Central India Travel Guide

Compact, yet full of game; Bandhavgarh is essentially known for its small, but thriving national park, which is home to tigers, langurs, chinkaras, chitals, sambars and the Indian bison. The terrain is rocky with swamps and thickly-forested small, swampy meadows, locally known as bohera. Scattered throughout the park and particularly around the fort, are numerous caves containingshrines, with ancient Sanskrit inscriptions.

Surrounded by attractive open plateau country, immediately to the north of the Vindhyas, Gwalior is set in one of the states driest regions. This majestic hill fort, which was formerly the key, to control the Central Provinces, dominates a ridge, overlooking the town spread out below. Here the Jai Vilas Palace, bears testimony to the idiosyncratic tastes of the Scindia Maharajas.

Kanha, 175 kms south-east of Jabalpur, is one of India's largest national parks covering 1945 sq. kms. Kanha, a beautiful area of sal and bamboo forest, rolling grasslands with many rivers and streams, supports an excellent variety of wildlife. Situated in a horseshoe shaped valley, this park with all its natural splendour was the setting, which inspired Kipling's 'Jungle Book'. Established in 1955, it came under Project Tiger in 1974.

Close on the heels of the Taj and the piousness of Varanasi; the enigma of Khajuraho, unfolds with the tinkling of temple bells and the graceful movement, of myriad forms, poised in dance and movement, with the beauty of the timeless sculptures. Once used to guard the city gates, Khajuraho, alludes to the imagery of the tall date palms.

The only popular hill resort of Madhya Pradesh, Pachmarhi is a quaint small town with peaceful surroundings in Central India. Away from urban crowds and pollution, Pachmarhi is perfect destination for those who want to come closer to Nature.

Pench Tiger Reserve, nestling in the lower southern reaches of the Satpura hills is named after Pench river which flows from north to south through the Pench National Park. It is located on the southern boundary of Madhya Pradesh. Recently in 1992, Pench has been included under the umbrella of "Project Tiger" as the 19th Project Tiger Reserve.

Panna National Park is known worldwide for its wild cats, including tigers as well as deer and antelope. Due to its closeness to one of the best-known Indian tourist attraction in India, Khajuraho, the park has the potential of becoming a major tourist attraction. Situated in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh at a distance of around 57 km from Khajuraho is the Panna National Park.

Sarnath is considered, as one of the richest place to have antiques from the Ashoka period, to the 12th century. After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha came to Sarnath, where he gave his first sermon preaching the middle path for attaining Nirvana. In the sylvan surroundings of a deer park, he initiated his first five disciples into the Buddhist monk hood.

A very holy city for the Hindus, and a site for the triennial Kumbh Mela, Ujjain gets its sanctity, from a mythological tale, about the churning of the oceans, by the gods and demons, in search of the nectar of Immortality. When the coveted vessel of nectar was finally found, there followed a mad scramble across the skies, with the demons pursuing the gods, in an attempt to take the nectar from them.