Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan India
Ranthambhore—for many decades the hunting preserve of the princes of Jaipur— covers a mere 40,000 hectares (98,800 acres) but offers a fascinating combination of crumbling monuments, living temples, wild beauty, and your best chance to spot a wild tiger. Set within a high, jagged escarpment, Ranthambhore Fort (save a few hours for a visit) has towered over the park’s forests for nearly a thousand years and has witnessed many a bloody combat—even the Mughal emperor Akbar fought a battle for supremacy here in the 16th century. Inside the fort (open dawn–dusk at no cost) lie a number of ruined palaces, step wells, and a celebrated Ganesha temple visited every year in September by two million pilgrims who come to worship during the Lord Ganesha’s birthday. But it is the forests that lie shimmering in the gorges below, scattered with more ancient crumbling monuments, that attract the foreign pilgrims, who come during the winter months to catch a glimpse of the mighty Bengal tiger.
Sightings are recorded fairly regularly—it is said that between 75% and 95% of all the photographs ever taken of a tiger in the wild have been taken in Ranthambhore. This has meant that the 26-odd tigers living here have become totally habituated to human observation and are almost entirely indifferent to the sight and sound of vehicles and flashing light bulbs. The success of the park is due in no small measure to the efforts of Fateh Singh Rathore. A member of the princely family of Jodhpur, Rathore was made field director of Ranthambhore in 1972, the year tiger hunting was banned in India. Almost single- handedly, Rathore mapped and built the park’s roads and persuaded 12 entire villages to move voluntarily, having arranged financial compensation and constructed new villages with modern facilities that included schools, wells, and electricity. He also used a powerful spiritual argument: It is the tiger that always accompanies the goddess and demon-slayer Durga (who embodies the power of good over evil), so it therefore deserves protection; however, its survival remains forever compromised in a habitat shared with humans (see “Wanted: Tigers” above). Under Rathore’s protection, the Ranthambhore tiger population increased from 13 to 40, and his dedicated study and photography of the subjects brought much of the tiger’s beauty and plight into the international spotlight. But at no small cost— Rathore was awarded the WWF International Valour Award after a mob of villagers, angry at no longer having access to their ancestral lands for grazing and hunting, attacked him, shattering his kneecaps and fracturing his skull. On his release from the hospital, Rathore simply returned to the village and challenged them to do it again. After a brief scare in the early 1990s, when poaching (apparently by the park’s own wardens) almost halved the resident tiger population, numbers stabilized by the year 2000. Today, people like Rathore and Valmik Thapar, one of India’s foremost campaigners for the protection of the tiger, are once again fighting a crucial battle against widespread poaching; they argue that the authorities set up for the protection of the reserve are doing little. They have been proven right; in mid-2005 an independent committee appointed to carry out a tiger census discovered that numbers in Ranthambhore had dwindled from 40 to 26, in spite of the presence of several new cubs. If you’re keen on understanding the tiger politics of the region, you will no doubt find yourself engaged in intense discussion at Sher Bagh and Ranthambhore Bagh, both good accommodations. Fateh Singh’s daughter-in-law manages Sher Bagh, while his son Goverdhan, a doctor, runs the nearby charitable hospital for the welfare of local people; it’s one of the best-run rural hospitals in India. They also run an excellent rural school (visitors are welcome to visit both the school and hospital)—all this based on the philosophy that unless one develops solutions in concert with local people, it won’t be possible to save the tiger for posterity. With an estimated 90,000 humans and almost a million livestock living within a 5km (3-mile) radius of the park, the pressure on this island of wilderness remains immense, but its popularity and the efforts of many wildlife supporters will hopefully stand it in good stead. While tiger sightings are relatively common, don’t expect the experience to be necessarily a romantic one. It can be ruined by the presence of other vehicles, particularly the open-topped 20-seater Canters buses with whooping kids on board. Only a limited number of vehicles are allowed at any sighting, but this regulation is not always respected, hence the designation of different routes (see “Getting Around,” below) to keep number densities spread throughout the park. Even if you don’t spot a tiger (and do be prepared for this eventuality), the sheer physical beauty of the park is worth experiencing—from lotus-filled lakes and dense jungle to craggy, boulder-strewn cliffs and golden grasslands. Other species worth looking for include caracal (a wildcat), crocodile, nilgai (large antelope resembling cattle), chital (spotted deer), black buck (delicate buck with spiraling horns), chinkara (a dainty gazelle), and sambar (their distinctive barking call often warns of the presence of a tiger nearby). The park also has leopards (notoriously shy), wild boars, and sloth bears, and is rich in birdlife—over 400 resident and migrant species.
Ranthambore Safari Timings
A limited number of visitors are allowed entry into the park, hence the need to book your place in a jeep well in advance. There are two game drives: The early-morning (Mar–June 6:30–9:30am; Oct–Feb 7–10am) is often preferable to the afternoon drive (Mar–June 3:30–6:30pm; Oct–Feb 2:30–5:30pm), given that temperatures can make for muggy afternoons. However, you should pack something warm because it can get cold both early in the morning and once darkness approaches.
Routes (which drivers are pretty much forced to stick to) and guides are randomly allotted, which means you may be on a tight budget yet find yourself in a jeep with an excellent guide, watching a tiger bathe in the lotus lake that fronts the beautiful 250-year-old Jogi Mahal, while a hapless guest paying top dollar for the same trip trundles around with a monosyllabic guide with halitosis. At press time, there was talk of an overhaul of tourist entry procedures and rules; check with your host.
Ranthambhore National Parks Map
Ranthambore Tour Packages
Ranthambore Tour Packages 2 Nights 3 Days
Day 1: Ranthambhore
Arrival at Jaipur, Proceed towards Ranthambhore. On arrival transfer to hotel check in hotel, after lunch go for afternoon wild life jeep safari, Ranthambhore is famous for its rich Tiger Reserve. Overnight at hotel.
Day 2: Ranthambhore
Early morning go for morning jeep safari in fresh air to feel the wild life and the natural feel of the jungle. After safari return back to the hotel for breakfast. Evening visit most famous Ranthambhore Fort, Ganesh Temple. After that back to hotel rest day free at leisure. Overnight at hotel.
Day 3: Ranthambhore-Departure
After breakfast leave Ranthambhore for onward city.