Matheran is an automobile-free

hill station A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...

and a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

in the

Karjat taluka Karjat taluka, is a taluka in Karjat subdivision of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra State of India. Area The table below shows area of the taluka by land type. Villages There are around 118 villages in Karjat taluka. ''For list of villa ...

of the

Raigad district Raigad district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �aːjɡəɖ, previously Colaba fort, Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The district was renamed to Raigad fort, Raigad after the fort that ...

located in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. Matheran is part of the

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Mumbai Metropolitan Region (abbreviated to MMR and previously also as Greater Bombay Metropolitan Area), is a metropolitan area consisting of Mumbai (Bombay) and its satellite towns in the northern Konkan division, of the Maharashtra state in we ...

, and one of the smallest hill stations in India. It is located in the Western Ghats, at an elevation of around 800 m (2,625 feet) above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. It is about 90 km from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, and 120 km from

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

. This proximity to these urban areas makes it a weekend getaway for many. Matheran, which means "forest on the forehead" (of the mountains) in Marathi, is an eco-sensitive region, declared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. It is Asia's only automobile-free hill station. There are many hotels and Parsi bungalows in the area. Old British colonial architecture is preserved in Matheran. The roads are made of

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

earth.

History

Matheran was identified by Hugh Poyntz Malet, the then

district collector A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal reven ...

of Raigad district in the May of 1850.

Lord Elphinstone Lord Elphinstone is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created by King James IV in 1510. History The title of Lord Elphinstone was granted by King James IV in 1510 to Sir Alexander Elphinstone of Elphinstone, who was killed at the Battle of ...

, the then

Governor of Bombay Until the 18th century, Bombay consisted of seven islands separated by shallow sea. These seven islands were part of a larger archipelago in the Arabian sea, off the western coast of India. The date of city's founding is unclear—historians tr ...

laid the foundations of the development as a future hill station. The British developed Matheran as a getaway from the regional summer heat. It is also the birthplace of freedom fighter

Veer Bhai Kotwal Vithal Laxman Kotwal (alias Bhai) was a social reformer and revolutionary from Neral, Maharashtra, India. He laid down his life in the freedom struggle of the country. He was killed in an encounter with the British police officer DSP R. Hall wh ...

. The Matheran Railway The

Matheran Hill Railway The Matheran Hill Railway (MHR) is a narrow-gauge heritage railway in Maharashtra, India, which is administered by the Central Railway. It covers a distance of , cutting a swathe through forest and connecting Neral to Matheran in the Western ...

was built in 1907 by Sir

Adamjee Peerbhoy Sir Adamji Peerbhoy (13 August 1845 — 11 August 1913) was an Indian business magnate, philanthropist and member of the Dawoodi Bohra community based at Bombay in British India. Adamji Peerbhoy was born in 1846 in Dhoraji, Princely State of Gon ...

and covers a distance of , through forest land. The railway was inspected by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

officials, but failed to make it to the list of the World Heritage Sites. India's other Hill Railways like the

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

Railway, the

Kangra Valley Kangra Valley is a river valley situated in the Western Himalayas.Nilgiri Mountain Railway are already on the list. Old Matheran Railway Engine

The Toy train was shut down for the most part in 2016 and 2017. It became re-operational since 26 January 2018 and was e-inaugurated by the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Devendra Fadnavis. However, it was temporarily suspended again after a landslide in the 2019. Thereafter, it operates shuttle rides between Aman Lodge and Matheran Station on an hourly basis.

Soil and rocks

Geographically the rock types are solely composed of Deccan trap with inter trappeans of Cretaceous, Eoceuerage and laterites of a still younger age. The rock is basalt, which has given rise to secondary alteration known as laterite. The laterite predominates the hills and almost covers the hilltops. This makes the hard exposed surfaces of the laterite show red gravelly earth. The soil has a vermicular or pisolitic structure and contains a large amount of water. There is little soil cover over most of the hilltop. The topmost layer of rock is a soft porous iron-clay, through which there is drainage of water by the beginning of summer.

