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BANDHVAGARH
 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.
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