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.
Accommodation
Accommodation is not a problem in Bandhavgarh, where you can find hotels
ranging from luxury to economy class. Just make sure that you reserve your
accommodation in advance.
