Panchgani is a perfect getaway to recharge your spirit, relax, and feel revived. The air is clean, you can hear the birds chirping, and you can see variety of green shades in the endless grasslands.  Visit Panchgani to reconnect with your loved ones over delicious, healthy snacks and meal. Get relief from stress and boredom.

Beautiful Panchgani was discovered by the British superintendent John Chesson and he was assisted by one Mr. Rustomji Dubhash. The English men were looking out for a summer resort, and they found Panchgani most suitable for the purpose. Pnchgani got its status as a hill station in 1860. John Chesson is credited for doing good work in the hill station; he planted many plant species from the western world in Panchgani; some of the plants like silver oak and poinsettia, which have flourished since then. Mahabaleshwar was the summer resort of choice for the British, but it was uninhabitable during the monsoons. Panchgani was developed as a retirement place for the British because it remained pleasant throughout the year. Panchgani is set in the vicinity of five villages: Dhandeghar, Godavli, Amral, Khingar, and Taighat. Hence the name Panchgani was decided for the hill station. Chesson encouraged various professionals such as tailors, dhobis, butchers, vegetable vendors, building contractors, electricians, carpenters, and hoteliers etc. to settle in Panchgani. He did this to develop the infrastructure of the hill station.

The Krishna River flows below nearby creating the lake of Dhom. The temperature in Panchgani is around 12 degrees during the winter, and sometimes reaches 34 degrees during the summer; however the humidity level is very low. The Monsoon rains hit here hardest and the rainy season spans between June and February, allowing the region three months of relatively dry and sunny spring. The five hills surrounding Panchgani are topped by a volcanic plateau, which is the second highest in Asia after the Tibetan plateau. The tableland is the highest part of the hill station elevated above 4550 feet above sea level covering almost 95 acres. In the months August and September the tableland is covered with lush green emerald carpet of grass. The tableland is raised by pressure between the earth plates. The area has high seismic activity, due to an epicenter near Koynanagar where the Koynanagar Dam and a hydroelectric power plant have been built. Even Koynanagar dam is worth a visit.

Panchgani is a thriving hub of food processing units today. Panchgani is surrounded by vast tracts of arable, agricultural land and is known for its agriculture and agro-business. Panchagani’s proximity to urbanized markets such as Mumbai, Nasik, Nagpur, Aurangabad etc, changing food habits and dependence on ready to eat food, cosmopolitan nature of the city, connectivity to JNPT port has made the processed food cluster of Panchagani very famous. It exports jams, jellies, toffees, pickles, chtanis to many foreign countries. Panchagani cluster is developing very fast and is home to about 3000 plus small and micro entrepreneurs. The cluster produces a range of products comprising semi-processed ready mix products, pickles, jams, jellies, squashes & syrups, Ready to Eat/Ready to Cook products ground & processed spices and papad.

Even today you see a colonial style town in Panchgani. It has many Parsi styles of houses. Go for hiking to the Rajpuri caves or visit Pratapgad fort. It has many handicraft and Kolhapur chappal stalls.  With spectacular valleys, winding river, tall trees, scattered hamlets, greenery and wild flowers Panchgani is indeed the best hill station for a leisure holiday.

If you haven’t visited this incredible, small sized plateau near Satara in Maharashtra, you have missed the striking panorama of nature’s delight. Without wasting any further time, take a trip to this spot because this is the right time of the year just about two months of September and October. The plateau is full of wild flowers with ascetic colors and the blooms which last for about a month and a half.

The plateau is known as Kaas Pathar in Marathi language. The name Kaas originates from Kaasa tree (Elaeocarpus Glandulosus). This tree has a magic; its leaves turn green to red as they mature. It gives white flowers only for 15 days in the month of March. The area of plateau is approximately 1,000 hectare.The Kaas Plateau is situated in the Western Ghats of Shyadri range, just about 22 kilometers from Satara city in Maharashtra state of India. Pathar in Marathi means plateau.

Believe it or not, the entire plateau looks like a carpet of flowers of every hue of colors, they wild and alien, the flowers are small and medium size, with more than 900 different species of flowers, orchids and carnivorous plants such as Drosera Indica which are found only in Kaas.

Wear your walking shoes to keep your feet feeling good mile after mile, be prepared to walk.   Don’t stop, keep moving. Take a good camera to click pictures. Do carry magnifying glass with you so that you can enjoy the beauty of very tiny, micro flowers – they are so tiny in size that if you want to see their beauty with naked eyes you will miss the charm of them; hence carry your magnifying glasses.  Do not pluck the flowers, or don’t even touch them. You are not allowed to do so.

Recently Kaas has been declared as Biodiversity World Heritage Site by The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNSCO). There is a stunning Kaas lake also which is surrounded by dense forests and it lies between Sajjangad fort and the Kanher Dam.

It takes about seven hour drive from Mumbai and 3 and half hour drive from Pune. Due to its beauty it attracts many tourists, scientists, botanists and nature lovers. It seems Kaas Plateau was formed by volcanic actions and is covered by a thin soil cover as a result of which, no vegetation thrives in the region. This area experiences very high rainfall. You will experience sudden showers of big droplets of rains accompanied by fragrant lazing breeze. Due to its unique geographical and ecological features you will find unique flora and fauna in this region. It is one of the hotspots of biodiversity. You will have gratifying experience of trekking through the flowerbeds, enjoy the scenic beauty, if you are tired wait for a while, and take lazy strolls through the meadows.

Best time to visit Kaas Plateau is after the rains till October end. Many people visit Kaas during the rains; however, the plants bloom only in late August.

Recently the procedure for visiting Kaas has changed and it is a BIG change. You have to pre-register yourself on a website. Only 2000 people per day would be allowed to visit the place. This is a good decision taken. The website is www.kaspathar.com  you have to give your details along with the number of people with you. They charge you Rs.10/- per person.

They don’t allow you to park your vehicle on the road at the stretches of the flowers. Instead, you have the following options: 1) Park a few kms earlier and take a government bus to get dropped off in the main stretch. Or you can drive ahead and park at the junction where the main road becomes a one-way stretch from Bamnoli. And, last pieces of advice – visit this heavenly plateau on weekdays instead of weekends. You can avoid the maddening crowd.

Please get energized in the lap of the nature. Visit Kaas.