Panna National Park (near Khajuraho) (Pictures to be updated soon)

Don’t you wish life was a Jungle Book, and be Mowgli, friends with Panthers and Bears.

Well, in Madhya Pradesh, life isn’t a lot different. And this actually is the place where Rupyard Kipling sat lost in his thoughts and awe, and came up with the Jungle Book.

Madhya Pradesh consists of 9 National Parks : Bandhavgarh National Park, Kanha National Park, Satpura National Park, Sanjay National Park, Madhav National Park, Van Vihar National Park, Mandla Plant Fossils National Park, Panna National Park, and Pench National Park,

9 National Parks spread over 95,221 km² and constituting approximately 12% of the total forest cover the 7^th largest nation of the world, India. Well, if you are in the vicinity for long, like me, traveling luxuriously to all the national parks would be a pain to the pocket.

Today, I will be writing about a backpacker’s guide to Panna National Park, on a shoe-string budget.

I is always good to book online before, and the seats are hardly available, especially if you are going on 1^st October, the very day the national Park opens. It costs Rs. 250 per person to register plus minor online charges, where you choose to ride in sharing. If you instead choose to go directly at the booking counter, there are chances you may not get the ticket for morning, as well as evening, and have to plea a lot. Book in advance to avoid the chaos. Website : https://forest.mponline.gov.in

New to the area, I started from Bhopal via a private local Volvo at Nadra Bus Stand to Panna, a town the national park is named after. This is the town where you will find every basic thing that you won’t near the National Park. Having been charge a mere Rs. 400, I spoke to the locals inside the bus, and came to know that the entry to the national park is from a small village of Madla which is which 20 km before Panna in Chhatarpur district.

I reached Madla at 4 AM on with a 7 hour overnight and got down at a Dhaba, which is open throughout the night. as I skipped the dinner due to a pathetic place the bus had stopped for food overnight,.

I tried talking to the local, but the guy present spoke some indistinguishable dialect, and spoke something about the village turning against him, and prison, but unable to understand him, I moved on, without reaching any conclusions.

About a km back was the Entry Gate of Panna National Park, and an unprepared went directly there hoping to find the Jeep Safari from there only. However, as it turned out, the ticket counter was another 1.5 km back from where I had come, near and before the bridge of the beautiful ken river.

I went to the counter, showed my ticket, and got a jeep with a few other people decided randomly by the National Park website.

Since this is the first safari when the National Park opens, the animals do not expect humans, and the chances of spotting them are very high.

There are 2 Tigresses in the Safari area out of the total of 5 in Panna National Park, and they have their own territories.  One is actually a daughter of the other. They have cubs who are not so little anymore.

Actually in 2009, the National Park was void of Tigers due to Poaching, and subsequently, one Tigress from the nearby Bandhavgarh National Park and one from the nearby Kanha National Park were introduced in Panna National Park, and a Tiger from the nearby Pench National Park was also introduced, who moved out of the Park shortly after mating with the tigresses. Thug Life, right?! 2 more Tigresses were introduced later, one of whom died due to infection from the radio collar.

During the morning Safari, we were easily able to spot a tigress, and a leopard with its cubs roaming and happily around the National Park. Unfortunately since I was out of batteries, I was unable to capture them. Among other encountered were Sambhar, Spotted Deer and Nilgai.

Earlier there also used to be an Elephant Safari which would go deep into the core forest where the jeep couldn’t, but it was subsequently stopped, as it would disturb the other animals due to human activity.

The jeep also stops at a boating place, where you can get down to the river. However, Boating starts at a later period, and not immediately after the opening of the National Park. This one shows you other parts of the forest through the river route.

Once back, I recharged my batteries, and went to the Pandava Falls and Caves . Here only the Waterfall is worth seeing, the water from which accumulate into a small reservoir with fishes in it. There are no caves, and don’t expect any ancient temple, and any well built temple at all. It doesn’t have much to do with Pandavas, and the locals don’t have any well defined definitive tale.

I did not go to Raneh Falls, a close-by waterfalls, as I heard there wasn’t enough water there.

In the evening, I had another Safari booked. Evening and night are supposed to be major hunting periods. We witnessed several Chital, Sambhar, Nilgai and Spotted Deer throughout the ride, which are not uncommon here.

As we moved ahead, we heard animal sound’s of warning, and suddenly a Nilgai escaping the bushes. A leopard was at work, as the guide told us. Leopards are known to be shy cats, and hunt in ambush.

Since after us a lot many jeeps had gathered up, with people refusing to shut up, we missed the live action, the trailer of which was jaw-dropping at the sudden escape of the Nilgai.

As we moved ahead we stopped again and could hear a Tigress growling. However, after some time, the guide gave up hope and moved the jeep. However, people from another jeep which arrived last told us that they did witnessed the Tigress come out in the open. And that’s how I missed my last chance to capture the wild cats of Panna National Park on camera.

The is another Safari which takes place at night, which cannot be booked online, and takes place in the buffer (outer) area closer to the village, rather than the core jungle of the daytime Safaris. These are supposed to show the nocturnal animals, or those who hunt at night like Bear, Hyenas, etc. However, I could not wait for it due to less time, and therefore started back.

I took a lift at dusk, for Bamitha to be able to easily catch a bus. I witnessed a cackle of Hyenas, which the driver teased by driving towards it. The villagers hate the notorious Hyenas. It turned out that the guy was going till Chhatarpur, which was even better for faster access to Bus to Bhopal. The guy requested me for Rs. 50 for the Ride, which I didn’t mind giving, and caught a private bus from Chhattarpur Bus Stand at 9 PM, again for Rs. 400, and reached Bhopal by 6 :30 AM.

The wildlife I witnessed at the National Park continues to drive me for more wild visits constantly till this date.

Khajuraho:

Khajuraho, a beautiful archaeological temple site, is a mere 56 Km from Madla. If you haven’t visited it already, unlike me, be sure to pay a half to full day visit.

They have been divided into 3 groups:  Western group around Lakshmana, Eastern group around Javeri, and Southern group around Duladeva, Although mostly in ruins, the western group is still well constructed.

They are full of Erotic Sculptures on the outside of the temple walls, which are symbolic of the people leaving their material instincts outside the temple, so that Outside it is Kama, but inside, it’s only Rama!

Of the surviving temples, 6 are dedicated to Shiva and his consorts, 8 to Vishnu and his affinities, 1 to Ganesha, 1 to Sun god, 3 to Jain Tirthankars.. Khajuraho is one of the four holy sites of Lord Shiva, the other three being Kedarnath, Kashi and Gaya.

If on a long trip, nearby Orchha, Jhansi, and temples of Chhatarpur are also worthy of visits.