Forest and vegetation

Semi-evergreen forests are present in the Matheran. The trees are evergreen, making the plateau forests very dense and even congested in places. The laterite, porous soil along with very heavy rainfall mixed with dense fog has resulted in unique flora rich in diversity on the plateau. The forests show vegetation in top, middle and ground storeys. The trees form a cover over a large variety of shade loving herbs, climbers, ferns and mosses. The forests of Matheran have attracted many botanists: Smyth J.Y.(1871), Birdwood H.M. (1886) and (1896), Cooke T. (1887–1901), Woodrow G.M. (1897–1901), Irani N.A.(1962), Satyanarayann & Mudliar (1959), Vartak, V.D.(1966), Kothari & Moorthy (1993). A good collection of the dried plants is deposited in the

Blatter Herbarium The Blatter Herbarium (BLAT), in St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, is a major Herbarium in India. It is listed in the ''Index Herbariorum'', published by the International Association for Plant Taxonomy and New York Botanical Garden. The Herbarium s ...

, St. Xavier's College, Bombay, Mumbai. Matheran has a huge number of medicinal plants and herbs. It was declared an Eco-Sensitive zone (ESZ) by the Union Environment Ministry on 4 February 2003. The declaration as ESZ has led to the stoppage of developmental activities and construction of hazardous industries.

List of trees reported to be found in Matheran

The vegetation of the area depends on the type and depth of the soil. Due to poor soil depth, the vegetation on the edges of the plateaus is poor. Due to heavy rainfall, dissected hilly terrain and excessive leaching of the soil, the exposed areas become less fertile and become less moisture retentive, resulting in shallow rooted vegetation. It is required to plant trees to protect the soil cover from losing its valuable humidity and fertility. The winds are very strong and blow from west or southwest during monsoon and also dry winds blow during the three months from January to March. These winds tend to shear and bend the plants while absorbing their moisture.

Wildlife

The town also has a large

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

population, including bonnet macaques and Hanuman langurs. Domesticated horses for riding are also in large numbers and are one of the icons of Matheran. Inside the forests, animals like barking deer,

Malabar giant squirrel The Indian giant squirrel or Malabar giant squirrel (''Ratufa indica'') is a large multi-coloured tree squirrel species endemic to forests and woodlands in India. It is a diurnal, arboreal, and mainly herbivorous squirrel. Distribution and ha ...

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

es,

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

s, mongooses can be found. But these animals are rare in numbers compared to the monkeys and usually do not venture to places with human activity. Leopard Sightings There have been reports of leopard sightings in Matheran a few times in last decade. Leopards are not known to dwell in Matheran however. Dense forests in the valleys surrounding Matheran have been suspected of housing them. Their dwindling population in India however has led their sightings to be extremely rare nowadays. There have been zero reported incidents of leopard attacks in Matheran.

Demographics

As of the 2001 India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Matheran had a population of 5139. Males constituted 58% of the population and females 42%. Matheran had an average literacy rate of 71%; male literacy being 75%, and female literacy being 66%. In Matheran, 11% of the population was under 6 years of age. Languages spoken include

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Geography and Climate

Matheran is located at . It has an average elevation of 800 m (2,625 ft) above sea level. Lying in an elevated region, it has a cooler and dryer climate relative to its surroundings, which makes it popular during the summer months. Temperatures range from 32° C (90° F) to 16 °C (61 °F).

October to November

The monsoon retreats prior to this time period, making the temperature cool, but not humid. Such weather facilitates sightseeing.

December to February

The winter months are cool with the temperature usually staying above 11 °C. While the days are mostly sunny, evenings and early mornings tend to get a bit chilly. Couples prefer this time period to visit Matheran for their honeymoons.

March to May

The temperatures can go over 35 °C during the day. However, tourists do not report displeasure despite the tempereature.

June to September

This time period sees heavy rainfall in Matheran.

Transportation

Matheran is connected to Mumbai (100 km) & Pune (120 km) by rail and road, with the closest railway station being in the foothill town of Neral. The nearest airport is the

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport is an international airport serving Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). It is the second busiest airport in the country in terms of total and international passenger traffic aft ...

Rail

Matheran has a narrow gauge railway station in the town center. The old

offers several daily trains to Neral. The toy train is connected to the mainline rail route at the Neral Junction. Mini train or toy train service started between Neral and Matheran from 22nd October 2022 . The train between the Aman lodge and Matheran is also in place at intervals of approximately every hour having approximately 85 seats. Presently 2 up and 2 down train service has been started. The first train starts at 850am from Neral, second train is at 220pm. You will reach Matheran at 1130am and 5pm respectively. Matheran to Neral trains are at 245pm and 420pm that will reach Neral at 530pm and7pm respectively.

