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OCTOBER, 1991
137
Lonar crater lake as seen from East
The impact of the meteor which has given rise to the high crater walls has resulted a perennial spring which has been named Dhär. The pressure of the mountainous crater walls is said to have given rise to the spring. The meteor might just sipk into the bottom of the crater. Sometimes on hitting the surface, the meteor might bounce up and fall back creating one more crater within the original crater. Whether any such crater exists in Lonar we cannot say as crater has always been covered with the lake. It is also likely that if such a crater did exist the errosion caused by the lake waters has oblitereted it.
The impactor itself may break to smithereens. Result: a cluster of craters around the main crater. Just to the east of the Loner crater lies a smaller secondary crater. Perhaps a broken part of the impactor is responsible for this one. The crater too has been cleverly woven into the Lavaņasura story.
About half the people in Buldhana have some idea of how the lake crater was formed. For the other half, mythological beliefs are sacred truths. However, they are all agreed on one thing and that is clothes washed in the lake waters wash very clean and that too quite easily.
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