Sariska is a tiger reserve, located in Rajasthan state of North India. At present, it is spread over an area of 1213.34 sq. kms area. As it is located in Rajasthan, it is understood that forest will be of dry in nature. Here forest type is dry deciduous with scrub-thorn over arid region. This forest is spread over Aravali range in which Ranthambore national park is located. This range goes up to Delhi. It lies in Alwar district of Rajasthan state and was earlier private hunting preserve of Alwar state. Rulers of Alwar use to visit this forest for hunting expeditions and sometime their special guests also visits the forest for hunting expeditions. It was first declared as wildlife reserve in year 1955 i.e. post independence period of India. When project tiger was launched in India, in year 1973, it was not in the first list of selected tiger reserves. Later in year 1978, it becomes part of Project Tiger and pronounced as "Sariska Tiger Reserve". Although it became part of Project Tiger but due to poor management, this tiger reserve remained under media attention due to poor management practices and wrong reasons. Thus, despite of being close to Delhi & Jaipur, overall tourism never seen uprise.
Sariska forest is spread over Aravali mountain range and lies in Alwar district. As we all know that Alwar was princely state thus rulers of Alwar had full control over this forest area. They had used this forest as their private hunting preserve and exploit it for their hunting expeditions. Earlier in 11th century, ruler of Amer (Jaipur ruler) established township as Alpur and till this time, Sariska forest was part of Amer kingdom. This same Alpur town was later renamed as "Alwar". With the passage of time, this region went into hand of many other Rajput rulers. For sometime, Bharatpur rulers had also controlled this area. Even Maratha also maintained control over this area, for sometime. Independent Alwar state was established in year 1770 by Kachwaha Rajput. Due to distance problem, rulers or Jaipur and Bharatpur, doesn't able to maintain the control for long time. After gaining independence, Sariska forest area was first declared as wildlife reserve in year 1955 and since then human disturbance and hunting acitvities gradually reduced but not fully controlled. In year 1973, Project tiger was launched in all over India, with intention to increase tiger population by consistent development and management of natural tiger habitats. In year 1978, Sariska sanctuary become part of Project Tiger and thus it became Sariska Tiger Reserve. After Ranthambore, it was second most popular tiger safari destination of Rajasthan. In year 2003, here 16 tigers were reported. But it was the same period when poaching was going on in this tiger reserve. Instead of taking action, local park authority tried to suppress the matter & forest department failed to notice the warning. Till year 2005, it was found that Sariska was a tigerless tiger reserve. In year 2008, tigers were relocated from Ranthambore national park and situation slightly improved but problem is still persisting as tiger population has not improved as much as noticed in Panna national park of Madhya Pradesh, were tigers relocation was done at same time.
For any safari holiday trip, it is important to know the safari schedule of that national park. Here we have shared the information on Sariska national park safari timing so that accordingly, we will draw our tour plan and have successful holiday trip.
| Period | Morning Safari | Afternoon Safari |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Oct - 31 Dec | 06:00 - 10:00 Hrs | 14:30 - 17:30 Hrs |
| 01 Dec - 28 Jan | 06:30 - 10:30 Hrs | 14:30 - 17:30 Hrs |
| 01 Feb - 31 Mar | 06:30 - 10:30 Hrs | 15:00 - 18:00 Hrs |
| 01 Apr - 30 June | 06:00 - 10:00 Hrs | 16:00 - 19:00 Hrs |
Here the park management authority retains the right to change the safari timing at any time as per situation. 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.
Just like other popular tiger reserve, here in Sariska national park, jungle safari are done in both the ways i.e. by open jeeps and by Canters (open bus). Here elephant rides are not offered thus no chance of elephant safari. Here safari system is online which allows us to book the safari tickets from any location at anytime, in advance. Booking safari tickets in advance is highly recommended so that we may get the safari experience of popular safari zones. Here safari vehicle is open gypsy in which maximum 06 tourists can sit along with 01 safari guide and 01 driver. Safaris can be done in both shared manner and exclusive manner. Cost for both the modes of safari varies. Exclusive safaris are always more costly than sharing safari tickets.
As Sariska is a tiger reserve so presence of Tiger is obvious. Here tiger population is very low due to poor park management in last 10 years. Their was a time when both Panna national park and Sariska national park were declared tigerless tiger reserves and projects were launched to rehabilitate them by bringing tiger pairs from nearby tiger reserves. In last 10 years, Panna tiger population increased rapidly where as Sariska tiger population is still struggling. In addition to this, other mammal species are Spotted Deer, Sambar, Four-horned Antelope, Jackal, Hyena,Blue bull, Desert Fox, Palm Civet, Common Mangose.
Sariska tiger reserve is located on Aravali hills range, in district of Alwar, in Rajasthan. It lies in semi-arid region of eastern Rajasthan. Here we will find two large plateaus i.e. Kankwari and Kiraska with two lakes i.e. Mansarovar lake and Somasagar lake. In addition to this, one more lake is located at north-eastern boundary of reserve called Silisad lake. Presence of these lakes ensures healthy birding during jungle safari drives. Here we can find more than 215 bird species in which 120 are resident and 73 are migrant visitors where as 22 are considered vagrants. Some of the prominently seen birds are Rain Quail, Grey Francolin, Black Francolin, Indian Peafowl, Comb Duck, Spot-billed Duck, Painted Spurfowl, Small Button Quail, Yellow Crowned Woodpecker, Black-rumped Flameback, Common Kingfisher, Asian Koel, Green Bee-eater, Rose-ringed Parakeet etc.
Nearest Airport = Jaipur (110kms), Delhi (160kms)
Nearest Railway Station = Alwar (40 kms), Jaipur (110kms), Bharatpur (130 kms), Agra (180 kms)
Nearest Taxi Stand = Alwar, Neemrana, Bharatpur
As it is not so far from Delhi and Jaipur thus majority of tourists take direct taxi drive from these two important cities. Connecting road condition is very good thus we can smoothly drive from Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Bharatpur etc. All these destinations have plenty of taxi options to reach this wildlife tourism destination.
As we know that Sariska tiger reserve is located in Rajasthan state which is a popular tourism state of India thus best time to visit Sariska national park is corresponding to best time to visit for Rajasthan. When tourist comes to visit Sariska then he also tries to cover other popular nearby tourist places thus they plan their tour accordingly. Here majority of tourists travels from November to March month when climatic condition remains good.
If you are planning to visit Sariska national park then you have two options for hotels selection. Either you choose few resorts close to Sariska or use Alwar city hotels which is nearby Sariska. Majority of tourists uses Alwar hotels as they get better deal in Alwar hotels, in compare to Sariska hotels and staying at Alway also allows them to explore local city also, when they are not going for jungle safaris.
Sariska national park is located in Rajasthan state which is counted among top tourism states of India. After covering Sariska wildlife tour, their are many surrounding tourist places to visit like Jaipur, Bharatpur, Ranthambore, Karauli, Mathura, Agra, Ajmer, Pushkar, Shekhawati etc. It means their are so many options in different categories that we can easily find our desired category of destination, after Sariska wildlife trip.
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