Saputara Lake lays placid and unruffled right in the center of the bush country, guarded circularly by the Sahyadri Hills. Chilled water, green envelope and availability of convert the whole area into a choicest of picnic spot of Saputara. Go on any day and you will find leisurely families lazing in the sun and kids taking up boat ride in the lake; the sign tells you are not in the prohibition of the country. Though for many the Lake is a single enticement but boating in the Lake gets you on the other side of the scenic story. The lake is 21 m in depth and abuzz with activities ... continued
Saputara Gardens: Alongside the greenery and lake-strewn vistas, Saputara has a few gardens for people to take the breather in between long walks. To make a choice from a boutique of gardens: Lake Garden, Step Garden, and Rose Gardens welcome its guests. Visiting Millennium Garden and Forest Nursery is fun to keep your eyes locked with the mountain magic ... continued
Saputara Museum is an age-old house of vitrines displaying life, culture, and art of tribal populace those residing in the Dang region of Gujarat. The museum is also the venue for workshop conduction where it is taught to design a traditional Dang item. A spectacular exhibition of bamboo handiworks ? pens, stands, key chains, jewelry, and masks ? are displayed inside the museum. Works of Bhils, Games, Warlis, as well as Kothewalis potters, are spread out impart knowledge on the ecology and culture of the tribes. Other items on presentation are tribal kitchen things, sarangis, dholkis, munitions, and paintings. Saputara Museum divulges a lot of focus on the Dang Tribe besides a thin brochure of Gujarat Tourism that mentions the tribe and its history in detail.
Forest Log huts recognized to be a world popular site laid out with wooden log huts, sui generis to the Saputara Log Huts. An architectural brilliance, Forest Log huts narrates the epitome of pastoral living. These are managed by the Forest Department and allow stays in the wilderness. Built-in a location that pleases eyes and gives balmy anointment to our weariness, Forest Log Huts is a means to feel the pleasant weather of Saputara at close quarters.
The Ropeway: Suspended above the lake is a cable that connects Vaity Hotel to Sunset Point, situated across the valley. Between 1730 and 1800, jeeps take passengers 2 km from the main roundabout up to the boarding point. The cable circuit takes 15 minutes to cross and offers a majestic view of the city of Saputara and the valley below. A word of caution though – the cable car will not operate without at least 12 passengers. This could sometimes mean the entire day’s wait.
Echo Point: The name reminds of the Bollywood scenes where the lady protagonist calls her lover’s name aloud on the ridges of the valley just to hear the name ringing in the air for some minutes. As suggested by the name, Echo Point is the valley place where the sound reverberates. Interestingly, the place is located in Matheran near Saputara and not in the Dang. Echo Point has a heart-warming beauty of the waterfall, intoxicating weather, and exotic scenery.
Hatgadh Fort: Hathgadh Fort is based on Hathgad Hills commanding spectacular views of surrounding areas. An antiquated fort of Mulher area in the Nasik district, this fort enriches the beauty of Sahyadri Hills. It is believed to be constructed by the great warrior and King of Marathas Chattrapati Shiva Ji way back during his reign. At the top point is located a beautiful idol of Lord Ganesha. The best way to sample out this archaic architecture is to walk down with a guide.
Note: The fort can be reached by jeep or bus for Rs 10.
Artist Village: A colorful village set for artists, the Artist Village is crammed with local handicraft items of local timber and bamboo. An interactive village, travelers can pick up jewelry, pen stands, key chains, paintings, pottery, vases, and made from bamboo and other local materials. An added advantage for children is that they can learn the knack of handicraft making at the center. One might interact at length with the tribal flock engaged in the art-making.
The Snake Sculpture: A huge snake sculpture near the Saputara Lake on a high pedestal is the reason behind Saputara’s moniker. This statue is called as Snake of Saputara and revered by the Dangis or the Dang tribe every year on the occasion of Holi.
Townview Point: Built out on an imposing height, Townview Point lets you hog a bird’s eye view of Saputara town. Stand tall on this altar during the sunset hours and catch an illuminated view of multi-colored Saputara
Valley View Point: This is in succession to the Town View Point in Saputara. As the name suggests, Valley View Point is the point where tourists can have an areal view of the whole valley and Sahyadri range. The point can also be reached by trekking and there is a velvety lawn where you can rest.
Things To Do while in Saputara
1-You can call it a version of Naini Lake. Boating in Saputara Lake is the evergreen catch of this hill destination
2-Learn to differentiate between pure and adulterated honey worth your money at Honey Bee Centre.
3-Pay a visit to Nageshwar Mahadev Temple—one of the 12 Jyotirlingas.
4-The slide above valleys and dense forests in the ropeway for 15 minutes.
5-Living in the Forest Log huts is a lifetime experience to some of the ecstatic locus.
6-The secret behind Saputara is its soothing, balmy climate. It is also a major reason to check out this countryside seclusion.
7-Aside from climate, the green appeal salves the weariness of the soul as the valley is layered with jungles and greens.
8-Eating is not-so-attractive part but Gujarati Thalis steals the limelight for sure. Taste and sample lip-smacking scrummy here.
9-Amazingly, there are no shops rather an Artist Village to buy local handicraft items.
10-There are loads of Gardens to stopover and enjoy holidays.
11- Last and not least, Saputara is the quietest hillock to spend quiet evenings and leisurely days.
