Hey Travel Lovers!! How many of you love adventures in forests? I am sure most of you do, but some of those who don’t may change their mind after going to Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar, Rajasthan.
3hr 25mins away from Gurgaon, it falls under the western tiger landscape and is a protected area by the government of India. Sariska tiger reserve stretches over an area of 881 km2 and is comprised of the scrub thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, grasslands and rocky hills. It is given the status of a tiger reserve as it is a part of India’s “PROJECT TIGER”. It is also the first reserve in the world with successfully relocated tigers. It is a very important area in the northern Aravalli leopard and wildlife corridor.
Sariska is home to a number of different flora and fauna. Apart from tigers the reserve is home to leopards, langoors, jackals, chital, sambar, nilgai, mongoose and rabbits etc. sariska is also a home to different species of birds such as Indian eagle owl, peacock, grey partridge, bush quail and white throated kingfisher etc. due such diversity sariska becomes a frequent target of hunters and poachers whom the forest department is fighting with their full might.
In 2003, 16 tigers lived in sariska but in 2004 no traces from pug marks to scratches were found, Rajasthan forest department said that they had temporarily migrated and will return after monsoon but they found no trace after monsoon and it spread that sariska had no tigers. Project tiger declared a state of emergency in sariska and CBI were told to investigate the disappearance after 2-month long investigation it was found that there were no tigers in sariska due to poaching. In 2009 two male tigers and 2 female tigers were relocated from Ranthambore national park to sariska, in 2018 sariska became home to 11tigers including 2 cubs and in 2020 it is recorded that there are more than 20 tigers in sariska.
Other than the flora and fauna, there are some tourist spots inside the reserve which you can visit such as pandupol hanumanji mandir which is the last stop inside the forest for tourists, it is a hanuman temple and kankwadi fort, a 16th century fort built by jai Singh 2, situated near the centre of the park. There are tourist spots outside of the reserve as well such as sariska palace which was used as a hunting lodge by the maharajas and viratnagar which is a dilapidated Buddhist monastery on a hillock called bijak ki pahadi that dates back to 3rd century B.C.
Where would you stay when you
go to sariska? There are a number of resorts in sariska and alwar, if you want
to stay at sariska which is preferable if you want to go on an early morning
Safari then you can stay at sariska palace and if you want to stay in a tent
then you can stay at sterling resort where there are tents, tree houses and
normal rooms as well other than these two you will find numerous places to stay
near sariska. If you are staying in sariska then it is forbidden to leave your
hotel compound at night, it is forbidden to play loud music as it will affect
the animals living inside and outside the reserve. When people go to a forest
reserve some rules should be followed not for the danger we may face but for
the convenience of the fauna in that particular area which we always overlook.
You can also stay at siliserh lake palace managed by rajasthan tourist
development corporation, it is also famous for the crocodiles living in the
lake, it is a very beautiful place.