Bharatpur is a historical city in Rajasthan state of Northern India. Presence of Keoladeo Ghana National Park is its main attraction for which tourists visits from different countries of the world. Keoladeo is a UNESCO World Heritage site thus is prominently places in tourism map of Rajashtan. It is just 180 kms from Delhi, 50 kms from Agra & 200 kms from Jaipur which makes it easy to reach. It is just close to the Eastern Gateway of Rajasthan to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh & Delhi. It is considered as a paradise for Birders and period from November to February is considered as the best time to visit Bharatpur. Apart from national park, here we can visit to many heritage tourism destinations. In past it was also referred as Lohagarh.
The history of Bharatpur takes us back to 5th century BC, when the Matsya kingdom was flourishing in this region. If we study Hindu Epic "Mahabharat" we will realize that it is the same kingdom where Pandav brothers spend last one year of their exile in secret way. The Matsyas were allies of the Pandavas in the great Mahabharata war. As per legends the name of Bharatpur is derived from Bharat, younger brother of Lord Ram. If we talk about Keoladeo Ghana National Park which is also referred as most popular Birding destination of India. It was created 260 years back by Maharaja Surajmal who was one of the influential king of his time. Its name Keoladeo is derived from Lord Shiva temple, present inside sanctuary area. Just like many other wildlife sanctuaries, Keoladeo swamp was also used as private hunting preserve for royal family members & British India officers. After independence, the royal retained the right for shooting birds till year 1972. After this in year 1976, Keoladeo was declared as Wildlife Sanctuary and later on 10/Mar/1982, it was declared as National Park. Since then tourists begun to show more interest in this destination and when it was declared UNESCO site in year 1985, Keoladeo suddenly came into limelight and tourists from all over the world started to visit this area for birding and photography.
In order to plan for Keoladeo Natinoal Park tour, it is important to know the safari timings so that accordingly we will draw our tour plan, decide arrival & departure schedule. Here park is open for visitors from sunrise to sunset. As per change in sunrise & sunset timing, park management make changes in entry & exit timing. Entrance ticket purchased is for one time entry.
| Period | Safari Timing |
|---|---|
| 01 Oct - 30 Nov | 06:00 - 17:30 Hrs |
| 01 Dec - 31 Jan | 06:30 - 17:00 Hrs |
| 01 Feb - 31 Mar | 06:30 - 17:30 Hrs |
| 01 Apr - 30 June | 05:30 - 18:00 Hrs |
Usually park opens 30 minutes before sunset and closes 30 minutes after sunset. As per change in sunrise and sunset timing, park authority adjusts the park entry & exit timing.
Although it is more popular for birds but still due to forestataion in this area, we can find many other mammal species, which can be seen during visit. As per local guides, here we can find 27 mammal species. Some prominent mammal attractions are Spotted Deer, Sambhar, Wild Boar, Black Buck, Blue Bull, Indian Porcupine, Mongoose, Asian Palm CIver, Small Indian Civet, Golden Jackal, Striped Hyena, Rhesus Macaque, Leopard etc. Here Sambhar and Spotted Deer are easily seen in marshy lands.
Keoladeo National Park is birders paradise. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where more than 370 birds species have been recorded. Its location in Gangetic Plain makes it an unrivalled breeding site for bird species like storks, cormorants, ducks and herons. Here large number of migratory birds use to come in winter season. During park visit, we can find various species of Grebes, Pelicans, Cormorants, Darter, Herons, Storks, Ibises, Spoon Bil, Flamingos, Ducks, Geese, Swans, Vultures, Bustard Quails, Cranes, Rails, Crakes, Partridges, Peafowl, Bustards, Jacanas, Plovers, Gulls, Terns, Sandpipers, Snipe, Pigeons, Doves, Sandgrouse, Courser, Stilt, Avocet, Parakeets, Cuckoos, Owls, Nightjars, Swifts, Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, Rollers, Hoopoes, Woodpeckers, Pitta, Larks, Shrikes, Martins, Swallows, Myna, Drongos, Orioles, Mynam Starlings etc.
Keoladeo Ghana National Park is located in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. It is very close to Rajasthan - Uttar Pradesh state borders and Agra is just 50 kms from Bharatpur. Thus it is very easy to reach Keoladeo National Park by train & road transfers. It is surrounded by many popular tourist destinations thus it can easily be part of many different tour itineraries.
By Flight: If you want to do more traveling by flight option then just reach Jaipur Airport (190kms) or Delhi Airport (220kms) and do further traveling by cab or train option. Although Agra Airport is nearest one, at a distance of 56kms but due to its poor connectivity, tourists reached either Jaipur or Delhi Airports to travel to Bharatpur.
By Train: Nearest railway station for reaching Keoladeo national park is Bharatpur Junction railway station (station code: BTE) at a distance of 6kms. It is well connected with Agra, Delhi, Mathura, Jaipur, Udaipur, Varanasi etc. In case you face any problem in getting train tickets then consider Agra Cantt station (station code: AGC) which lies on busy track with many train options. Further journey from Agra cantt station to Bharatpur is possible by cab.
By Road: Keoladeo national park is well connected by road. If you are in city like Delhi, Mathura, Agra, Gwalior, Jaipur, Pushkar, Ranthambor etc. then you can easily travel by road to Bharatpur.
Keoladeo national park is a famous birding site in which large number of migratory birds visits, every year. Here in India, majority of migratory birds comes in winters i.e. November to January months thus it is considered as the best time to visit birding sites. Here also period from November to February is considered as the best time to visit Keoladeo national park. Although it can be visited in othe seasons also as birds remain here, throughout the year.
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