a Journey Through Bandhavgarh National Park.................,Katni, Madhya Pradesh 460551, India 09818432897

12 to 16 Navember 2009 

 Bandhavgarh National Park Profile

Bandhavgarh National Park lies in the Vindhyan range of Madhya Pradesh and was once the royal hunting ground for the rulers of the by gone era of Rewa. The park extended over an area of 448sq.km is abode of the famous White Tigers of Rewa. In 1951 the legendary White Tigers of Rewa was captured called as Mohan, who supposedly fathered several offspring found in zoos the world over. Mohan is now replete and arrayed in the palace of the Maharaja of Rewa. 

Bandhavgarh National Park is an exquisite amalgamation of its wildlife beauty and historic monument Bandhavgarh Fort. The park is largely covered with Sal forest that forms the perfect abode to the diverse variety of wildlife including a large number of tigers. 

Treasures of the Wild

Majestic Tiger

Bhandhavgarh National Park enjoys the highest density of tiger population in India. Tigers use to roam nonchalantly here in the great wilds of the park, but due to extensive hunting by Maharaja Venkat Raman Singh, he hunted 111 tigers in his life span, their number came down tremendously. Government has taken immense measures to protect and regenerate this majestic beast without marring the natural charm of the park. 

Other Wildlife Attraction

The park is also famous for its langur and rhesus macaque population. There are almost 22 species of mammals includes jackal, bangal fox, bears, mongoose, hyena, jungle cat and leopard forms the core carnivore population. Visitors can often encounter the animals frequently like wild pig, spotted deer, sambar, the small Indian civet, palm squirrel and lesser bandicoot rat while exploring its wilds. The reptilian species include cobras, kraits, vipers and pythons. 

Aerial Population in the Park 

The park is an abode of 250 species of bird population. The most important among them are- Peacock, Paradise fly catchers, Jungle Fowl, Golden and Black headed Orioles, Yellow Ioras, Red-vented Bulbuls, Blue Jays and include the migratory birds that arrive in winter like the steppe eagle and various water birds. 

The Vegetation in the Park

The rich flora of the park includes dry deciduous forests. The park is also embellished with Sal trees. The north of the park is covered with stretches of Bamboo and green meadows. The terrain is rough and roughed, broken with rocky hilly range, extending vigorously east west, disperse with grassy swamps and forested valleys. 
Wildlife Safaris

Bandhavgarh National Park facilitates diverse options for wild life safaris. The treasures of wildlife can be explored on a royal ride by taking up elephant safari, jeep and car safari. Jeep safaris can be undertaken during the early morning hours till evening and it helps you to penetrate more deeps into the dense forest of the park where as elephant safari trips are normally organized for tiger tracking early in the morning. A forest department guide always accompanies you in these safaris. 
The Best Time to Visit the Park

The best season to visit this park is between November to June. During the monsoon seasons-1st July to 31st October the park remain close. The park can best be viewed early in the morning or after 4 p.m., during this time animals are most astir and can be easily spotted. 

Other Attraction

Amidst the Park is erected the ruins of colossal Bandhavgarh Fort built in the 14th century. It is an ancient fort believed to be more then 2000 years old. There are many caves found in the Fort native to the pre-historic period with Brahmi engravings dating far back to the first century BC. 

Mode of Transport

Air: The nearest airport is that of Khajuraho 230-kms connected to the flights from all over India. From Khajuraho, it takes just five hours by road to reach the national park. 

Rail: The park can be approached through number of railheads. The main railway station is Jabalpur just 164 km away from the park. Katni railhead is-102 km, Satna- 117 km on the central railway sections. Umaria-35 km falls on the southeastern section of the railways. Therefore it become quite easier to reach Bandhavgarh. 

Road: Bandhavgarh is also well connected by means of road transport, it is the center point from the city of Jabalpur and world famous erotic temples of Khajuraho. The park can be accessed by traveling on any of these roads. 

