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Location: Sahdol
District, Madhya Pradesh
Area : 105.40 sq. kms.
Wildlife Tourist Attractions: Home to a wide range
of animals like Tigers, Leopards, Bears.
Best Activities: Wildlife watching and sightseeing.
Nearest Tourist Destinations: Umaria and Kanha.
When to Visit: Mid November to June
About Bandhavgarh National Park
The Bandhavgarh National Park is located within the
district of Sahdol in the central Indian state of Madhya
Pradesh. The Bandhavgarh National Park is encircled by
cliffs and wooded Vindhyan mountains, having dense
forests. Its plains own a number of grass and reed covered
wetlands where one can see Kingfishers dive and Egrets sit
poised, hunch-backed, in the shallows. Vultures have their
nests in the holes of the sheer cliffs.
The Bandhavgarh jungle has
its own climate, atmosphere, water and nutrition, a living
self-sustaining organism recharged through its recycling
systems. It even has a sleep wake cycle. As more light
fills the sky, Bandhavgarh begins to awaken.
The Park consists primarily of Sal forests, which is one
of the main tree-cover found in the entire park along with
Bamboo. It was finally declared a tiger reserve under
Project Tiger in 1993.
Major Attractions in Bandhavgarh National Park
The Vegetation
Most of the Bandhavgarh park is covered with fine trees of
Sal, while mixed forests are found in the higher reaches
of the hills. Bamboo and grasslands are found in the
north. The wildlife can be viewed from 32 beautiful hills
in the core of the park.
The Animals
Bandhavgarh National Park in its early days was just
105.40-sq-kms in area, but it extended to an area of 437
sq. kms. The park had just 25 resident tigers in the past,
but now it has high-density tiger population. Bandhavgarh
was once a hunting reserve of the royal family of Rewa,
but recently Bandhavgarh was declared a reserve park in
1968. This is also the site where the famous White Tigers
of Rewa were discovered.
Just roam through the Bandhavgarh national park on an
Elephant Back and the chances of seeing a tiger are quite
good. Among the other wild attractions include, Nilgai,
Chausingha, Chital, Chinkara, Wild Boar and sometimes a
Fox or Jackal can also seen.
The Birds
Bandhavgarh, with a total of around 150 species of birds
is a bird lover's paradise. Birds that can be found here
are white browed fantails, steppe eagles, green pigeons,
grey malabar hornbills, black and white malabar hornbills
(quite a rare sighting), blossom headed parakeets,
parakeets, blue bearded bee eaters, green bee eaters,
white bellied drongos, owls, Jerdon's and gold fronted
leaf birds, minivets, woodshrikes, etc.
Other attractions in
Bandhavgarh are Kalchuri Archeological Remains,
Bandhavgarh Fort and Jeep & Elephant Safari.
Getting There
Air : Khajurao at 230-kms is the most convenient
airport connected by various domestic airline services
with Agra, Delhi, Varanasi.
Rail : The nearest railway station is at Umaria at
a distance of 30-kms, it is on the Katni-Bilaspur section
of South-Eastern Railway. Another convenient railway
station Satna (117-kms) is on the Bombay-Howrah main line
of the Central Railway.
Road : Bandhavgarh National Park is situated on the
Satna-Umaria & Rewa-Umaria highway. Some of the important
road routes are: Khajuraho (via Satna)230-kms, Varanasi
(via Rewa) 340-kms, Katni 75-kms, Rewa 115-kms, Umaria
30-kms, Kanha 250-kms. Madhya Pradesh State Transport Bus
Services is also available from Rewa, Satna, Katni and
Umaria. |
