KAAS Pathar

KAAS Pathar (means Plateau) is an area in Satara district of Maharastra famous for flowers which bloom during monsoon around August-September. The place is around 25 km from Satara town. The place is a bio-diversity hotspot recognized by UNESCO. They are wild orchids and grow over a large area forming a colorful carpet over landscape.

We started on one of the last weekends of September which is the peak period. One has to take NH-4 going to Bangalore. From Satara, the route to Kaas is very beautiful especially in monsoon.

valley view on the way to Kaas

A village in the valley

Flowers, lake, sky and the valley

Once we reached there it was choc-a-bloc there. It looked like all city people have descended on the place together. There was lot of honking, parking, walking woes but the view saved the day. Due to growing popularity of place, the forest dept thankfully has put up barricades to prevent people from trampling the flowers. There you find all sorts of people randomly ambling and taking photos from their cheap phones to professional photographs with their macro lenses. There is not much to say but enjoy the view.

Dekha ek khwa

Main flower of kaas plateau

Kaas also has a lake with same name. The area is beautiful during monsoon and anywhere we look is a carpeted with green grass. I have seen western ghats of Maharashtra, Karnataka & Goa during or immediately after monsoon. Arguably one of the most beautiful places in India!