Matheran

Matheran, in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, is one of India’s smallest hill stations and one of the few that has kept a strong old-world character. The plateau was known to local tribal communities (mainly Katkari and Thakur) long before the British arrived, but it entered recorded history in 1850, when Hugh Poyntz Malet, then Collector of Thane, is credited with “discovering” it as a potential sanatorium for Europeans escaping the heat and diseases of Mumbai (then Bombay).

The British administration quickly developed Matheran as a hill resort: forest paths were cut, bungalows and dak bungalows were built, and the famous Charlotte Lake was created as a water source. In the early 1900s, Bombay merchant Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy financed the construction of the Matheran Light Railway, a narrow-gauge toy train from Neral to the hilltop (opened around 1907). This greatly increased access and turned Matheran into a popular summer retreat.

One unique decision that shaped its later history was the continued ban on motor vehicles within the main hill station area, preserving its quiet, pedestrian character with only horses and hand-pulled rickshaws. After Independence, Matheran remained a favoured getaway for Mumbai–Pune residents and was later declared an eco-sensitive zone, recognised for its red laterite paths, viewpoints and colonial-era ambience.