Bandhavgarh National Park

The national park is named after the legendary Bandhavgarh Fort, which is situated on a hillock at the Vindhya range. Once the capital of the region, it eventually became a royal hunting reserve. Each of the maharajas set out to kill tigers, and story has it that Maharaja Singh had killed 111 tigers by 1914.

In 1968 a 105 sq km area was first designated as a national park. Poaching was controlled and small dams built to provide refuge and relief for the animals.The park was enlarged to 448 sq km in 1982, and Bandhavgarh was included in 1993 as Project Tiger expanded.

The reserve varies in elevation, with 32 hills and the fort in the center. The terrain is broken, with rocky hill ranges, running roughly east-west, interspersed with grassy swamps and forested valleys. It now consists of a core area of 624 sq km and a buffer of 537 sq km. Tourists are restricted to 105 sq km divided into four zones. Vehicles are limited in each zone to 28 at a time. The density of tigers is quite high.

The foliage in the park is mostly of a deciduous type, and the area is quite rich in flora and fauna. The vegetation is specially filled with Sal forest in the valleys and bamboo stretches on the lower slopes. The forest also beholds the mixed species and high grasslands. Some perennial streams and rivulets flow at different crisscrossed zones of the park, creating scenic vistas.

There is a legend – p[partially true – of Lapsi Shikari, who volunteered to help kill a ferocious tiger terrorizing the local people. The tiger was killing their cattle and eventually attacking people. Lapsi used several cattle as bait, unsuccessfully. Eventually his wife offered to help, and he tied her to a tree. The tiger attacked, Lapsi shot a rain of arrows at the beast, failing to kill the tiger which proceeded to then kill his wife. Enraged, Lapsi went after the tiger with a knife; a long and fierce battle took place. Eventually Lapsi succumbed. Monuments noting their burial place are an interesting sidelight to the touring.