Ranthambore :My First Journey to Natural Jungle

Ranthambore National Park

We were 10 peoples including two drivers and we have hired two Tata-Sumo’s to visit Ranthambore National Park. It was 29th Sept 2000 and none of us was bothers to inquire whether the park is open for public or not. I was student of a Computer Training Institute at Jaipur & I was grouped with another 8 students including me. Our main aim was to enjoy in this trip & make full masti out of it by taking a break from busy training schedule & get out from a concrete jungle to visit a natural jungle. Following Indian Standard Time we left Jaipur around 8:30 am. Highways was not in good position to drive but we still manage to reach Sawai Madhopur in 4 hours & after taking a short break in a small Dhaba situated in city, we left towards the park. Park is actually situated in out skirt of Sawai Madhopur city.

In between we stopped to see “Amareshwar Mahadeo Temple” which is actually situated on the way to the park. It was on the hill top on one of the mountain surrounded by several other hills. We all were very excited to see such kind of view & wondering that we are in India or some grand Deccan of Colorado because all the mountains were very huge & telling us that we are the protectors of the jungle. When we actually reached to that temple we find that it situated in the middle of the hill as you can see in the above snap. After taking the blessing of the lord Rama we all get busy to capture few snaps for our memories & all of the sudden we saw a water pond near the temple & we also saw that there was a small Lord Shivlingam installed under it & a water drops was coming from top of the hill & when we ask the pujari he told us that it’s still a mystery from where this water is coming from.  After rooming we again headed ourselves towards park. The entry of the park is very cool & the passage is completely surrounded by dense trees along with smooth road which makes the ride very comfortable. The entry road is in zigzag form which again gives a thrill to the ride & we also became fortunate to saw few dears rooming on the way crossing he road and that was my first encounter with any wild animal in the Jungle. 

Lake view inside the Park

Sawai Madhopur City is located in the eastern part of Rajasthan in north India. City flaunts a dry climate with short rainy season with the maximum temperature rising up to 41°C and minimum temperature falling up to 8°C. Best Time to visit is between Octobers to June.

History:

Sawai Madhopur was built by Sawai Madho Singh-I in 1765. It was Govinda, the grandson of Prithviraj Chauhan who ruled Sawai Madhopur as a feudatory of the sultan of Delhi in the 13th century. After his death, his successor Vagabhatta took control of Ranthambore fort and ruled for 12 years.

When we enter in the park we came to know that the park is closed for the public which is a part of a regular schedule & it will going to open on 1st Oct which means we came 2 days earlier. But since the aim of our trip was to enjoy rather regretting upon our decision to came here, we immediately changed our plan and we all decided to visit Ranthombore Fort which is just on the opposite side of the Park entry. 

We encounter a very huge entry gate to enter the fort, it was around 25 feet long & certainly very heavy to open, but there was a small door inbuilt on the gate to enter the fort. Immediately we found few flower & sweet shops inside the campus of the fort along with good numbers of people rooming there. That means there is a temple located inside the fort, it was of Lord Ganesha’s temple. We found that most of the peoples are farmers & local and they use to visit this temple on a regular basis due to holy reason. The entry lobby of the temple is surrounded with lush green grass. When you see the temple building, you will find out that it is a very ancient built structure. It is very much similar from the temple of Lord Bharma (Pushkar) and ancient temples of Varanasi. After visiting the temple we moved towards the fort and we found it that it is a very big fort and one day is not enough to see the whole fort.  Everybody was now feeling very hungry and tired and not in position to move further but all of the sudden we saw few groups of the peoples heading towards a small path which actually end at gupt-ganga (Hidden Water body). So, we all decided to see that place. When we reached the place called gupt-ganga we found that there is a very small gateway to enter inside and at a time only one or two person can go. 

When we saw inside the door, there was rock stares built to go downwards & it was all natural structure not a manmade. The steps were wet and a bit scary too as there is no source of light inside, but this is I call moment of thrill & action. Nobody was daring to go inside first to see it, and then I decided to go first. Since there was on proper steps to get down you have to be very caution while stepping down. It is around 7-8 feet down & at the end you will find a hard rock wall and nothing else, but I found some space at left hand side, there you go, the Gupt-Ganga, I started shouting that I found the water and after me one by one everybody get inside to see it, just because of me. You have to bend down to touch the water; it was very cold I just wondering where is it coming from. I found the water in very pure condition, one can even drink it. We left the fort and returned to Sawai Madhopur city to have some food & take some rest. After that we return to Jaipur. It was very nice trip although we couldn’t able to visit the National Park but we still enjoyed very moment of the trip. This kind of trip with good number of people gives a very good pleasure of travelling.

Getting there:

• By Air – Jaipur (175 Kms) nearest Airport. Connected from both Delhi & Mumbai.
• By Rail – Sawai Madhopur (11kms) nearest Railway station. Connected both with Mumbai & Jaipur
• By Road – A good network of buses connect Sawai Madhopur all the major neighbor metro cities like Jaipur Kota etc. In order to visit National Park, a taxi can be easily hired from bus stand.

Accommodations: 

Govt. Hotels – 

• RTDC Jhoomar Baori Forest Lodge. (3000 to 7500)
• RTDC Hotel Kamdhenu.(3000 to 4000)
• PWD Rest House. (2500 to 3000)

Private Hotels – 

• Maharaja Lodge (Taj Group); Vanyavilas (Oberoi Group); Tiger Den; Hotel Green View; Hotel Pag-Mark.

Must See:

Ranthombore Fort; Ranthombore Wild Life Sanctuary; Ranthambhor Ganesh Temple; Amareshwar Mahadeo Temple; Rameshwaram Dham; Khandar Fort and Chouth-Mata Temple are among few good places one can visit.

Shopping Options: 

Sawai Madhopur is a small town but one can roam within the city area & can find few good shops for individual shopping stuffs 

Hunger Options: 

There is are several options for food lovers like - The Nahargarh Ranthambhore Dining Hall, Oberoi Hotel Restaurant, generally foods in all the hotels are very good & maintained quality. Apart from these hotels it will be a bit trouble to find good destination inside Sawai Madhopur city.

Tiger

Animals found in Ranthombore National Park:

Tigers, Panthers, Marsh Crocodiles, Hyenas, Jungles Cats, Sloth bear,  Samber, Dear, Chital, Nilgari & Chinkara. The avian population comprises of black Storks, Quails, Bonelli’s Eagles, Spur Fowls, Crested serpent Eagles and Painted Strokes. During winter months attracts a lot of migratory birds, primarily a variety of ducks. 

Aim of Ranthombore National Park:  

It’s a part of Project Tiger Reserve, one of the efforts for Tiger conservation in the country. As a result of stringent conservation efforts, tigers, the prime asset of the Park, have become more and more active during the day, more than in any other park or sanctuary in India.