Morachi Chincholi, a village of tamarind trees with peacocks
A village with more peacocks than people, Morachi Chincholi is actually an unofficial peacock sanctuary.
Less than 50 km from Pune and around 200 from Mumbai, it’s a great weekend getaway for and some natural rejuvenation.
An overnight stay will ensure maximum “peacock experience”. Like most birds in their natural settings, dawn and dusk are the best times to spot peacocks.
At dawn, the peacocks venture into the farms in the villages. The farms are their office – they spend almost the entire day there. Then, at dusk, they all venture out of the farms and retreat back to their homes in the many tamarind trees in the village.
We spent early mornings and evenings in the farms. Found a spot where we were hidden behind the tall crops and had an unobstructed view of a clearing. We had to be quiet and move stealthily, for peacocks are a very shy bird.
From this hideout, we found ourselves in the midst of colonies of peacocks. We were thrilled to observe them in their habitat, so up close and personal.
Our visit to Morachi Chincholi was not just about the peacocks, though. We experienced warm (and sumptuous) hospitality at our farmstay, Anand Krushi Paryatan.
Morachi Chincholi is now recognised as an agro tourism location by the Maharashtra Tourism Department. Some villagers have tapped into this potential and set up farmstays. This tourism option is an essential alternative for the farmer community at Morachi Chincholi, which gets a scanty monsoon leading to unpredictable agricultural income.
The Thopate family, with whom we stayed served some lip smacking farm fresh organic food. When not spotting peacocks, we spent time with their cattle and other pets. It is a good spot for some bird watching. Datta, our host, also took us on a bullock cart ride around the village.
We could sense the strong bond each one in the family shared with their cattle. Datta spoke of them with a sense of responsibility, like a father does of his children. His wife fed them the right food at the right times. For their daughter, they were playmates!
Spending a day with the Thopate family, we had a renewed appreciation for the hard work involved in being a farming family.
We clubbed our visit to Morachi Chincholi with a day trip to Nighoj, a village with an alien landscape of potholes in the river.
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14 thoughts on “Morachi Chincholi, Maharashtra, India”
There is one Chincholi in Karnataka too
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Morachi Chincholi is really such a nice place. It is one of the best picnic spot near pune. You can enjoy there whole day. Great place to enjoy the weekend. I must recommend to this place for enjoying holiday. If you are searching best picnic spot near pune then morachi chincholi is one of the best option. So enjoy your holiday at morachi chincholi.
Morachi chincholi … in September … is it ok to visit this weekend . [24th September 2016 ]
Yes, it’s the perfect time to visit Morachi Chincholi.
I plan on visiting soon. Heard there are great agri-tourist places run by MTDC… I would like such an experience. Anyone been an agri tourist here?
The places in Morachi Chincholi, mostly quite like homestays are MTDC approved. MTDC doesn’t have their own arrangement there. But these home stays are really nice and a great way for the farmers to directly participate in agro tourism.
Morachi chincholi is the best place ever. I visited Morachi Chincholi in last month.I must say it is the best weekend getaway ever. Local Villagers are also king hearted. The hospitality provided by villagers is very warm and sumptuous. So visitors also get touched by their hospitality.
Hey Afsha, totally agree with your there! Everyone in Datta’s family was so kind hearted! They fed us till we thought we’d explode. And yet, we wanted to have more – the food was THAT GOOD! Good old healthy traditional food – cooked with warmth! Hope, us city dwellers are able to treat Morachi Chincholi and its people with respect and not ruin the place.
hi.. can u tell me similar places to visit
If you’re looking for some places to visit in rural Maharashtra, then have a look at our travel story about a cattle fair. This month is also a good time to explore deeper into the Sahyadris.
Very good information,but you should also mention how to reach there.
Thank u sandeep…
DATTA and family…wonderful people…Excellent food…
ur article helped me and my friends. ..
Morachi Chincholi is a beautiful place. I was once there visiting a friend and I loved the place and expeienced the same warm hospitality that you spoke of in your article.