Bandhavgarh National Park
The Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh, rich in scenic beauty and steeped in the mystique of centuries, offers a spectacular treat not only for nature lovers, but also for history and mythology enthusiasts.
Located in Umaria district on the north-eastern border of Madhya Pradesh, about 200 km from Jabalpur, the park is distinguished by the fact that though smaller in size than the state’s other national parks, it has the highest density of tiger population in India. Once the hunting preserve of the Maharajas of Rewa, the area is also known as the ‘land of white tigers’.
It was here that the white tiger was first spotted and introduced to the world in 1951 by Maharaja Martand Singh. He captured and domesticated a white tiger cub, naming it Mohan, and went on to breed more white tigers and export the cubs to distant countries. Hence, all the white tigers that can be found today in various zoos worldwide - trace their origin back to Mohan.
Bandhavgarh National Park is rich in history. Right in its midst stands the eponymous Bandhavgarh hill, where a 2000-year-old fort, believed to be built by the Gond kings, can be found. Successive dynasties have ruled from this fort. Legend has it that the hill was gifted by Ram to his younger brother, Lakshman, at a vantage point from where he could keep an eye on Lanka. Bandhav means ‘brother’ – hence the name ‘Bandhavgarh’, literally ‘Brother’s fort’.
Bandhavgarh was declared a national park in 1968 and designated a tiger reserve in 1993. The vegetation in the park consists of deciduous forests, with the predominant species being the Sal tree (Shorea robusta), interspersed with dense clumps of bamboo throughout the reserve. The park has three core (central) zones –Tala, Magdhi, and Khitauli –which together cover an area of716 sq km. The oldest of these and the richest in terms of biodiversity is the Tala zone which is characterised by towering Sal forests, hillocks, and grasslands.
The highlights of this zone include the Bandhavgarh fort, the Chakradhara and Rajbhera meadows (which offer excellent wildlife sightings), and an ancient Vishnu statue known as Shesh Shaiya, at the feet of which originates the Charan Ganga river – the park’s lifeline. Magdhi zone consists of grassland and mixed forest cover, and has many natural watering holes where tigers gather. Khitauli is a dry to deciduous forest zone that is good for sighting the tiger, nilgai, four-horned antelope, and chinkara. Some twenty odd streams rise or flow through the reserve, ultimately joining theriver Son, an important southern tributary of the Ganga.
Apart from the tiger for which it is famous, Bandhavgarh National Park is home to more than 22 species of mammals and 250 bird species. Animals spotted here include the common langur, rhesus macaque, Asiatic jackal, Bengal fox, sloth bear, striped hyena, Indian leopard, spotted deer, sambar, nilgai, chinkara, and gaur. Birds observed include the painted sandgrouse, golden oriole, coppersmith barbet, redwattled lapwing, Alexandrine parakeet, white-throated kingfisher, painted francolin, Eurasian collared dove, lesser spotted eagle and Malabar pied hornbill.
