Maachli

Most people would associate the term ‘Maachli‘ with fish. It was on a nature walk on a bright morning that Prathamesh, our host at Maachli (an intimate and breathtakingly beautiful home stay), introduced us to a new meaning to the term ‘Maachli‘ (pronounced Maach-li, with a stress on the syllable “Maa”). In the rural parts of Maharashtra, Maachli refers to a temporary shelter built by farmers.

Maharashtra truly comes alive in all her glory with the onset of the monsoons. Almost every inch of land takes on a vibrant green hue. The eagerly awaited monsoon season is a busy time for farmers, who start ploughing their fields and sowing Kharif crops such as cotton, soy bean, groundnuts, etc. Many farmers cultivate lands far away from their homes, and it is then that they build a Maachli or a temporary shelter. Built out of collected sticks, a Maachli is a simple raised structure with a slopping roof. Not only does it provide shelter to farmers during hot afternoons, patches of heavy rains and the night, but also allows them to protect their crops from intruders and cattle.

This is one amongst many interesting things that we discovered on a trip to Maachli, proving yet again that the most unexpected of places can be full of surprises.

9 Comments

  • Reply
    Rahul Bhatia
    August 27, 2014 at 4:49 am

    Interesting indeed! I have stayed on one over nite at Kanha National Park near Jabalpur!

  • Reply
    Chaitali Patel
    August 27, 2014 at 5:10 am

    Wow that must have been an interesting experience! Thanks for dropping by Rahul.

  • Reply
    Richa Singh
    August 29, 2014 at 6:29 pm

    Must have been so much fun! Thank you for sharing this experience :-)

    Richa

  • Reply
    Chaitali Patel
    August 30, 2014 at 8:44 am

    Thanks Richa!

  • Reply
    Indrani
    August 31, 2014 at 8:35 am

    Must be cool to have chai and pakodas there during rains. :)

  • Reply
    Chaitali Patel
    August 31, 2014 at 10:59 am

    We ate so much.. the cooks catered to our every whim and fancy, and the setting was just perfect!

  • Reply
    Prasad Np
    September 1, 2014 at 12:53 pm

    Monsoon truly is a magical time to explore rural India…

  • Reply
    Chaitali Patel
    September 1, 2014 at 3:13 pm

    Can't agree with you more!

  • Reply
    Ashpi Gupta
    March 31, 2015 at 6:24 pm

    Hi Chaitali , very informative post. Can you pls share your email , wanted to feature your post on happy-tripping.com . You can write to me on ashpi@happy-tripping.com

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