Wildlife in Central India

Arrive at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. As guests exit, you will be met and transferred from airport to hotel.                                                

  “I asked my soul what is Delhi?   It replied the world is the body; Delhi is its soul….. is how a 19th century poet described this city that has ever been so many things to so many different people. To the weary travelers on the ancient silk route it was the first plain after having crossed the Himalayan Mountains with the promise of shelter, food and business opportunities. To the Afghan, Turk, Greek, Arab and Roman kings it was a vast and inexhaustible source of treasures of all kinds ­ to the Chinese travelers it was the land of knowledge and wisdom. Its ageless face saw the advent of Islam. ­It saw empires being built and destroyed or even merely dismantled to make way for the new ­ and Delhi lived on….   The British created their own Delhi ­ with large well planned avenues and planted 10000 trees with a 112 kms of hedges that it would be green round the year ­ abundant with flowers ­ a botanical paradise. The seat of the British Empire ­ Delhi of 1911 was planned to resemble ‘an Englishman dressed for the climate’. Its planners and main architects decided that it would be neither Hindu, nor Muslim, nor Buddhist, nor English nor Roman but IMPERIAL a house for the Viceroy that resembled ‘a giant Indian bungalow, embattled Rajput fortress and Mughal tomb ­ with shades of Buckingham Palace ­ with English country house comforts. Delhi is perhaps the only city in the world that fuses its past present and evokes its future without losing an iota of its identity. ­ 1300 monuments speak of her antiquity ­ of the ambitions of men who thought they could hold on to her ­but history proved otherwise. A popular superstition is that it is also known as the ‘graveyard of dynasties’ with every one of its cities built there heralding the death the dynasty that built it.    Thus, Delhi is a Melting Pot of cultures, politics and religions of India’s colorful past in its monuments, its palaces, and in the faces of its people that they narrate the story of their glorious past.

Delhi Car

India Temple

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JW Marriott New Delhi Aerocity

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In the heart of India is located the Pench National Park. Named after the pristine River Pence which flows through the park, Pench National Park was the inspiration to Rudyard Kipling for his 1894 work “The Jungle Book”   The Royal Bengal tiger dominates this forest, seizing the imaginations of each visitor who travels through its teak and mahua forests.

Wild Nature

Wild Nature

Wild Nature

Wild Nature

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Taj Baghvan at Pench National Park

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Morning & evening game safaris in the National Park. Pench National Park  is in Seoni and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh in India. It derives its name from the Pench Riverthat flows through the park from north to south dividing the park into almost equal western and eastern halves, the well forested areas of Seoni and Chhindwara districts respectively.   

Lahore

Wild Nature

Wild Nature

India

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Taj Baghvan at Pench National Park

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Kahna is an outstanding national park and wildlife reserve in Central India, noted for its last remaining population of the hard-ground race of the Swamp Deer (approximately 380 only). Spotting wild animals is always a matter of luck, but Kanha is so rich in wildlife that the odds are titled in your favour. Most people are keener to meet Kanha's most famous citizen: The Tiger. There are a healthy number of tigers here and it is one of the best places to see them. This afternoon, you will take your first Jeep Safari to the park.  

Wild Nature

Wild Nature

Wild Nature

Wild Nature

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Banjaar Tola A Taj Safari Kanha National Park

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Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner at the hotel. Morning & evening game safaris into the National Park. 

swimming tiger

angry tiger

playful tiger

swamp tiger

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Banjaar Tola A Taj Safari Kanha National Park

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Once the hunting preserve of the Maharajas of Rewa, where an alarming number of tigers were hunted down in pre-independence India, Bandhavgarh was mercifully declared a National Park in 1968. Today, the Bandhavgarh National Park is a compact reserve (448 sq. km) of sal trees, bamboo thickets and grasslands, teeming with birds and animals and the highest population of tigers anywhere in India. The park is now home to 22 species of wildlife, including the regal ‘gaur’, umpteen varieties of deer, and carnivores such as the striped hyena, jungle cat and sloth bear and over 250 species of birds. Within the park itself is the Bandhavgarh Fort, now in ruins and largely overrun by the surrounding forest.

safari truck

tigers at the lake

monkey in the wild

leopard in the tree

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Mahua Kothi, A Taj Safari - Bandhavgarh National Park

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Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner at the hotel. Morning & evening game safaris into the National Park.

tiger in the grass

vulture family

tiger family

leopard drinking water

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Mahua Kothi, A Taj Safari - Bandhavgarh National Park

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Panna National Park is situated in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.The region is famous for its diamond industry, is also home to some of the best wildlife species in India and is one of the most famous Tiger Reserves in the country. The park is known worldwide for its wild cats, including tigers as well as deer and antelope.

antelopes india

deer in india safari

tiger drinking

antelope india

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Pashan Garh

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Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner at the hotel. Morning game safari into the National Park. Evening boat safari in the park.  

