17th January: Walking to the Fort

After being woken up at 6 am with a hot cup of chai and a couple of biscuits, we hopped on the jeep to visit the fort that gives its name to the national park and is located at its heart. Bandhavgarh national park has been divided into four different parts. Tourists usually go to Tala or Madhai zones, as they are said to have the highest density of tigers. Of course, that density is relative: there are perhaps only 20 or 30 tigers in more than 700 square miles of park, although the forestry department figure is around 50.

It was still dark when we entered the park and we saw the sun rising and illuminating the jungle. Its inhabitants seemed to be waking up, we could hear birds breaking the silence. A more alarming call then echoed through the jungle, just as we reached the bottom of the hill: not far from us a tiger was growling loudly. The tiger growled several times, an electrifying sound that seemed to us to be the perfect welcome to his home.

Sunrise on the Fort

The "fort" is an imposing sandstone rock formation that looms over the rest of the park from its centre. Legend says that it was built by the monkey god, Hanuman, and was gifted by Rama, the hero of the epic Ramayana, to his brother Lakshman. Bandhavgarh means "brother fort". The fort offers a great lookout over the surroundings and can only be accessed by a limited number of paths. This natural stronghold was then artificially fortified by the local Maharajas, with stone walls and huge gates adding to its impenetrability. This strategic location was ideal for the Maharajas to set up their temporary residence. They built a school, a palace for the Maharini, a treasury building, and numerous temples.

Looking up at the Fort from the jungle below

We passed in front of man-made caves, which used to serve as horse stables and barracks. The jeep stopped at the beginning of the path. We could still hear the tiger growling, but we could not see him (or her). After a few steps, we reached a large 10th Century statue of Vishnu lying on the ground, a fountain of water running at his feet. Kay, Satyendra's wife, later told us that she had once seen a tiger standing on top of this statue, only a few metres ahead of her. It was probably for the best that she had not told us this before!

Statue of Vishnu (on his left is a Shivaling, and on the right is a partially-destroyed statue of Brahma)

We continued walking up the path and quickly reached a huge gate. The door had been covered with iron spikes to prevent elephants from charging the door. A statue representing one of Vishnu's avatars, a wild boar, was standing a few metres above. We then reached the main platform overlooking the Tala section of the park. John sat on the throne where the Maharaja used to sit, and there we enjoyed breakfast with a marvellous view. We had a look for the tiger we had heard but there was no sign of him; we could only see a group of spotted deer, who seemed unperturbed.

Dwarfed by the great entrance gate

On top of the Fort

Looking for the growling tiger

Enjoying the Maharaja's throne

We then walked around the fort to visit the few buildings left standing. The treasury was a beautiful carved building, which contained a fortified room where we could see old strongboxes behind a grille. The temple nearby was dedicated to Rama, another incarnation of Vishnu. We passed by the ruins of the Maharini's palace, which must have been sumptuous, in front of an enormous man-made water tank. Slightly further away from the water tank, on the side opposite to the palace, lay the ruins of a school used when the Maharaja was staying there. The building was only standing thanks to a type of fig tree, which had grown around it and maintained the structure.

Rama's temple

Rama with his brother Lakshman and his wife Sita

John in front of the Treasury building

The Treasury's safe

The great water tank

Langurs by the water tank

The Banyan-entwined old school

We walked back down to the Vishnu statue at the bottom of the fort, enjoying the magnificent views of the jungle. Once we had rejoined the jeep, on the way back to the Tala gate we saw on a nearby tree a number of grey malabar horn bills with their distinctive double beak. We also had a friendly encounter with a deer who was not afraid of the car, flaring his nostrils at us before darting away.

Curious langur

Friendly deer

Grey hornbill

Kay, Satyendra's wife, welcomed us back to camp. We described to her our trip to the fort over a hot chai. We were joined by Bonnie, who is training there as a naturalist for a several months (we later found out that she had been taught English literature at Nottingham University by John's uncle!) They told us that the growling we had heard was probably from the tigress who is living around that area. She can apparently be a little aggressive so I was glad not to have met her on the way to the fort.

We had a very tasty lunch under the gazebo with Kay, Satyendra, and Bonnie before hopping back on the jeep to Madhai, another part of the park. Bonnie came with us and gave us great insights into the history and life of the jungle. That afternoon we did not see any tigers but we saw white-spotted deer, and in particular beautiful stags, as well as an adjutant stork, monkeys, and a sambhur deer. The closest we came to seeing a tiger was its paw marks on the sand. It was a lot of fun though. We did not meet too many other jeeps, which was great. The way out of the jungle involved an exhilaratingly speedy ride to avoid being late to the gate. Strict rules have been imposed regarding the closing time of the park. Failure to return on time would involve a fine and could also deprive the driver of his license.

Madhai

Tiger tracks!

Let's do the sambhur

Stag

Adjutant stork; not the prettiest creature in the park but at least he stood still

Back in the camp, we had chai and talked with Kay, Satyendra, and Bonnie. We told Kay and Satyendra about our trip that afternoon and listened to their interesting stories about the park and the tigers. They have been living in Tala for almost two decades and are passionate about the wildlife. Kay has compiled a huge amount of information on tigers, and has even prepared a family tree. She is very familiar with the older generation of tigers, which have now been excluded from the park by younger tigers. When the cubs grow older and do not need their parents anymore, then tend to push them away to acquire their territories. Watch out, parents!

We felt very privileged to stay with them and that they shared their extraordinary knowledge with us. After a few hours spent with them, we knew we could not have found a better place to stay (which also justified the time we had spent on tripadvisor!). We also greatly enjoyed their beautiful garden, where they grew oranges, lemons, mangoes, and papaya and even had a beehive. While we were talking, parakeets were courting near one of the papaya trees. The male tried very hard to carry off a large papaya to his love, but it was a much too big for him.

Overly ambitious parakeet 

Bees

Our room was comfortable and very clean. We even had a hot shower in the evening, thanks to the tank of water that had been warmed by a solar panel turned towards the blazing afternoon sun. We really enjoyed the fact that they were trying to limit the impact on nature by saving electricity and water. They also offered us filtered water, which at least saved a few plastic bottles from being added to the millions that pollute the Indian countryside every day.

Later in the evening, we lit a fire and sat around it to warm up and enjoy a delicious dinner, consisting of veg. curries, dal, rice, and chapatis. Some of the vegetables even came from their garden.