Sunday, February 14, 2010

Getaway to Bharatpur - An Avian-ture's Delight

So, what decides the destination of our trip? The budget, the popular choice, or just Outlook Traveller. Well, this time none of them made us choose Bharatpur as our long weekend getaway during mid-Feb. Cheers to Lord Shiva for blessing us with an extra holiday on the weekend (due to Shivratri), we were already a game for a small trip out of Delhi. Bharatpur came as the nearest destination with an exotic flavor to offer-birdwatching. This must be considered literal by all those who watch birds of different kind ;-)

Bharatpur is located on the Eastern peripheries of Rajasthan, touching borders with Uttar Pradesh's quintessential Krishna zone "Mathura" and Mughal's pride "Agra." Though, such a neighbourhood makes it a good touring deal for anyone, we insist on sticking to the birder's zone. Bharatpur's USP is the Keoladeo Ghana National Park (pronounced as "Kevladev" in Hindi, named after a temple of Lord Shiva inside the park and Ghana referring to the dense woodland).

The park, popularly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It inhabitates many rare species of birds, including the Siberian Cranes (localities claimed to have not seen them since 2002).

The park geographically is a low-lying area which has ample wetlands and marshy areas (post low-rain seasons, these are now fed manually by the booster pumps installed in the park).

1 comment:

Abhinav Singh said...

More details on the trip and the place please..