Road

There is a taxi service available from the Neral railway station till Aman Lodge, while bus services are available from the railway stations of Neral and Karjat both. No automobiles except for a Municipality operated ambulance are allowed inside Matheran.

Non-automobile transportation

Ahead of Aman Lodge, the only available transport facilities are

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s and hand-pulled rickshaws.

Emerging solutions

The Municipality has expressed its interest in permitting electronic rickshaws beyond Aman Lodge as well. However, this has seen opposition from many Matheran locals. Despite this, test trials for the above solution have been granted authorization by the Municipality.

Places of Interest

Altogether, there are 40 points, two lakes, two parks, four major worship places and a

race course A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

to visit in Matheran.

Viewpoints

The following are some of the major viewpoints on Matheran: # Alexander Point Alexander Point Matheran

#Rambaug Point Rambaug Point Matheran 2

# Little Chowk Point # Big Chowk Point # One Tree Hill Point # Belvedere Point # Lord's Point Lord's ViewPoint Matheran

# Celia Point # Echo Point Echo Point Matheran1

# Monkey Point Monkey Point Matheran

# Porcupine Point (also known as Sunset Point) # Panorama Point (also known as Sunrise Point) # Khandala Point # Madhavji Point # Louisa Point Louisa Point Matheran

# Myra Point # Maria Point # Garbett point: This is the least visited point in Matheran as it is very far away from central Matheran, when compared to the other points. The vast green stretch of Garbett plateau serves as a major attraction during monsoon.

Historical places of interest

# Forts: The hill station has two medieval forts in its close proximity, them being

Prabalgad Prabalgad (also known as Muranjan, Pradhangad or Prabalmachi) is a fort located between Matheran and Panvel and comes under the Raigad District in the state of Maharashtra, India. The Prabalgad Fort stands at an elevation of in the Western G ...

and Pebkilla. The Vikatgad fort is also a trekking destination, which is connected to the hill hosting Matheran itself. # Horse Race Courses: Olympia Race Course (established in 1892–93 by Sir Dhunjibhoy Bomanji). # The Matheran railway Station

Religious Places of interest

# Pisarnath Temple # Matheran Shiv Mandir

Lakes

The water to the Matheran is supplied from Lake Charlotte. This dam overflows during monsoon, making it a tourist attraction.

Parks

The "Paymaster park" at Matheran is maintained by the local Municipality. Games for children and pagodas are organised here .

Trekking Routes

Matheran has various trekking routes, reported to be easy to traverse over by tourists:

Sunset Point Route

This route starts from Dodhani village and ends at the Sunset Point at Matheran. This is the most popular route for trekkers.

2) Garbett Point Route

This route starts from "Sagachiwadi", a small tribal village near the Dhom dam. This is the second most popular route.

3) Rambaug Point Route

This route goes from Rambaug point to a small village called Pokharwadi near Chowk village. The route passes through a waterfall during the rainy season. There is a view of the Morbe Dam's backwater while going through this route.

4) One Tree Hill Route

The route's base village is the Ambewadi village. Ambewadi is near Pokharwadi, where the route to Rambaug point begins. There is a view of the Morbe Dam's backwater while going through this route.

5) Vikatgad Route

This is reported to be the most difficult trekking route of Matheran. It starts from the base village Mamdapur and takes about 3 hours to reach Matheran via the Vikatgad fort. All treks have been reported to take between 2 and 3 hours to be completed. The Rambaug Point and One Tree Hill routes are usually not taken by any trekkers nowadays.

Gallery

File:MatheranHS4.jpg, The pathways File:MatheranHS5.jpg, The trek route through One Tree Hill File:MatheranHS2.jpg, Tourists at Charlotte Lake File:MatheranHS3.jpg, The forest File:MatheranHS7.jpg, The toy train File:Sunset point in Matheran1.jpg, Sunset Point in rains File:Matheran Hillstation 1.jpg, Steep hills around Matheran File:View of Neral from Matheran.jpg, View of Neral

References

External links

*
Matheran Hill Railway Schedule
at India Rail Info
Neral to Matheran Light Train Timetable

Fresh attempts to get heritage status for Matheran Light Rail – Indian Express (14 January 2013)

''Matheran A Practical Guide''
by Shailendra Patil and published by Rainbow Adventures. {{Authority control Tourism in Maharashtra Hill stations in Maharashtra Cities and towns in Raigad district Mountains of the Western Ghats Tourist attractions in Raigad district