Kanha National Park
Kanha National Park is snuggled in the Satpura’s Maikal range, Madhya Pradesh, the heart of India forming the central Indian highlands. This national park is being promoted as the Tiger reserve and it’s fascinating to know that it has been declared as one of the finest wildlife areas in the whole world.
It is spread across two revenue districts, the Mandala and the Kalaghat in Madhya Pradesh. Kanha National Park was first acknowledged as a reserve forest in the year 1879 and then gained its status as a wildlife sanctuary in 1933. Finally, its position further upgraded as a national park in 1955.
The National Park is distributed across the area of 2051 sq. km in the Maikal chain of hills. If we consider both the buffer and core zones altogether, the Kanha Tiger Reserve takes up the total area of 1945 sq. km.
The panoramas and the neighboring lavish meadows beside the wooded strands and the dense maroons of forests provide a benevolent experience for sightseeing experiences to all the nature lovers out there. The crystal clear creeks make the land even more beautiful and adorable. They are situated amidst the dense jungle; wash off the surroundings and make the wildlife unparalleled.
Interestingly, the Kanha National Park is the source of inspiration for one of the most popular Rudyard Kipling’s work, – “The Jungle Book”. The National Park serves as the ideal habitat for a wide variety of wild creatures; it includes the mighty tigers to the most populated Barasingha and the uncountable species of plants, birds, reptiles, and insects.
This reserve has never failed to fascinate any traveler from around the world with its well-developed groundwork. So, if you are visiting India then Kanha National Park would be a hard miss. Also, once you are here don’t forget to visit the beautiful Sunset Point, Bammi Dadar.
History
Total: 2051.791 Sq Km
Core: 917.44 Sq Km
Buffer: 1134.361 Sq Km
Altitude- The altitude of the park ranges from about 600 m (1900 ft.) at Kanha Village to 870 m (2900 ft.) at Bamhni Dadar
Temp. Summers- extreme- hot and dry (April-June) – max temperature- 43° C
Temp. Winters- quite cold (Nov- Feb) and frost covers the meadows- min temp – 2° C
Monsoons- mid June-September – average rainfall- 1800 mm
Flora & Fauna: Located in the heart of Indian state Madhya Pradesh, Kanha has approx 300 species of Birds, 43 species of Mammals, 26 species of Reptiles and more than 500 species of Insects. The Major species found are hard ground Barasingha, Tiger, Leopard, Dhole, Bear, Gaur and Indian Python etc.
Best Time to visit: The best time to visit the Reserve is 15 Oct to 30 June. Season time is from Oct to March as most of the people visit this place as summer’s heat is very much during April May and June.
By Train: The Nearest Railway Stations for accessing Kanha National Park is Gondia & Jabalpur. Gondia railway station is 145kms from Kanha (Khatia Entrance Gate). Jabalpur railway station is 160kms which is approx 04:00 hrs drive.
By Air: The Nearest Airport for Kanha National Park are Jabalpur 160 Kms, Raipur 250 Kms & Nagpur 300 Kms.