Devateerth Rock
Devateerth Rock was an iconic rock outcropping near the Ranch's "downtown" area that was, in the end, too prominent a feature to survive. At the intersection of the Ranch's two main valleys, it was visible and admired for miles, but the decision to put in an airport -- and how could we NOT put in an airport?!? -- sealed its fate. Its prominence made landing planes in the already somewhat narrow valley a dodgy affair; not only might a plane crash into it in a moment of pilot carelessness but its effect on air currents and winds was both strong and unpredictable. So Sayonara!
Allan Deekshant reports the event in Osho News:
- As the Ranch expanded, a new office, Socrates, was built opposite the airport. I was there the day they decided to dynamite Devateerth Rock that was too close to the runway and landing DC3’s for comfort. This massive outcrop was supposed to implode but did not and instead sent rocks and boulders flying all over the runway. Some landed miraculously short of Socrates by only a few feet. It took a couple of months to clear the runway where even Learjets could land.
And If anyone has a decent pic of the rock in its heyday or a higher-res version of the dynamiting, please send it along to one of the current editors.
