Silvassa
Being on the coastal side, Mumbai Summers are very hot and humid. And who wants to leave the comforts of home AC and wander outdoors in the sun? Moreover vacationing to another hotter place at this time is even more tough decision. But I am glad that we ventured out and visited Silvassa.
Silvassa is the capital of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, one of the Indian Union Territories.
This city really surprised me and proved to exceed my expectations. It is well connected to Maharashtra and Gujarat both by road and rail networks. Earlier Silvasa was a small village. But now it is a well built town with a major industrial centre leaving its tribal culture far behind.
It is still inhibited by the Warli people. The Warli tribe is famous for its unique "Warli Painting".
Upon reaching Silvassa we first visited the Tribal Museum. Its an interesting place that describes the Warli art and culture very well. The Museum showcases wax models and old photos of Warli people at work. The tools and gadgets used by them in their day to day lives. The walls are decorated by bows and spears used for hunting. It has a collection of ornaments and instruments used by the tribe. It also exhibits utensils and pictures of how local liqueur was brewed during their time. There is a small shop next door that sells Warli paintings, T-shirts, and wooden artefacts. The entry to the museum is free and is well maintained and fully air conditioned(Although the AC was not working when we were there as it was near to closing time.)
Silvassa has many beautiful gardens. The Hirwa Van Gardens, Vanganga Lake garden, Butterfly park, Nakshatra garden etc.
The Hirwa Van Garden is a lush green garden with ample space for kids to play around. The main attraction of the garden is the artificial waterfall and the beautiful twin arches. The garden has kids play area and manual gym. They also had a trampoline and inflatable rock climbing for kids and its use was included in the entry fee.
The Vanganga garden has a small lake in its midst hence it is also called as Island Garden. One can hire a paddle boat and enjoy the surroundings. There is a colourful musical fountain at around 7pm which attracts a lot of crowd.
Entry fee for the Hirwa Van Gardens and Vanganga garden is Rs. 20 per adult but its totally worth the fee. The gardens are big and well maintained.
We missed to visit the Nakshatra garden as all gardens remain closed on Mondays and there wasn't enough time on the weekend to visit it. But we had a quick visit to the butterfly park. When you enter the park you will find lot of different species of butterflies flying around you and the colourful flowerbeds. The entry to the park is free.
The next main attraction of Silvassa is the Vasona Lion Safari and Satmaliya Deer park. A Safari bus takes you on a short ride around the park and you can easily spot the Lion and Lioness sitting somewhere around a tree. There were only 2 of them but the kids get were very thrilled looking at them. You may also spot a few peacocks as you go further down the ride. I think there is some connection between the Lions and peacocks. Even the lion Safari at Chhatbir Zoo in Punjab has a lot of peacocks.
The Deer park is about 30 mins drive from the Lion Safari. And you will see that the next stop for most of the people after visiting lion safari is the Deer park. There are so many varieties of Deer's. We could spot black buck, sambhar etc. They have bus and an open Jeep and needless to say that open jeep is of course more fun and no doubt very dusty. Its about 20 mins ride with few stops to click pictures.
Please note that both the safari and Deer park only accepts credit/debit card.
Next we headed to Dudhni lake, a beautiful and untouched lake. We took a personal boat and went on the other side of the lake for trying out some local food for lunch. Our boatman waited for us all the while till we finished our lunch and then brought us back to the parking area. The boat ride was very pleasant and soothing and it reminded me of shikara ride in Kashmir. This is the perfect place to watch the sunset. There are few shops outside the lake that sell some snacks like maggi and fruit chaat.
Other places of interest in Silvassa are Swaminarayan Temple and Our Lady of Piety Church.
Silvassa is the capital of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, one of the Indian Union Territories.
This city really surprised me and proved to exceed my expectations. It is well connected to Maharashtra and Gujarat both by road and rail networks. Earlier Silvasa was a small village. But now it is a well built town with a major industrial centre leaving its tribal culture far behind.
It is still inhibited by the Warli people. The Warli tribe is famous for its unique "Warli Painting".
Upon reaching Silvassa we first visited the Tribal Museum. Its an interesting place that describes the Warli art and culture very well. The Museum showcases wax models and old photos of Warli people at work. The tools and gadgets used by them in their day to day lives. The walls are decorated by bows and spears used for hunting. It has a collection of ornaments and instruments used by the tribe. It also exhibits utensils and pictures of how local liqueur was brewed during their time. There is a small shop next door that sells Warli paintings, T-shirts, and wooden artefacts. The entry to the museum is free and is well maintained and fully air conditioned(Although the AC was not working when we were there as it was near to closing time.)
Silvassa has many beautiful gardens. The Hirwa Van Gardens, Vanganga Lake garden, Butterfly park, Nakshatra garden etc.
The Hirwa Van Garden is a lush green garden with ample space for kids to play around. The main attraction of the garden is the artificial waterfall and the beautiful twin arches. The garden has kids play area and manual gym. They also had a trampoline and inflatable rock climbing for kids and its use was included in the entry fee.
The Vanganga garden has a small lake in its midst hence it is also called as Island Garden. One can hire a paddle boat and enjoy the surroundings. There is a colourful musical fountain at around 7pm which attracts a lot of crowd.
Entry fee for the Hirwa Van Gardens and Vanganga garden is Rs. 20 per adult but its totally worth the fee. The gardens are big and well maintained.
We missed to visit the Nakshatra garden as all gardens remain closed on Mondays and there wasn't enough time on the weekend to visit it. But we had a quick visit to the butterfly park. When you enter the park you will find lot of different species of butterflies flying around you and the colourful flowerbeds. The entry to the park is free.
The next main attraction of Silvassa is the Vasona Lion Safari and Satmaliya Deer park. A Safari bus takes you on a short ride around the park and you can easily spot the Lion and Lioness sitting somewhere around a tree. There were only 2 of them but the kids get were very thrilled looking at them. You may also spot a few peacocks as you go further down the ride. I think there is some connection between the Lions and peacocks. Even the lion Safari at Chhatbir Zoo in Punjab has a lot of peacocks.
Please note that both the safari and Deer park only accepts credit/debit card.
Next we headed to Dudhni lake, a beautiful and untouched lake. We took a personal boat and went on the other side of the lake for trying out some local food for lunch. Our boatman waited for us all the while till we finished our lunch and then brought us back to the parking area. The boat ride was very pleasant and soothing and it reminded me of shikara ride in Kashmir. This is the perfect place to watch the sunset. There are few shops outside the lake that sell some snacks like maggi and fruit chaat.
Other places of interest in Silvassa are Swaminarayan Temple and Our Lady of Piety Church.
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