Welcome To Bandhavgarh National Park

Bandhavgarh National Park (बांधवगढ राष्ट्रीय उद्दान) is one of the popular national parks in India located in the Umaria district ofMadhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh was declared a national park in 1968, with an area of 105 km². The buffer is spread over the forest divisions of Umaria and Katni and totals 437 km². The park derives its name from the most prominent hillock of the area, which is said to be given by Hindu Lord Rama to his brother Lakshmana to keep a watch on Lanka (Ceylon). Hence the name Bandhavgarh (Sanskrit:Brother’s Fort).This park has a large biodiversity. The density of the tiger population at Bandhavgarh is one of the highest known in India. The park has a large breeding population of leopards, and various species of deer. Maharaja Martand Singh of Rewa captured the first white tiger in this region in 1951. This white tiger, Mohan, is now stuffed and on display in the palace of the Maharajas of Rewa. 

History
The state of Rewa owes its origins to the foundation of a state dating to 1234 by Vyaghra Dev, a descendant of the Vaghelas of Gujarat. He married the daughter of the Raja of Pirhawan and conquered the territory between Kalpi and Chandalgarh. Karan Dev, son of Vyaghra Dev married the daughter of the Raja of Ratanpur, bringing Bandhogarh (now known as Bandhavgarh) into the family as her dowry. The legendary fortress of Bandhogarh fell into Mughal hands in 1597, almost by accident. At the death of H.H. Maharaja Virbhadra Rao in 1593, his minor son succeeded as H.H. Maharaja Vikramaditya. When he was sent to Delhi for his own safety, the emperor took advantage of his absence to send one of his loyal nobles as temporary governor. Once he had taken control of the fort, the Maharaja’s nobles and officials were expelled and the fort annexed by the Mughals. On his return to his remaining domains, H.H. Maharaja Vikramaditya was forced to establish a new capital at Rewa, whence the state took its name. 

The history of the region can be traced back to the 1st century. There are 39 caves in the Bandhavgarh fort and in the surrounding hillocks up to a radius of about 5 km. The oldest cave dates from the 1st century. Several caves carry inscriptions in Brahmi script. Some caves have embossed figures such as tigers, pigs, elephants, and horsemen. Badi gufa, the largest cave, has a broad entrance, nine small rooms and several pillars. It has been dated back to the 10th century. The cave appears to be primitive, lacking the elaborate statues and carvings seen in the caves of the Buddhist period. Its purpose remains a mystery.

No records are available to show when Bandhavgarh Fort was constructed. However, it is thought to be some 2000 years old, and there are references to it in the ancient books, the “Narad-Panch Ratra” and the “Shiva Purana”. Various dynasties have ruled the fort; including theMauryans from the 3rd century BC, Vakataka rulers from the 3rd to the 5th century the Sengars from the 5th century and the Kalachuris from the 10th century. In the 13th century, the Baghels took over, ruling from Bandhavgarh until 1617, when Maharaja Vikramaditya Singh moved his capital to Rewa. The last inhabitants deserted the fort in 1935. 

Bandhagarh National Park is a park with a rich historical past. Prior to becoming a national park, the forests around Bandhavgarh had long been maintained as aShikargah, or game preserve, of the Maharajas and their guests.

In 1947 Rewa State was merged with Madhya Pradesh; Bandhavgarh came under the regulations of Madhya Pradesh. The Maharaja of Rewa still retained the hunting rights. No special conservation measures were taken until 1968, when the areas were constituted as a national park. Since then, numerous steps have been taken to retain Bandhavgarh National Park as an unspoilt natural habitat.

Project Tiger was constituted in 1972 and then the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 came into force. It was realized that protection of just the 105 km² of prime Bandhavgarh habitat was not enough, so in 1982, three more ranges, namely Khitauli, Magdhi, and Kallawah were added to Tala range (the original Bandhavgarh National Park) to extend the area of Bandhavgarh to 448 km². As Project tiger extended its activities and area of influence, Bandhavgarh was taken into its folds in 1993, and a core area of 694 km² was established including the previously named ranges and the Panpatha Sanctuary along with a buffer area of 437 km² which was declared as the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. 

