Mahabaleshwar is another famous hill station of Maharashtra. This hill station is 4,500 feet above sea level. Mahabaleshwar experience an average of 200 to 300 inches of rainfall a year. The best period to visit this hill station is between October to May and it is best to avoid this hill station during the rainy season.

One person named Colonel Lodwick(later he became a General),  was one of the first European to climb these hills. Lodwick felt so exhilarated by the invigorating cool climate and scenic beauty of Mahabaleshwar that he sent a letter extolling these points to the "Bombay Courier", thus bringing this hill station into focus. He was rewarded for extolling these features of Mahabaleshwar with a monument aptly called "Lodwick Point".

Sir John Malcolm took the hint about the beauty, sublime and the invigorating climate and in 1828 established a sanatorium for the sick and a resort for the healthy by acquiring the land from the Raja of Satara in lieu of another territory. Boy Malcolm, as he was lovingly called, had a penchant for hunting tigers and other game so much so that the new town was originally named ' Malcolmpeth' in his honor. To him one owes the foundation of Mahabaleshwar.

Mahabaleshwar is an evergreen vast plateau with long beautiful roads, both walkable and good for horse rides & with long foot paths along forest. Mahabaleshwar lies in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra around lake Venna, which is a very popular destination for boating. It is a vast green plateau of about 150 sq. kms which is about 4500 feet above sea level. Mahabaleshwar has always a moderate temperature; it is never too hot because of the height and never too cold because of the nearness to the Arabian Sea. The best season to visit Mahabaleshwar is around October till December. Hotels cater to the tourist round the year including the rainy seasons.

GENERAL INFORMATION

LOCATION

Mahabaleshwar, Queen of all Hill Stations, is situated at an altitude of 1,372m in the heart of Sahyadri Hills in Satara District.The jungle of Mahabaleshwar is thick & produces many commercial as well as medicinal trees & plants. The wild life is limited to foxes, jackals, & wild boars. Deers & bisons are found in the brahma aranya area. Panthers are rare. The famous bird in the urdu poetry, Bulbul is found everywhere in the plateau. The weather of Mahabaleshwar & healthy & contains an ideal of 20% oxygen which is often agumented in  foggy weather of late summers & early monsoon, when the pleateau is covered by thick mist. The water contains a meager percentage of iron which helps to increase hemoglobin in the blood. The hill station has a legendary past.  But, some say that the name 'Mahabaleshwar', which simply means very mighty God, seems to have a mythological past.

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