Saputara has not many restaurants and varied eateries to treat its lodgers. The town specializes purely in vegetarian Gujarati thalis, which is a staple fare in every Saputara restaurants and eateries. A galore of restaurants available in Saputara offer standard Punjabi and Chinese fare and thali option all over Saputara. Almost all kinds of restaurants and eating joints serve unlimited, unlike anywhere else. Gujarati thalis and the way of servings at Saputara makes you feel at home and eating “Ghar Ka Khana”. Here are some of the best eateries in town.
Hotel Patang: One of the best hotels in town, Hotel Patang is most expensive hotel in Saputara. Waiters are efficient and hospitable here. Hotel Patang’s Pasand Restaurant provides service from 6 in the morning till midnight. This restaurant also serves Gujju.
Vaishali: The hotel serves excellent Gujarati, Indian, Chinese and vegetarian cuisines. Anando: The Hotel is located near Saputara Lake. Anando too is an excellent option to try hands at yummy Gujarati dishes.
Gujarat Tourism Corporation: This is a good place with lots of choices for eaters.
Hotel Chitrakoot: A famous name, the hotel is located in the centre of Saputara. Here you can order meals in advance.
Dangs Darbar
Dangs Darbar is a yearly festival celebrated in the Dang district, located in the Saputara Hills of India. A conspicuous festival of Dang tribe, inhabitants of wooded region Saputara, the Dang Darbar is celebrated just a few days before Holi. The exact venue of this festival is Ahwa near Saputara but the festival has drawn its name from the Ahwa Darbar, a one–time venue assembly (Darbar) venue for English ministers and mandarins during the Raj era. Now, the name has been changed to Jamabandi Durbar.
During the Dangs Durbar Ahwa turns into a populous place with a large number of tribal inhabitants and visitors coming to attend one of the most colourful and attractive festivals of the Dangs. The sight transforms into bright and gung ho from dry and serene. A galore of men and women attired in riots of colour are seen agog with festivities during the Darbar. Nomad tribes carry a shehnai (woodwind instrument) and other musical instruments with them. All men wear lion clothes which are complimented with a waistcoat and coloured turban. Women are robed in saree and blouses with heavy silver jewellery. The carnival ground can be seen abuzz with activities and merchants who come to mint money. Dang Darbar, a three-day festival, witnesses many activities like folk dances, Raas, Garba programs, songs and dramas.
Saputara Monsoon Festival
The tourism corporation of Gujarat has announced the month-long festival in a state to promote Saputara as a monsoon destination. Seeing the great potential of Gujarat’s little known destination, this decision to celebrate the festival came as the result of the roadshow held in Mumbai. The tourism corporation of Gujarat Limited recently completed its shows in Nagpur, Nashik, and Mumbai. The TCGL will organize more shows in Pune, Vapi, Surat, and Vadodara in the next two weeks to promote its services, tour packages, and services. The roadshows are destined to be organized in alliance with the 9 hoteliers. Supported by the Federation of Indian Chambers and Industry (FICCI), the Saputara Monsoon Festival is also getting immense support from Gujarat government. The initiatives taken by the Gujarat tourism shows its urge to promote Saputara as the only hill station in the region receiving large numbers of vacationers during the monsoon season. The festival will be held from July 30 to August 30, 2011.
As the first of its kind step taken by the Gujarat government, Rs 60 crore has been pumped by the tourism authorities to give a complete makeover to the whole region. The regional planners are thinking to develop the hotels in the budget, mid-segment and luxury hotels. Today Saputara hosts around 530 rooms in its complete radius. The TCGL is also encouraging tour operators to sell special tailor-made packages to the travelers looking to mellow in the lush green precincts of a hill station.
The project to promote Saputara as the hill station has been promulgated with the name Gujarat Ki Khushbo. Perched at the height of 873 meters above the sea level, the government has thought of promoting it as the rain destination in Western India. In the coming days with the improvement in the infrastructure, it is expected that millions of travelers will flock to this destination in search of sanctity and seclusion. It has been supposed to act as the best emerging travel destination in the state. The vacationers of all ages are going to throng this hill station after their hectic weekend. An endeavor to make it amongst the well known weekend tourist magnet has popped up the need to give this destination a complete makeshift.
The most beneficial part about this destination is that it falls on the route to Shridi, and travelers while on the journey have an option to make Saputara as the temporary halt to rejuvenate their senses to complete the remaining part of the ordeal. The tourism authorities are focusing on the pilgrim tourists who are going to different parts of Maharashtra.
The arrangements have already been made by the hotels and resorts. The regional hotels in Saputara have developed their infrastructure in such a way, that travelers will be imparted with all the basic amenities beforehand. Seeing it as the vast pool to propel the local economy, the Hotels in Saputara have augmented brisk infrastructure to cater to millions of travelers during the Saputara Monsoon Festival going to held in the months of July and August.
Events like photography, paragliding, adventure activities, water sports, exhibitions, mega food festivals, tandem flying festivals, and other contests will brace as the unmatchable nexus of this month-long monsoon fiesta. A week-long Tandem Flying Festival is scheduled for December 19 – 25, 2011 and is planned to be hosted every year on the same dates. The other paragliding event, the National Open Cross Country Competition will be a four-day event in May 2012, dates for which are yet to be finalized.
The tour packages to exotic Dang tribal tour, monsoon Dang tour packages, Saputara Tour Packages have also been insinuated to promote this emerging travel destination in India.
