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Bandhavgarh National Park
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Bandhavgarh National Park lies on the extreme
north-eastern border of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It
falls between the outlying Vindhyan hill range and the
Eastern Satpura Hills that run in an East-West direction,
and is located in Umaria District.
Umaria district has a geographical area of 4548 sq.kms,
and about 42% of the total area is covered by forests
only. The district is rich in minerals, the most important
being coal and 83% of the population resides in rural
areas.
Once the personal hunting ground of the Maharaja of Rewa,
Bandhavgarh is famous as the home of the white tiger
Mohan, which was found in these jungles, and which now
lies stuffed and on display in the palace of the Maharaja
of Rewa. It was from this tiger that captive breeding of
white tigers was started, and now you have approximately
500 of them world-wide, of which pure bred are
approximately 40, most of which are in India. White tigers
are simply white-coloured Bengals, and not a separate
subspecies of Indian Wildlife as many people think.
The tourism zone of the park that most people take to be
Bandhavgarh, is actually a small part of the reserve. The
area of this is 105 sq km and is known as the Tala range.
This was the original area of the park when it was
started. There are four more ranges in the reserve namely
- Magdhi, Kallwah, Khitauli and Panpatha. These were added
later and together these five ranges comprise the 'Core'
of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve - a total area of 694 sq
kms. There is then the 'buffer,' which is spread over the
forest divisions of Umaria and Katni and totals another
437 sq kms.
Bandhavgarh National Park gets its name from the tallest
hill located amongst a chain of hills situated in the
tourist zone of the Tala range. This hill is called
Bandhavgarh and is located in the center of the reserve.
This hill rises 811 meters above sea level, and is
surrounded by smaller hills separated by gently sloping
valleys. As this hill has vertical cliffs and a plateau on
the top, it became a natural fort for the Baghela Kings,
ancestors of the Maharajah of Rewa, who started their rule
here in the 12th century.
The mean altitude is between 1444 feet (440 metres) and
2657 feet (810 metres), with the Fort being the highest
point and the Park entrance, at Tala village being the
lowest. These hills form a number of valleys and spurs,
interspersed with a number of grassy meadows found in the
low-lying areas. These intermingling grasslands, locally
known as "baheras" provide good habitat for herbivores and
hunting cover for predators. These grasslands that occupy
the valley floor and favored by ungulates, are relics of
village fields, which at one time existed here before they
were relocated outside when the Bandhavgarh National Park
was formed, to preserve threatened Indian Wildlife.
The geology is soft feldspathic sandstone with quartzite.
The soil is generally sandy to sandy-loam. Because of
this, rainwater percolates through the ground, forming a
number of perennial streams and springs. More than twenty
streams rise or flow through the park. Of these Umrar
(forming the western boundry) is the largest. The other
important streams are Johilla (eastern boundry), Janadh,
Charanganga, Damnar, Banbei, Ambanala and Andhyari Jhiria.
The Charanganga has its source at the Fort. All these
streams eventually flow into the river Son, which is an
important tributary to the Ganges.
There are about 100 villages around the Bandhavgarh
National Park. As they lack any good grazing ground for
their cattle, tremendous grazing pressure exists on the
Reserve. While poaching of wild animals inside the core
area is almost non-existent, animals moving out into the
buffer area do get killed occasionally by some communities
who have been killing and eating wild animals since ages
and have not yet changed their thinking.
Two roads pass through the Reserve, and as there is a lot
of vehicular movement on these roads, even during the
night, numerous animals get killed in road accidents.
Herbivores raid the cultivated areas of adjoining
villages, while livestock also form part of tiger prey.
Compensation is paid immediately as per rules, if any
cattle is killed by Tiger or Leopard in the area open for
grazing.
Fauna:
Tiger, cheetal, sambar, barking deer, wild boar, rhesus,
macaque, leopard, chinkara, chousingha, sloth bear,
striped hyena, palm squirrel and Indian civet.
Birds include warbler, steppe eagles, lesser whistling
teal, sarus crane, black ibis, kingfisher, Egyptian
vulture, Malabar pied hornbill, lesser adjutant, little
grebe, white-eyed buzzard, crested serpent eagle and
magnificent paradise flycatcher.
Best time to visit:
Nov to Mar for traveling comfort though May and Jun are
best for sightings. Park is closed from July to October.
Temperatures vary from 0 to 20 degrees in winter and may
go up to 47 degrees during summer.
Safari timings:
Summer: 0630 to 1100 hrs and then 1700 to 1900 hrs
Winter: 0730 to 1200 hrs and then 1500 to 1730 hrs
Go there for:
Tigers.
How to Reach:
Tala is a village located near the Bandhavgarh National
Park entrance and the closest town of Umaria is 32 kms
away.
by road
From Delhi: 978 kms SE of Delhi; NH 2 to Agra, NH 3 to
Gwalior, NH75 to Satna via Jhansi, district road to Maihar,
NH7 to Katni, NH78 to Umaria, state road to bandhavgarh.
Approx 6 hrs drive from Khajuraho (280 kms); 3 to 4 hrs
from Jabalpur (170 kms), 7 hrs from Kanha (240 kms), 2.5
hrs drive from Katni (95 kms), 3.5 hrs drive from Satna
(112 kms).
by rail
From New Delhi:
Kalinga Utkal Express (Train No 8478 Dn) leaves Hazrat
Nizamuddin at 1250 hrs and reaches Umaria next day at 0630
hrs. From here it is a 30-40 minute drive to Bandhavgarh.
For the return journey the same train leaves at 1940 hrs
from Umaria, and reaches Hazrat Nizamuddin at 1315 hrs,
the next day.
Gondwana Express ( Train No 2410) leaves Hazrat Nizamuddin
at 1430 hrs and reaches Katni at 0350 hrs, the next day.
From here it is a 2.5 hrs drive to Tala / Bandhavgarh.
From Varanasi:
Mahanagri Express (Train No 1094) leaves Varanasi at 1130
hrs and reaches Katni at 1923 hrs the next day. From here
it is a 2.5 hrs drive to Tala / Bandhavgarh. The same
train leaves Katni at 1800 hrs and reaches Varanasi at
0400 hrs the next day.
From Mumbai:
Mahanagri Express (Train No 1093) leaves Mumbai CST at
2355 hrs and reaches Katni at 1755 hrs. The same train in
the return leaves Katni at 19.40 hrs and reaches Mumbai
CST at 14.25 hrs the next day.
Lokmanya Tilak Patna Express (Train No 3202) leaves
Lokmanya Tilak at 2210 hrs and reaches Katni at 1740 hrs.
On the return the train (No 3201) reaches Katni at 14.20
hrs and reaches Lokmanya Tilak at 11.30 hrs the next day.
From Kolkata:
Howrah Indore Shipra Express (Train No 9306) leaves Howrah
at 1515 hrs and reaches Satna at 1015 hrs or Katni at 1200
hrs. On return it leaves Katni at 1020 hrs and Satna at
1200 hrs, and reaches Howrah at 0640 hrs the next day.
Howrah Mumbai Mail (Train No 2321) leaves Howrah at 2200
hrs and reaches Katni at 16.10 hrs. On the return (Train
No 2322) leaves Katni at 1500 hrs and reaches Howrah at
1125 hrs.
Howrah Jabalpur Shaktipunj Express (Train No 1448) leaves
Howrah at 14.30 hrs and reaches Katni at 16.10 hrs, the
next day.
by air
Khajuraho and Jabalpur are the nearest airports.
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© 2008, Banjara Camps & Retreats Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. All rights reserved.
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