26 May,2011 08:28 AM IST | | Soma Das
If you cannot think beyond enjoying cloudbursts and thunder showers in the outdoors, zip across to Cherrapunji for a high-voltage shower display
Rain clouds might be looming over Mumbai's skies but if you want to brave it out, head to Cherrapunji in Meghalaya (abode of the clouds). Once referred to as the wettest place on the planet, this hill town may have lost its position due to climatic changes, yet it receives an average yearly rainfall average of 11,430 mm (450 inches)!u00a0
At Cherrapunji (meaning land of oranges), seasons are caught in a perpetual loop as it receives rainfall throughout the year. The area's rainfall has fetched it two Guinness World Records for receiving the maximum amount of rainfall in a single year (August 1860-July 1861) and in a single month (July 1861).u00a0
While at Cherrapunji, drop by Mawsynram (10 km), which receives the heaviest rainfall in recent times (17,800 mm, 700 inches). While an all-year monsoon doesn't seem too cheerful, Cherrapunji's landscape with its gorgeous valleys shrouded in mist, dense forests dripping water, a canopy of clouds and foaming rivers will make amends.
The area is also known for the 1,035 feet-high Mawsmai Falls, India's fourth highest, which is a few kilometers beyond Cherrapunji. If you love caving, Cherrapunji has several primitive caves with elaborate passages. The curious can visit the Khasi tribal monolith stones in its forests, built in memory of their ancestors. The unique pattern of rainfall has given the area a variety of plants including orchids and ferns and superior quality oranges (justifying its name) and pineapples.
