Bharatpur (भरतपुर)

One of the world's best bird parks, ironically came from a duck-shooting range - Keoladeo National Park 340

Keoladeo National Park (from internet)

What and Why

Here is a very ironic fact that pauses me every time I think about it: Keoladeo National Park (Hindi: केवलादेव राष्ट्रीय उद्यान, Kevalaadev Raashtreey Udyaan), a UNESCO WHS, home to more than 300 bird species, probably the world's greatest migratory man-made bird sanctuary that hosts thousands of birds, was originally built to create a duck-shooting reserve to to conduct shooting parties during the British Raj (ब्रिटिश राज) days. The colonial administration flooded the land, managed the wetlands meticulously, and then invited viceroys and maharajas (महाराजा) to come and shoot as many birds as possible. In 1938, a single shooting party killed over 4,000 birds in a single day.

Nowadays, the same place, the same engineering that enabled the mass-slaughter now sustains the one of Asia's most important migratory habitats, especially during the winter season. Keoladeo National Park, a fully man-made and man-managed wetland has become one of the richest bird areas in the world. It is especially well-known for nesting of resident birds and visiting migratory birds including water birds. According to the World Wildlife Fund, Keoladeo National Park is one of the world’s best bird areas. One of the more quietly remarkable reversals in the entire story of conservation.

Toponymy

Keoladeo is a local name for destroyer God Shiva (Sanskrit: शिव, Śiva) which means 'nothingness'. Again a certain ironic poetry that a bird sanctuary is named after 'destruction', given its history.

Bhārat (भाiरत) is the Hindi word for India (भारत, Bhārat) and derives from the legendary emperor of the country. Bhārata (भरत) in Jainism (Sanskrit: जैनधर्म Jainadharma), which in turn means 'cherished'. Hence in a way, if I can be literal here: this is a park of nothing built in a cherished city, building on a foundation of mass destruction, now protecting life. The toponymy does tell this story neatly.

The park is sometimes referred to as 'Ghana' as it contains grasslands, woodlands and wetlands as it reminds people of Africa.

See

Keoladeo National Park (केवलादेव राष्ट्रीय उद्यान)

Keoladeo National Park guide map

The park is massive and unless you are a bird freak or ornithologist, it might be quite a bland park, in spite of its celebrated status. The park can feel massively underwhelming, especially on foot.

To see the birds, the best way is to take the boat ride along the river swamp, which entirely transformed our troop's experience. Our boatman, who came out of nowhere from the swamps, was simply impeccable. I want to give credit here because he was exceptional: He could identify virtually every bird by sight and sound, name them in both English and Hindi, and navigate the narrow channels with confidence of someone who has done it everyday. His English pronunciation was remarkably good, which I have to mention because it genuinely surprised and impressed me, given the very remote locale the park is in, where most people can only mutter their local language or dialect.

The journey was serene almost to the point of meditation. My troop of girls was rather less meditative, having assessed the narrow wooden boat, the murky water, and the total absence of life jackets, and expressed understandably certain concerns about personal safety. They were a bit apprehensive at first, but relaxed eventually, at least I believed so.

Boat ride

Keoladeo National Park assumes its significant status in two respects: One because of its strategic location as a staging ground for migratory waterfowl arriving in the Indian subcontinent before dispersing to various regions. Further waterfowls converge here before departing to breeding grounds in the western Palearctic region. It is also the only regular wintering area in India for a good number of bird species.

Birds 1

Birds and more birds.

Birds 2

The other highlight had nothing to do with birds. Midway through our boat ride, our boatman suddenly slowed and pointed ahead. A large herd of water buffaloes was crossing the river directly in our path. There were dozens of them, unhurried, entirely indifferent to our presence, moving through the water with the calm authority of creatures who were here long before tourists and will be here long after. We of course took the sensible option of observing the animal traffic and observed the proceedings in full. I found it oddly one of the most memorable moments of the entire trip in the park.

Buffalo crossing the river

Travel Suggestions and Logistics

I do not see any other way other than to drive there, as the park is not located near any major city. We came from Agra (आगरा) and it is around an hour drive.

One practical note that future visitors may appreciate: the official entry fee is INR ₹550 for foreigners, but on our visit, and apparently this is rather usual, there was nobody manning the gate from morning to evening. We walked in without paying, or technically we could not pay. We did pay ₹1,000 for the boat, which was excellent value for the entire boat trip. I mention the unmanned gate not to encourage fare-dodging but because it speaks to volume regarding a certain Indian informality that I find interesting and endearing. The birds, who must have been watching, did not check our tickets nor report us to the authority.

Other than the park, Bharatpur does have a few other sites like the Lohagarh Fort (लोहागढ़ दुर्ग, Lohaagadh Durg) or other temples for visit. Personally the city is a good day trip only.

UNESCO Inscription

UNESCO sign

This former duck-hunting reserve of the Maharajas is one of the major wintering areas for large numbers of aquatic birds from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, China and Siberia. Some 364 species of birds, including the rare Siberian crane, have been recorded in the park.

References

Keoladeo Ghana National Park | Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary | Rajasthan Tourism

Keoladeo National Park | UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Keoladeo National Park | Wikipedia

Comments

Please share your thoughts and comments about the blog. If you need suggestions to build a travel itinerary, please let me know. More than willing to help. I would also like to build a bespoke-in-depth travel community around UNESCO WHS and ICH.