Bandhavgarh has the highest density of Bengal tigers known in the world, and is home to some famous named individual tigers. Charger, an animal so named because of his habit of charging at elephants and tourists (whom he nonetheless did not harm), was the first healthy male known to be living in Bandhavgarh since the 1990s. A female known as Sita, who once appeared on the cover of National Geographic and is considered the most photographed tiger in the world was also to be found in Bandhavgarh for many years. Almost all the tigers of Bandhavgarh today are descendants of Sita and Charger. Their daughter Mohini, son Langru and B2 also maintained their tradition for frequent sighting and moving close to tourist jeeps. Mohini, became prominent following Sita’s death. She mated with Mahamn Tiger. She later died of her wounds from the vehicle accident.

Charger died in 2000 and his body was buried at Charger Point where he was kept in a closed region at his old age. Between 2003 and 2006, many of his descendants met with a series of unfortunate ends. B1 was electrocuted and B3 was killed by poachers. Sita was killed by poachers. Mohini died of serious wounds to her body. After the death of Charger, the fully grown B2 survived as the dominant male in the forest between 2004 and 2007. He also became the strongest tiger in the world. Mating with a female in the Siddhubaba region of Bandhavgarh, he became a father of three cubs. One of them was a male. He was named Bamera. He was first sighted in 2008 and is now Bandhavgarh’s dominant male. In November 2011, B2 died. Postmortem studies suggest that he died a natural death. But many other professional people, who know more than the officials, say that he was injured by the villagers of the village in the buffer area. Now, the most prominent tiger in Bandhavgarh National Park is Bamera, who has territory in all the four zones of the park. The females are Kankatti and Panpatti who both have three and two cubs respectively. 

Structure
The four main zones of the national park are Tala, Magdhi, Khitauli, and Panpatta. Tala is the richest zone in terms of biodiversity, mainly tigers. Together, these four ranges comprise the ‘Core’ of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve constituting a total area of 694 km². The buffer zone is spread over the forest divisions of Umaria and Katni and totals another 437 km². The legal status as a national park dates back to 1968, but was limited only to the present Tala range for a considerable length of time. In 1993 the present scheme of things was put in place.

According to biogeographic classification, the area lies in Zone 6A- Deccan Peninsula, Central Highlands (Rodgers, Panwar & Mathur, 2000). The classification of Champion & Seth lists the area under Northern India Moist Deciduous Forests. The vegetation is chiefly of Sal forest in the valleys and on the lower slopes, gradually changing to mixed deciduous forest on the hills and in the hotter drier areas of the park in the south and west.

The wide valleys along the streams carry long linear grasslands flanked by Sal forests. Rich mixed forests consisting of Sal (shorea rubusta), Saja, Salai, and Dhobin, etc. with dense bamboothickets occur in many places. These together provide Bandhavgarh its rich biodiversity.

With the tiger at the apex of the food chain, it contains 37 species of mammals. According to forest officials, there are more than 250 species of birds, about 80 species of butterflies, a number ofreptiles. But many people have the species’ list of about 350 birds along with photographs. The richness and tranquility of grasslands invites pairs of Sarus Cranes to breed in the rainy season. One of the biggest attractions of this national park is the tiger (panthera tigris tigris) and its sightings. Bandhavgarh has a very high density of tigers within the folds of its jungles. The 105 km² of park area open to tourists was reported to have 22 tigers, a density of one tiger for every 4.77 km². (Population estimation exercise 2001). The population of tigers in the park in 2012 is about 44-49. There is a saying about the Park that goes: “In any other Park, You are lucky if you see a tiger. In Bandhavgarh, you are unlucky if you don’t see (at least) one.”

Bandhavgarh tiger reserve is densely populated with other species: the gaur, or Indian bison, are now extinct or have migrated elsewhere; sambar and barking deer are a common sight, and nilgaiare to be seen in the open areas of the park. There have been reports of the Indian Wolf (canis lupus indica), hyena, and the caracal the latter being an open country dweller. The tiger reserve abounds with cheetal or the spotted deer (Axis axis) which is the main prey animal of the tiger and the leopard (Panthera pardus). The Indian bison were reintroduced from Kanha. 

