rock are simple small chambers, known as viharas , the cells for monks). A few are larger and deeper chambers known as chaityas, for congregational worship. The main one which has colossal figures of standing Buddha, 7 mts in height, on each side of the entrance porch, a colonnade of 34 pillars surrounding the interior halls and an overtopped stupa (shrine) bat the far end, all carved from the stone in place. These caves are dated from 1st century B.C. to 9th century A.D. indicating a well-organized Buddhist establishment of monks existed on an ancient trade route connecting a number of trade centers & Indian ports. In this area there are nearly more than 100 inscription, out of these, three are in Pallavis, two in sanskrit, one in Devnagri & rest are in Brahmi script.
“This site is very important for archeological studies, coming here is always enriching,” said Vinayak Parab, a journalist, whose photographs on of archaeological sites of Mumbai, has been published in ‘Stories of Stone: Historic Caves of Mumbai’ co-authored by Dr Suraj Pandit and Arun Narayanan.
According to Vidya Ahthreya-founded Mumbaikars for SGNP: “It is the only ‘city forest’ of its kind benefitting diverse groups of people. This is especially true of the tribes which depend on this forest and exude immense respect towards its wildlife. For example, some of the tribes worship large cats and there are local beliefs about not harming this animal as it would invite bad luck. This has perhaps influenced the tolerance levels of communities that have lived in close quarters with wildlife but have still managed to ensure the survival of a large cat like the leopard in the concrete jungle of this metropolis.”
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