Ranthambore National Park: The Land Of Tigers

“A country is known by the way it treats its animals.” - This statement by

Ranthambore National Park

Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, has always been a lesson to me. It was my last day in Jaipur, and I was seeking to explore some alluring site. Being a great fan of Ramesh Bedi, a veteran wild-life writer and photographer, finally decided to take an excursion tour to Ranthambore Wildlife Sanctuary. It was an awesome deal where I could capture the tigers and other fauna in my camera. To enjoy the tour into this sanctuary, I hired a jeep that took me in the deep forests without any fear.

I was in the eastern part of Rajasthan at a distance of 130 km from Jaipur. The very first fascinating factor was the natural beauty of the surrounding Aravali and Vindhya mountain ranges. My driver-cum-guide told me that Ranthambore National Park used to be the hunting ground of Maharajas of Jaipur. It was first declared a game sanctuary in 1955 and later became a National Park in 1980, and came under the Tiger Project. The Park is actually an eye treat for the lovers of wild-life. Various natural rivers and man-made lakes flowing through the National Park add some extra charm to it.

After a drive of hardly two kilometers, I spotted langurs, caracals, hyena, jungle cats, marsh crocodiles, jackal, bear, sambar, chital, nilagai, gazelle, mongoose, wild boar and a few other animals. But I was still searching for the roaring tigers and speedy leopards. The driver then took me to the Padam Talab, Raj Bagh Talab and Milak Talab. While on the way to these lakes, he told me that we could easily spot tigers there. And surprisingly, withing next 15 minutes, I was clicking the best tigers of India, in their relaxing moments. Hunting is strictly prohibited in the grounds of this National Park.

Ranthambore National Park has some areas open for the tourists to travel around and explore the flora and fauna of the park. There was a small restaurant, where I enjoyed a cup of coffee with some light snacks. The chaiwala told me that the Park has the largest and most diverse collection of wildlife species in India, including 300 trees, 50 aquatic plants, over 300 species of birds, 12 reptiles and 30 species of mammals. Ranthambore Park is also classified as a heritage site because of some of the ruins of old monuments. As I was running out of time, I paid short visits to the Jogi Mahal (has the second largest Banyan tree in India), Ranthambore Fort (probably the oldest existing fort in Rajasthan) and the Padam Talao. The Cenotaphs and Old Citadels date back to thousand years. The trip was very exciting and I returned back to my hotel with some remarkable moments in my camera.