Indian National Bird Sanctuary : Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur Rajasthan

City is best known for Keoladeo National Park. Bharatpur is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was founded by Maharaja Suraj Mal in 1733. Located in the Brij region, Bharatpur was once an impregnable, well-planned and well-fortified city, and the capital of Jat kingdom. Located 55 km west of the city of Agra (the city of the Taj Mahal) and 35 km from Mathura, it is also the administrative headquarters of Bharatpur District and the headquarters of Bharatpur Division of Rajasthan. It has an average elevation of 183 metres (600 feet).

Getting There

Airport : Jaipur and Agra
Train :    Bharatpur and Agra
Road :

Delhi (184 km),
Mathura (39 km),
Jaipur (176 km),
Alwar (117 km)
Agra (55)

The nearest airport is Jaipur. Daily flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi and Lucknow are available from Jaipur. Also the nearest airport is Delhi also. The nearest railway station is Bharatpur Junction (5 km). Bharatpur is connected with other parts of the nation by very good roads. One can travel through own vehicle too. There are regular bus services from  and adjoining areas. Many trains from New Delhi (New Delhi – Mumbai and Agra – Jaipur route) stop at Bharatpur. Bharatpur is easily reached by train or bus, although private taxis from New Delhi or Agra can be employed. The Park gate is close to the bus stand and railway 
station.






Best time to go there : October to March [ This time you see lots of migrated birds]

My Experience:

I visited this place in month of December and it was awesome weather to visit this place. The temperature was between 15 to 25 degree centigrade. and The wind was very pleasant. I reached there from Agra which is 55 Kms and I loved this place.

How to watch birds :

Please remember to bring your own telescope other wise you will end up paying around 2-5 USD \ 50-100 INR per hour for this.  Best way is hire bicycle and spend time as per your planning.  Another option is manually operated Riksha[Tri Cycle] which can carry maximum 2 person and charges or around 2-5 USD per hour. If you are in group of 4-5 person then make sense to hire Guide or If you are very keen to know most of the birds and there details then it make sense to hire Guide. Generally these Tri cycle operator are Guide. There is no need to hire any agent or guide if ask these guys all places if want to get information for any specific birds.Remember to get own research on birds before coming here if you are not planning to hire Guide.

Restaurant\Food:

Best part of visiting this place we have ITDC Hotel in center of your travel inside the bird sanctuary.  You have variety of options for break fast and lunch in this hotel.  

Photography:
You will love this place for photography. amazing reflection snaps, rare birds and lake. With the clear sky you can get amazing pictures here.

History / Details:

The Keoladeo National Park or Keoladeo Ghana National Park formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India is a famous avifauna sanctuary that plays host to thousands of birds especially during the winter season. Over 230 species of birds are known to have made the National Park their home. It is also a major tourist centre with scores of ornithologists arriving here in the hibernal season. It was declared a protected sanctuary in 1971. It is also a declared World Heritage Site.
Keoladeo Ghana National Park is a man-made and man-managed wetland and one of the national parks of India. The reserve protects Bharatpur from frequent floods, provides grazing grounds for village cattle and earlier was primarily used as a waterfowl hunting ground. The 29 km (18 mi) reserve is locally known as Ghana, and is a mosaic of dry grasslands, woodlands, woodland swamps, and wetlands. These diverse habitats are home to 366 bird species, 379 floral species, 50 species of fish, 13 species of snakes, 5 species of lizards, 7 amphibian species,7 turtle species, and a variety of other invertebrates. Every year thousands of migratory waterfowl visit the park for wintering breeding etc. The Sanctuary is one of the richest bird areas in the world. It is known for nesting of its resident birds and visiting migratory birds including water birds. The rare Siberian cranes used to winter in this park but this central population of Siberian Cranes is now extinct. According to Sir Peter Scott Keoladeo Sanctuary is the world’s best bird area.
The sanctuary was created 250 years ago and is named after a Keoladeo (Shiva) temple within its boundaries. Initially, it was a natural depression; and was flooded after the Ajan Bund was constructed by Maharaja Suraj Mal, the then ruler of the princely state of Bharatpur, between 1726–1763. The bund was created at the confluence of two rivers, the Gambhir and Banganga. The park was a hunting ground for the maharajas of Bharatpur, a tradition dating back to 1850, and duck shoots were organised yearly in honor of the British viceroys. In one shoot alone in 1938, over 4,273 birds such as mallards and teals were killed by Lord Linlithgow, the then Governor-General of India.
The park was established as a national park on 10 March 1982. Previously the private duck shooting preserve of the Maharaja of Bharatpur since the 1850s, the area was designated as a bird sanctuary on 13 March 1976 and a Ramsar site under the Wetland Convention in October 1981.The last big shoot was held in 1964 but the Maharajah retained shooting rights until 1972. In 1985, the Park was declared a World Heritage Site under the world Heritage Convention. It is a reserve forest under the Rajasthan Forest Act, 1953 and therefore, is the property of the State of Rajasthan of the Indian Union. In 1982, grazing was banned in the park, leading to violent clashes between local farmers and the government.

My Photo Gallery: