Lonavala on my Royal Enfield

In 1956 Enfield of India started assembling Bullet motorcycles under license from UK components and by 1962 they were manufacturing complete bikes. Enfield of India bought the rights to use the Royal Enfield name in 1955 . . .

Royal Enfield production, based in Chennai,continues and Royal Enfield is now the oldest motorcycle brand in the world still in production with the Bullet model enjoying the longest motorcycle production run of all time . . . 

Royal Enfield was the name under which the Enfield Cycle Company made motorcycles. The legacy of weapon manufacture is reflected in the logo, a cannon, and their motto “Made like a gun, goes like a bullet . . .

Lonavala and Khandala hill stations were discovered by Lord Elphinstone, who was the Governor of Bombay Presidency during those times . . . 

Present day Lonavla was a part of the Yadav dynasty. Later, the Mughals realized the strategic importance of the region and kept the region for an extended time . . .

The forts in the region and the Mavla warriors played an important role in the history of the Maratha and Peshwa empires. In 1871 . . .

Grazing of cattle is a rare commodity that we get to see in our daily life. I spent an hour just observing their behavior . . .

At some point the stared at us in a way that if we got any closer they would charge at us and a statement on their face saying that "Dont take us for granted" . . .

All Mothers in the world are same in their own ways . . .

Ripples caused due to high wind in this pond where the cattle quenched their thirst . . .

Sweet water crab in the same pond was a rare site, it saw me and took cover . . .

The famous Bushy Dam in Lonavala . . .

Reflections

Its monsoons in India and was raining all day so this made it a perfect day to catch reflections. . . luckily for me it didn't rain that evening or none of these pictures would have been possible . . . As you can see this place is always crowded come any season and people only need a reason to step out . . .  

 

 

 

 

 

The Gateway of India is the biggest monument landmark in Mumbai . . . The foundation stone was laid on 31st March 1911 and the construction was finished in 1924 and was opened on 4th December 1924 . . . The gateway is a basalt arch 26 meters (85 ft) high with a central dome of 15 meters (49 ft) in diameter . . . The cost of construction at that time was 21 Lakhs . . . 

 

The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel was commissioned in Indo - Saracenic style by Tata and first opened its door to guests on 16th December 1903 . . .

  

During World War I, the hotel was converted into a 600 bed hospital . . .

 

The original Indian architects were Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya, Ashok kumar and D. N. Mirza, and the project was completed by an English engineer, W. A. Chambers . . .

 

The builder was Khansabeb Sorabji Ruttonji Contractor who also designed and built its famous central floating staircase . . .

 

The cost of construction was £250,000 (£127 million today) . . .

   

The hotel was the first in India to install and operate a steam elevators . . . The hotel imported American fans, German elevators, Turkish baths and English butlers, for the first time in India . . .

 

The dome of the hotel is made from steel as used in the Eiffel Tower . . .  Jamsedji Tata imported the same steel during that time . . .