Wild Nature

Wild Nature

Wild Nature

jaguar

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Pashan Garh

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Located in the provincial state of Madhya Pradesh,Khajuraho is known the world over for its temples, architecture and sculpture.   The constructions of these Temples are thousand-year old. Many of the 85 temples believed to have been built between the 9th and 12th centuries only 20 have survived, many in splendid condition, others having given way to the ravages of time and nature. By the time the last temple was completed by the Chandela dynasty, the dynasty had sunk into oblivion. Khajuraho was the Chandela capital for only a brief period; they ruled for the most part from Kalinjar and other parts of the Bundelkhand region, with Khajuraho remaining their religious center. The most important aspect of the temples is the abundance of sculptures that decorate the facades and interiors of the shrines.   WESTERN GROUP OF TEMPLES   The Western Group of Temples, in the heart of the town, are the most famous temples of Khajuraho, with the mithunas (couples), gandharvas, apsaras, vidyadaras and kinaras. The images of the apsaras are stunning, with their sensuous poses and liquid movements. There are the unforgettable images of a maiden adorning herself before a mirror, applying kohl on her eyes, plaiting her long hair, removing a thorn from her foot. The erotic images, almost acrobatic orgiastic scenes have been associated with Tantric rituals and practices. However, it/’s not so much the sexual aspect but the grace, energy and feeling that strikes one most about these images. The eyes, the face and the body are poetry of pure emotive movement.             EASTERN GROUP OF TEMPLES The Eastern temples are partly Jain and partly Hindu. The most striking is the Parsvanath Temple, with its exquisite sculptures depicting everyday activity. There is a bull-emblem of the first Tirthankara, Adinath. It is a fine instance of sensitive art without any sexual motifs. Near this temple is the temple of Adinath, which has some fine carvings. The temple is structurally similar to the Hindu temples of Khajuraho. In fact, it is this Jain-Hindu combination that is singularly interesting about the Eastern Group of temples. Only a century old, Shantinath is the most recent of all the temples in Khajuraho. Visited by the Digambar Jains, the temple houses a 4 ½ meter statue of Adinath. The Ghantai Temple, mostly in ruins now, has fine columns and chains and bells, with a figure of a Jain goddess on a garuda. Mainly built of granite and sandstone, the temple of Brahma and Hanuman is one of the oldest temples in Khajuraho.

eastern temple

eastern temple 2

western temple

western temple figures

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Syna Heritage Hotel

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Located in the provincial state of Madhya Pradesh,Khajuraho is known the world over for its temples, architecture and sculpture.   The constructions of these Temples are thousand-year old. Many of the 85 temples believed to have been built between the 9th and 12th centuries only 20 have survived, many in splendid condition, others having given way to the ravages of time and nature. By the time the last temple was completed by the Chandela dynasty, the dynasty had sunk into oblivion. Khajuraho was the Chandela capital for only a brief period; they ruled for the most part from Kalinjar and other parts of the Bundelkhand region, with Khajuraho remaining their religious center. The most important aspect of the temples is the abundance of sculptures that decorate the facades and interiors of the shrines.   WESTERN GROUP OF TEMPLES   The Western Group of Temples, in the heart of the town, are the most famous temples of Khajuraho, with the mithunas (couples), gandharvas, apsaras, vidyadaras and kinaras. The images of the apsaras are stunning, with their sensuous poses and liquid movements. There are the unforgettable images of a maiden adorning herself before a mirror, applying kohl on her eyes, plaiting her long hair, removing a thorn from her foot. The erotic images, almost acrobatic orgiastic scenes have been associated with Tantric rituals and practices. However, it/’s not so much the sexual aspect but the grace, energy and feeling that strikes one most about these images. The eyes, the face and the body are poetry of pure emotive movement.             EASTERN GROUP OF TEMPLES The Eastern temples are partly Jain and partly Hindu. The most striking is the Parsvanath Temple, with its exquisite sculptures depicting everyday activity. There is a bull-emblem of the first Tirthankara, Adinath. It is a fine instance of sensitive art without any sexual motifs. Near this temple is the temple of Adinath, which has some fine carvings. The temple is structurally similar to the Hindu temples of Khajuraho. In fact, it is this Jain-Hindu combination that is singularly interesting about the Eastern Group of temples. Only a century old, Shantinath is the most recent of all the temples in Khajuraho. Visited by the Digambar Jains, the temple houses a 4 ½ meter statue of Adinath. The Ghantai Temple, mostly in ruins now, has fine columns and chains and bells, with a figure of a Jain goddess on a garuda. Mainly built of granite and sandstone, the temple of Brahma and Hanuman is one of the oldest temples in Khajuraho. Transfer to Jabalpur Airport to board your flight to Delhi. Arrive Delhi and transfer to the hotel.

Driver

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JW Marriott New Delhi Aerocity

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