There are places that don’t ask anything from you.
They don’t demand productivity, urgency, or performance.
Kathi is one such village.
Tucked quietly in the folds of the Sahyadris in Satara district, Kathi does not announce itself. There are no landmarks shouting for attention, no itineraries to tick off. What it offers instead is far rarer — a life that unfolds without hurry.
Indian Cities are increasingly becoming congested and overcrowded. Finding a peaceful moment in the cities is becoming a luxury now. Pune City has been particularly heavily polluted this year with AQI reaching to 400. It was in this frame of mind that I decided to take some time out and stay at a quiet place outside the city. My search ended at a Quiet Villa named as Red Stone Villa by Koyna stays located in a small village named Kathi in Satara district of Maharashtra. Most of the population in this village is involved in agriculture. However with the coming up of tourism a small population is now being involved in hospitality and the land use and occupation change is now visible here.
When I reached this Kathi village I was amazed with the rustic beauty and old world charm of this village. The village lies at a hill plateau overlooking the Shivsagar Dam built on Koyna River. The natural setting of the place is amazing.
The Village is still far away from what we call ‘Development’ in modern terms. There are no modern cafes and restaurants. People are simple and welcoming. This makes this place perfect for Eco-tourism and many eco tourism resorts are now opening in this village. This village is perfect place for spending quiet days. During my stay at this place I was reminded of the the Dak-Bunglows of British times. Britishers used to built Dak-Bunglow at places which were far from modern world and having plenty of nature around. This gave them the time to think and innovate.
Relaxing Activities In Kathi
The village of Kathi is located at a place which is called Oxygen valley. This is because of strong winds that blow here throughout the day. The wind is so strong here that the largest Windmill farm in Asia is located near this village. You can just sit and feel the air in your lungs.
Wind Mill farm
Visit to the nearest Windmill farm is a great experience here. The road from Kathi to Satara passes through this wind mill farm and there is one spot where the road is straight over the plateau. This is a perfect place to take an evening walk. I took a walk on this road one evening and it felt magical.
K-2 Point
When it comes to viewing sunset in the Western Ghats I found that K-2 point offers one of the most mesmerising view. The place is located at the highest point in the region overlooking the Koyna Backwaters. The view of the sunset from here is just amazing. The only catch is that due to excessive fog at times it becomes difficult to view the sunset. What I found most beautiful is that this place has no crowd at all and hence you can enjoy the beautiful sunset in peace. However despite its natural beauty what disturbed me here was that people have thrown beer bottles and water bottles which was acting as a thorn in the beauty of this place. Seeing this one can sense how much civic sense Indians lack.
Dhareshwar Shiv Mandir
Perhaps one of the most unique temples in India that I have visited this Shiva temple is nestled into deep forest and on the edge of a mountain overlooking a huge valley. The main shrine is in a rock-cut cave traditionally associated with Shri Ram’s era, housing a temple to Shri Ram along with a sacred Shiva shrine (Shivshambu Mahadev) regarded as a teerthakshetra. This place is a great nature spot and there is an all weather active waterfall here. When I visited this temple I found that to be crowd free and full of peace and tranquility. This place is great for meditation and Dhyan and one can sit for some time here to connect with spirituality. The active waterfall of this place is considered sacred and the locals use the water for different religious purposes.
This place is a heaven for star gazers as this place still has not been heavily polluted by light pollution. During the night time star gazing is a great activity here. During our visit we sat in the night sky and all the night stars were visible to us. Using the apps like night sky enhances the experience of Star Gazing by displaying the positions of the stars in the sky.
Kathi Village has everything that a slow life asks for. A lakeside location, spiritual places nearby and a great sunset view point to go and sit during the evening. Places like these are a modern day luxury for us when the “modernisation and cafe culture” is reaching in every nooks and corners of the country. The very nature of the modern lifestyle is stress-full and few days spent at places like these adds much needed value to our quality of life.
