Keoladeo National Park

Keoladeo 

National Park.

The Keoladeo National Park or Keoladeo Ghana National Park formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.

I visited the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary on Sunday May 12th, 2012 with my family Revathi, Govind Gopal, Hari Krishna Gopal..hoping to show what I missed in my childhood. Here is a small collection of photographs of what we saw from our trip. 

In fact its a TRIBUTE TO Dr.SALIM ALI -"THE BIRD MAN OF INDIA ", GREATEST ORNITHOLOGIST AND NATURALIST, since my childhood and I found great inspiration from Late Dr. Salim Ali .

Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987) was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the "birdman of India", Salim Ali was among the first Indians to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and his bird book helped develop ornithology. He became the key figure behind the Bombay Natural History Society after 1947 and used his personal influence to garner government support for the organisation, create the Bharatpur bird sanctuary (Keoladeo National Park) and prevent the destruction of what is now the Silent Valley National Park. He was awarded India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan in 1976.

The Keoladeo National Park or Keoladeo Ghana National Park formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India is a famous avifauna sanctuary that plays host to thousands of birds especially during the winter season. Over 230 species of birds are known to have made the National Park their home. It is also a major tourist centre with scores of ornithologists arriving here in the hibernal season. It was declared a protected sanctuary in 1971. It is also a declared World Heritage Site.

Keoladeo Ghana National Park is a man-made and man-managed wetland and one of the national parks of India. The reserve protects Bharatpur from frequent floods, provides grazing grounds for village cattle and earlier was primarily used as a waterfowl hunting ground. The 29 km2 (11 sq mi) reserve is locally known as Ghana, and is a mosaic of dry grasslands, woodlands, woodland swamps, and wetlands. These diverse habitats are home to 366 bird species, 379 floral species, 50 species of fish, 13 species of snakes, 5 species of lizards, 7 amphibian species,7 turtle species, and a variety of other invertebrates. Every year thousands of migratory waterfowl visit the park for wintering breeding etc. The Sanctuary is one of the richest bird areas in the world. It is known for nesting of its resident birds and visiting migratory birds including water birds. The rare Siberian cranes used to winter in this park but this central population of Siberian Cranes is now extinct. According to Sir Peter Scott Keoladeo Sanctuary is the world’s best bird area.

History

The sanctuary was created 250 years ago and is named after a Keoladeo (Shiva) temple within its boundaries. Initially, it was a natural depression; and was flooded after the Ajan Bund was constructed by Maharaja Suraj Mal, the then ruler of the princely state of Bharatpur, between 1726–1763. The bund was created at the confluence of two rivers, the Gambhir and Banganga. The park was a hunting ground for the maharajas of Bharatpur, a tradition dating back to 1850, and duck shoots were organised yearly in honor of the British viceroys. In one shoot alone in 1938, over 4,273 birds such as mallards and teals were killed by Lord Linlithgow, the then Governor-General of India.

The park was established as a national park on 10 March 1982. Previously the private duck shooting preserve of the Maharaja of Bharatpur since the 1850s, the area was designated as a bird sanctuary on 13 March 1976 and a Ramsar site under the Wetland Convention in October 1981.The last big shoot was held in 1964 but the Maharajah retained shooting rights until 1972. In 1985, the Park was declared a World Heritage Site under the world Heritage Convention. It is a reserve forest under the Rajasthan Forest Act, 1953 and therefore, is the property of the State of Rajasthan of the Indian Union. In 1982, grazing was banned in the park, leading to violent clashes between local farmers and the government.

Keoladeo Ghana National Park has been declared as the World Heritage Site. It spreads across 28.7 square kms which is a mosaic of woodland, wetland, grasslands and scrubs. This land has been a home to almost 366 species of birds along with various species of flora, snakes, fish and diversified range of invertebrates.

Best Time to Visit
Bharatpur Wildlife Sanctuary is open throughout the year from dawn to dusk but the best times to visit this interesting place:

1.  August to November for experiencing the resident breeding birds.

2.  October to February for experiencing the beautiful migrant birds.

Highlights 

Flora: It is a dense forest with dry deciduous trees. Dry grasslands mixed with artificially managed marshes. Jamun, Kadam and Babul are some of the most visible trees along with Piloo and some amount of Ber, Kandi and Kair. The rich aquatic vegetation is an amazing source of food for waterfowls.

Fauna: Bharatpur is world famous for the migratory birds which come all the way from Siberia and Central Asia to spend the winters on the wetlands of Bharatpur and after their stay they get back to their breeding grounds.

Some of the migratory birds at Bharatpur bird sanctuary include the following : 

• Cranes

• Pelicans

• Eagles

• Stints

• Hawks

• Wheatears

• Larks

• Pipits

• Geese

• Ducks etc.

 

Neolamarckia cadamba, commonly called Kadam 

In Hindu mythology, Kadam was the favourite tree of Krishna. Tree up to 45 m tall, without branches for more than 25 m. Diameter up to 100 (-160) cm but normally less; sometimes with buttresses. The crown is umbrella shaped and the branches are characteristically arranged in tiers. Leaves simple, 13-32 cm long. Flowers orange, small, in dense, globose heads. They appear like solid, hairy orange balls. The fruits are small capsules, packed closely together to form a fleshy, yellow or orange coloured infructescence containing approx. 8,000 seeds. The small capsules split into four parts releasing the seed at maturity. There are approximately 20,000 seeds per gram. It is believed to have medicinal value in curing astringent, ulcer, digestive, diarrhoea, expectorant, fever, vomiting. A postal stamp was issued by the Indian Postal Department to commemorate this tree