Reintroduction of Gaur
Bandhavgarh National Park had small population of Gaur. But due to some disease passed from the cattles to them, all of them died. The project of reintroduction of Gaurs dealt with shifting some Gaurs from Kanha National Park to Bandhavgarh. 30-35 animals were shifted by the fall of 2010. This project was executed by Taj Safaris and Conservation corporation of Africa by technical collaboration.

White Tigers BandhavgarhIn year 1951, a white tiger cub was captured by King of Rewa Martand Singh. Tiger was given name called Mohan. During that hunting expedition, Martand Singh was with Maharaja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur. In first view, Martand Singh noticed one tigress with 4 cubs of approximately 9 months in which one was white tiger. All other were shot and white cub (Mohan) was left alive and offered to Jodhpur Maharaja to shoot but he refused to shoot such a beautiful creature. In year 1948 also, one white tiger was shot dead by Maharaja Martand Singh. Mohan was the beginning edge of white tigers chain of Rewa. Mohan was not the first white tiger found in Rewa. In year 1915, father of King Martand Singh captured a male white tiger and was kept in captivity from 1915 to 1920. After his death, he was mounted and offered to Emperor King George V as a gesture of loyalty. At present, specimen is in British Museum.

Mohan was put in a enclosure at a un-used palace at Govindgarh, Rewa. In year 1951, Martand Singh planned to offer Mohan to some Museum or Zoo against heavy amount of money and placed adds in The New York Times & The Times of London. But due to some reason, he didn’t succeeded. Later, Mohan was used in some successful breeding programs of white tigers and his gene reached many corners of world.

If we go through hunting records of Maharaja’s of Rewa, one can fine about 9 white tigers were shot down. As per an article published in Journal of Bombay Natural History Society on 15 Nov, 1909, a white tigress was shot in Mulin sub-division of Dhenkanal State of Orissa. Its reports also reveals of shooting of 17 white tigers between 1907 to 1933. 

Places Near BandhavgarhKanha National Park 
Around 255 kms away from the Bandhavgarh National Park, there lies the most captivating national reserve in Madhya Pradesh which is famously being called as Kanha National Park. This park is specially known for the presence of Swamp Deer, the Barasingha which can only be found at Kanha. This is the reason why this creature has been called as the “jewel of Kanha”. 

Jabalpur – BedaghatKhajuraho
The Khajuraho group of Monuments is one of the most popular sites in Madhya Pradesh and is being recognized by UNESCO as world heritage site and among one of the seven wonders in India. The Khajuraho is basically known as the temple town located in Chhattarpur district, about 280 km from Bandhavgarh. It has the largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples and the erotic sculptures are its most famed feature that attracts many of the tourists from all over the world. 

Panna National Park How to Reach
Bandhavgarh is spread at vindhya hills in Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh consists of a core area of 105 sq km and a buffer area of approximately 400 sq km of topography varies between steep ridges, undulating, forest and open meadows. Bandhavgarh is known for the Royal Bengal Tigers the density of the Tiger population at Bandhavgarh is the highest known in India. 

By Road:
Bandhavgarh National Park is well connected from the nearby town & cities like Jabalpur, Satna, Umaria, Khajuraho etc. Distance & approx driving time of Bandhavgarh National Park from some of the nearby cities are mentioned below: 

Destination Distance from Bandhavgarh National Park

Kanha National Park 250 Kms / 05 Hrs Drive By Road

By Rail
The nearest railway stations for Bandhavgarh National Park are Umaria & Katni. Umaria is 35 Kms (45 Minutes drive) & Katni is 100 Kms (02 Hrs drive) from Bandhavgarh. 

By Air
The nearest Airport for Bandhavgarh National Park is Jabalpur & Khajuraho. Jabalpur 200 Kms / 04 Hrs Drive & Khajuraho 250 Kms / 05 Hrs Drive from Bandhavgarh. One can get regular flights for Jabalpur & Khajuraho from all major airports of India.