🌠 Lonar Meteorite Crater | Journey to the demons lair | el Liven
Channel: el Liven
Date: 2022-05-09

Planet Earths only hyper-velocity impact soda-ash crater in basalt. A terrain similar to that on Mars. 500 thousand years ago a meteorite hit the Deccan Plateau to form Lonar lake.

#lonarLake #lonarCrater #elliven

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Journey:
00:00 Intro
00:28 Entry Groove
01:07 Dhar
02:15 Kumareshwar
03:19 Ramgaya
04:20 Wetlands
05:02 Wagh Mahadeo
05:54 Kamlaja Devi
07:36 Daityasudan
08:24 Credits

The meteorite came in at a low angle of about 35 degrees from the north-east. It cut a groove in the earth and impacted with a force of 6 megatons to create a 150 meter deep crater.The crater rim is 137 meters high with a 75 degree slope to the crater basin. It is 4.8 kilometers all around at the water level. This complex is now included in the ASI Must See list for Maharashtra.

The meteors entry groove has a 12th century temple complex. This is centered around the Dhar, a thick continuous stream feeding the crater. Sacred as Ganga-Bhagavti Tirth. Besides the Dhar, the crater lake is fed by two other major streams. Sita Nahani is the second stream, and the third is the Ramgaya stream. The temples at the Dhar are of the later Peshwai type. While on tier II they appear to be of Yadav era based on their pillars and carvings. Panels depict scenes from the Puranas and the Mahabharath. This site is a veritable mythology picture book in stone.

Legend has it that the lake was formed by a pool of toxic blood when the demon Lonasur was slain. The Daitya Sudan temple commemorating this victory lies outside the crater on a hill in Lonar town. This temple is the finest example of 13th century Hemadpanti architecture using interlocking black stone. Note the lovely shila at the garbha entrance. 
The plinth has typical tiers of engravings. An inscription commemorates the visit of the 13th century of the Seuna Yadav king, Krishna.

Lonar is a National Geo-Heritage Monument since 1979. Vegetation is of a dry-deciduous type. Mostly Acacia trees, thorny bushes and different types of grasses. The eastern and western parts of the crater are covered with teak forests. Lonar lake is an international Ramsar protected wetland since October 2020. The shore is invaded by a Mexican weed, Prosopis juliflora. A project employing locals is trying to restore the habitat. This wetland has a unique freshwater band around a saltwater core.

Abul Fazl in the 1600 century Ain-i-Akbari writes 
"... these mountains produce all the requisites for making glass and soap." 
The water level is maintained by evaporation due to the hot and dry climate. And that's what causes the alkalinity and salinity of these waters. In addition this area has a geological peculiarity in that there is no calcium or magnesium ions in the rock. In the absence of these ions the alkalinity is not neutralised. And that's what creates this soda ash lake.

Descent into the crater is with the Dhar along the meteorite entry groove. The path and that in crater basin are dotted with 10 to 12th century Yadav era temples. When the locals descend into the crater it is to worship at Kamlaja Devi temple. It is significant for it's mention in the Mahanubav story of Kanadev. It faces North to the meteorite entry groove. We were privileged to witness a local wedding during our visit. The father of the bride magnanimously invited us to their festive lunch!

The Yajneshwar temple, now in ruins, still has observant dikpalas inside the mandap. And above them panels of war elephants. The Ramgaya temple is a plain Yadav temple. Beside it is a step well. At the waters edge is the Bagicha temple to Krishna. Note the panels giving events from his life on these pillars. On the eastern side is a beautiful pranala. At the later Yadav style Wagh Mahadeo temple is a population of Hanuman Langurs. The Mor Mahadeo temple on the south- eastern bank is another example of Hemadpanti architecture. 

Credits:
🎵 Pt. (Dr) Nishindra Kinjalk - Dhun  (permission by personal communication) 
                    He's here https://youtu.be/VL74v6llDuE
🎬 Shotcut https://www.shotcut.org/
🎛🎚🎧 Audacity https://www.audacityteam.org/

📚 References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonar_Lake
https://asimustsee.nic.in/lonar-temple.php
https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1995BASI...23..105T/0000106.000.html
http://faunaofindia.nic.in/PDFVolumes/cas/037/index.pdf
https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1811987.pdf
https://lakesofindia.com/2020/12/05/lonar-lake-of-maharashtra
https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/2441
https://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/250383

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