Lonavala

OSI-India (Pune)

25 April 2015

To celebrate the end of the school year our girls enjoyed an educational and scenic day visiting sites in the beautiful Lonavala region in the hills between Pune and Mumbai

Lonavala (Lonavla) refers to both a town and region in the midst of the mountain range that lies between Pune and Mumbai.  Its proximity to both cities and its rugged, beautiful landscape makes it a popular destination.  As such, Lonavala is home to numerous famous temples, centres for meditation, yoga, and ayurveda, as well as the typical day-trip tourist attractions.

Our Day

We left our Janata Vasahat neighbourhood at 8:00 in the morning in a single tightly-packed bus.  However, we yet managed enough space to dance and sing for the entire 2-hour journey to Lonavala!  We first enjoyed the increasingly-beautiful scenery as we left urban Pune behind and began ascending the mountain slopes.  Reaching Lonavala, our first stop was Kaivalaydham, a famous research center for yoga and ayurveda, spread over a beautiful landscaped 180-acre campus.  We toured the whole facility and enjoyed a film presentation.  We also enjoyed a very full, vegetarian lunch, and some leisure time to wander the park-like grounds.  Our next destination was a Wax Museum where we 'met' famous international and Indian persons.  Our final stop for the day was the beautiful new Saibaba Temple at Shirgaon, and architectural and artistic marvel.

Acknowledgements

Our Mahek and Umera were quite proud that our trip was provided in full by their sponsor Margaret Mahfouz from the UK.  Margaret also provided for our Chincholi Marachi excursion in 2012, and has made numerous other contributions to our effort, besides being a most committed sponsor!  So we are forever grateful to you dear Margaret!  Besides a wonderful day, you have once again provided a life-long memory for so many girls...
And as always, many thanks to Mukta, Shrada, Harshada, and Ghadravi for coordinating the trip, for the above photos, and for their endless patience and efforts for the girls!
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