Lonar
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Lonar
Village in the Mehkar taluk of Buldana District, Berar, situated in 19° 59' N. and 76° 33 E. Population (1901), 3,085. It is a place of great antiquity, standing on a hill amid undulating highlands, among which lies the salt lake of Lonar, the fabled den of the demon- giant Lonasur, who was overcome in single combat by an incarnation of Vishnu. The god assumed the form of a beautiful youth, and, with the aid of the giant's two sisters, discovered his subterranean abode. With a single touch of his toe he threw off the lid of the den, and found the giant sleeping on his couch. A hill near Dhakephal, about '^d miles south-west of Lonar, is said to be the lid of the lake thrown off by Vishnu, and to coincide in shape and size with the top of the lake. Lonasur was buried in the den or hollow now occupied by the great lake, the water of which is supposed to be the giant's blood. Lonar has ever since been held in great veneration.
The view of the lake is very striking. It is surrounded by a circular ridge of hills about 400 feet high, among which are several old temples and ruins of other monuments. From a crevice on the southern ridge flows an ample spring of sweet water, wdth a temple at the fountain head. This temple is the finest specimen of Hemadpanti architecture in Berar. The hollow is very nearly circular, a little more than a mile in diameter and from 300 to 400 feet deep. At the bottom lies a shallow lake of water, without any apparent outlet, and charged with sodium chloride and sodium carbonate. The sides of the hollow to the north and north-east are absolutely level with the surrounding country, while on other sides there is a raised rim, from 40 to 100 feet in height, com- posed of irregularly piled blocks of basalt similar to that which forms the horizontal sheets of lava around. The most plausible explanation for this peculiar hollow is that which ascribes it to a violent gaseous explosion, which must have occurred long after the eruption of the Deccan traps, and in comparatively recent times. Similar explosion-craters occur in the Lower Chindwin District in Upper Burma. Lonar is described in the Ain-i-Akbart, where it is mentioned that the Brahmans call the place Bishan (Vishnu) Gaya.