Chital Stag

Blue Cheeked Bee Eater

Chital Stag

Indian Jackal

Indian Roller

Indian Roller

Indian Roller in Flight

Langar Monkey

Langar Monkey 

Langars 

 Masque With Pale Colored Eyes

Macque

Munjac Deer

Peacock Displaying For Females

Samba Deer

Samba Deer

Serpent Eagle

Thicknee On Her Nest

Tiger In The Grass! She's Turned Her Ears Back In Just The Way My  Domestic Cat  "Sudu" Does When She's Pretending To Be Disinterested But Listening To Every Where.

Tigress She Has a Badly Injured Rear Right Paw Which Causes Her To Limp Badly.Despite This 9 Month Old Injury  Has Successfully Hunted and Rear.... 

White Fronted Kingfisher

Wild Boar Make a Run Of It

TIGER TEMPLE-is the place where you can meet some friendly tigers

The temple is located in the Saiyok district of Thailand's Kanchanaburi province, not far from the border with Myanmar, some 38 km (24 mi) north-west of Kanchanaburi along the 323 highway.

Our Thailand Tiger Temple tour Bangkok was a Really Great an experience, for any animal friendly human. That I will remember for the rest of my life.
A few years ago we watched a documentary on television about a Buddhist monastery in Thailand where they looked after orphaned tigers.
And animals that for one reason or another could no longer survive in the wild.
The Abbot reported that the first tiger cub was taken to the monastery in 1999.
It sadly died, but after that several tiger cubs were taken to the temple because poachers killed their mothers.Or people were trying to get rid of cubs they had poached and were keeping as pets.
Before the tigers there were other animals there in fact the Buddhist temple was founded in 1994 as a forest temple and animal sanctuary.
We were fascinated by the story and as we saw pictures of the monks playing with the tigers and even outside visitors stroking them we were SO jealous. We never thought that one day we would be among those visitors.
Our son and daughter in law moved to Malaysia four years ago and during our first visit it was decided that we would go to Thailand for a few days.
We arranged for a visit to the temple from Bangkok. It included a quick visit to the floating market, which we really enjoyed.
It was quite a journey and about half an hour before we got there a local guide joined us. Later on we realized what a good move this had been.
I will just say here that the correct name of the temple is Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua and is quite near to the border with Myanmar. If you are organizing a trip be sure that you are being taken to the correct place as there are many temples in Thailand known as Tiger Temple. 
It was so exciting to arrive.
It doesn’t look much as you would expect.
Tiger Temple is not meant as a tourist attraction, it really is a Buddhist temple and animal sanctuary but visitors are welcome because they bring in much needed revenue. It isn’t just feeding the tigers and other animals, there are vet’s fees too.
I don’t know quite how many tigers were there when we went but as of December 2009 there were almost 50.
The first thing we saw was the tigers being led to the quarry on leashes by the monks and the Abbot was leading the way. In the documentary the tigers played freely in the quarry but now they are kept on leashes when visitors are there.
After we watched this, our guide told us to follow her as there was a very young tiger cub. We were so privileged to be able to give the cub a cuddle before he had his nap. He was quite happy to nibble my hand (and I was more than happy to let him)
Then we walked back down into the quarry.
The visitor numbers are huge but everything is well organized, not in a sophisticated theme park kind of way but just for the safety of visitors and the well being of the tigers.
There were volunteers from all over the world who were happy to give up a few weeks or longer to help out without pay.
We queued up to have a photograph taken with a tiger and it was carefully supervised by experienced members of staff (we were also told not to wear certain bright colors as the tigers didn’t like them) We were photographed with a tiger’s head resting on our knee but then we had an even better offer.
As our guide was often there and knew most of the staff well she asked if we could go back in and have another photograph with us each individually leaning on the tiger’s belly. WOW I could hear the heartbeat, what an experience. 
I know some sources are not happy with the set up at tiger temple and say the tigers are drugged.
I understand that it is not easy to drug any animal in the way suggested on a long-term basis, especially an animal as large a tiger.
Maybe I am naïve but I trust that true Buddhists would not treat animals cruelly as their belief is that they could have been human in a former life. Also there are recognized vets in attendance.
I have also heard that there is a project under way to provide a large enclosure where the tigers could spend a large part of their day roaming freely.
If you were thinking of visiting Tiger Temple you would have to do your own research and come to your own conclusion.