World's Third Largest Crater - The Mysterious Lonar Crater Lake In Maharashtra

Lonar Lake

Lonar lake is located in Lonar in Buldhana district of the Indian state, Maharashtra. This lake was formed due to the meteor impact which hit the earth 52,000 years ago. This lake was kept as a secret for so many years. And an amazing thing about this lake is that the water in the lake is both Alkaline and saline.

Geologists, ecologists, archeologists, astronomers, and naturalists have studied about this lake. They have even published various aspects of this crater lake ecosystem. This is the “Earth’s largest lake” and only hypervelocity impact crater in the basaltic rock with nearly 1.5 km wide and 137 m below the crater rim. This was created when a 2 million ton meteor hit with a huge force on the earth at 90,000 km/hr.

Only a very few are aware of this beautiful and mysterious place, Lonar lake. This lake became mysterious for the question of how it is possible for the water in the lake to be both Alkaline and saline. Another thing is that this environment supports for the survival of micro-organisms which are rarely found on the earth. This was declared by the studies of NASA scientists and geological survey of India. In fact, a compass doesn’t work in this place. And no one knows what’s at the bottom of the lake.

The Lonar lake has been a secret because no one knew that there exists a lake in that place. Moreover, The UNESCO world heritage sites like the Ajanta and Ellora caves located in Maharashtra were being visited by the tourists. Though this gorgeous lake was just 4 hours drive from Aurangabad, it remained unknown to everyone. The road on this way has strange villages and paddy fields until the Government guest house. The journey to this lake was quite difficult since the path towards the lake was slippery and the quicksand on the banks made it doubtful.

The trek is all the way through the jungle and some temples that are now ruined and became home for insects, bats, and other creepy crawlies. You can also see barking deer, chinkaras, monitor lizards, snakes, and many other amphibians. The forests on the way are completely filled with different kinds of birds that may not be found frequently.

There are many temples surrounded by the Lonar lake which is said to have interesting stories behind them. The Shankar Ganesha temple where you can see a rectangular idol of lord Shiva. The Ram Gaya temple means lord Rama’s departure. The Kamalaja Devi temple which is very famous during the Navratri. The Dhara or Sita Nahanni temple which has a myth that goddess Sita has bathed in that place. The only way to access this temple is the uphill climb which is a very difficult one. The Daitya Sudha temple is an homage to lord Vishnu for slaying the demon Lunasura.

The sculptures around in all the temples has the same kind of appeal as Khajuraho. The erotic depictions and plundering beasts are all carved in stone.

This is all about the Lonar lake located in a place of Maharashtra. Hope this visit will really be a mysterious one. Plan to go to this place while planning for other tourists visit places which are located in this lake’s surroundings.