Magic Of Fireflies At Rajmachi

Rajmachi - a small village in Maharashtra is famous for the trek, fort and FIREFLIES. It is located in the amidst of the semi-deciduous forest in Sahayadris. Located 15kms from the very famous and beautiful hill station Lonavala. It houses two fortified structured forts - the Shrivardhan (east) and Manaranjan (west). During the first Anglo-Maratha war these forts played a major role.

The best time for this nature trek is during May-June. Pre-monsoon climate is the ideal period for fireflies and glow-worms for mating and in pursuit of the mate, hundreds of fireflies gather together on a tree displaying their bioluminescent lights in the dark night. Dense forest is just the perfect place for these twinkling creatures for this kind of ritual. And this is the exact time when we can experience synchronous twinkling of hundreds of fireflies. It is an overnight trek or if you wish to witness only the phenomenon without any trekking, there are sumos which will take you directly to the base of the Rajmachi village named Udhewadi village (P.S-the tiny houses in the village serve the best vegetarian food). After reaching the base, enjoy the food and have a stroll in the Rajmachi forest plateau towards an old 2-century old reservoir at the southern end, where you would see the twinkling flies in maximum number. The duration when me and my friends visited was in the first week of June. It was only in my dreams I expected something like these to be seen also in real life. Once in a lifetime experience to actually see something glowingly flying around. Even at the campsite at around 3 AM, we could have a view of the fireflies around the tent and sleep like we are in the bed of nature. And waking up in the blanket clouds in the morning is an amazing feeling.

Picture credits: walkers_paradise (instagram)