Butterfly Enthusiasts Take Flight in Mumbai's First Butterfly Club

In September 2025, a group of around 50 butterfly enthusiasts gathered in the Ovalekar Wadi Butterfly Garden in Thane to witness the launch of the Mumbai Butterfly Club. This new club, founded by ornithologist and butterfly expert Raju Kasambe, is the only one of its kind in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

The club's inaugural event was a resounding success, with attendees marveling at the natural wonders on display. Within an hour, the group watched as 3 caterpillars transformed into beautiful butterflies, and they counted a total of 26 different butterfly species in the garden.

Sangeeta Jain, a butterfly watcher who helped encourage Kasambe to start the club, expressed her delight at the event. "It's only the second time I've witnessed a butterfly break out of its pupa," she said, recalling her previous experience learning about butterflies from Kasambe at a Bombay Natural History Society course.

The Ovalekar Wadi garden, designed by local butterfly enthusiast Rajendra Ovalekar, was an ideal location for the club's launch. With over 138 butterfly species recorded there, the garden provided the perfect backdrop for the group's explorations and observations. As Kasambe noted, Mumbai has several other "butterfly hotspots" that the club plans to explore in the future, including the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Aarey Colony.

With a strong turnout for its inaugural event, the Mumbai Butterfly Club has already taken flight, and its members are eager to continue documenting the city's diverse butterfly populations through future trails, camps, and talks.