The Favourite Bird Retreat
A popular halting place on the ‘Golden Triangle’, Bharatpur, at the
confluence of the Ruparel and Banganga rivers. Bharatpur, along with
Deeg and Dholpur, holds an important place in the history of
Rajasthan.
Area : 22 Sq.kms.
Altitude : 250 meters
Season : October-February
Languages : Rajasthani, Hindi, English
It is renowned for its world Heritage-listed bird sanctuary, the
Keoladeo Ghana National Park. Being close to Uttar Pradesh, its
lifestyle was strongly influenced by it. Another interesting aspect
of this region is the domination of the Jats as ruling power. The
Jats were active in the late 17th century and leaders like Churaman
and Badan Singh brought the Jats together to turn them into a
formidable force.
Suraj Mal, Badan Singh’s son, and perhaps the greatest ruler of this
area, started work on the Bharatpur fort in 1732. This fort, known
as Lohagarh, or the Iron Fort, took sixty years to build and is
still the focal point of the town. This formidable fort shaped the
history of Bharatpur-the British laid siege to it but after four
monthsand great losses, they had to retreat. This gave the ruler an
upper hand against the British and Bharatpur became the first state
to sign a treaty of ‘permanent Equal Friendship ’with the East India
Company. This gave Bharatpur a chance to live in peace throughout
the rest of the British period. Bharatpur is close to Delhi as well
as Jaipur and well connected to other major cities. Visited mainly
for the Keoladeo Ghana National park, Bharatpur is a small but busy
town. The fort is different from other Rajasthani forts. At one time
it was encircled by a most with very thick mud walls.Today;
government offices and a museum occupy most of the fort. One
interesting fact here is the lack of ostentation; it seems very
stark and functional, without intricate carvings, painted
embellishments and other ornamentation. The museum in the fort has
some interesting sculptures, collected from various ancient and
early medieval sites in nearby areas. Noh and Mallah are two
villages near Bharatpur where some rare archaeological finds dating
back to the 1st century were found.
Places of attraction
Lohagarh Fort: Popularly known as ‘Lohagarh’ or Iron Fort,
was built in the early 18th century. It has vast outer
fortifications along a rugged hill with huge gleaming along a rugged
hill with huge gleaming cannons on either side and took its name
from its supposedly impregnable defences. Maharaja Suraj Mahl, the
fort’s constructor and founder of Bharatpur, built two towers within
the ramparts, the Jawahar Burj and the Fateh Burj, to celebrate the
victory over the Mughal and British forces. The Gateway has
paintings of huge elephants.
The fort occupies the entire small artificial island in the centre
of the town, and the three palaces within its precincts are in an
advanced state of decay. One of the palaces houses a museum
exhibiting sculptures, paintings, weapons and dusty animal trophies.
The palace: Built by various Maharajas, the royal monument is
a brilliant blend of Mughal and Rajput architecture. The magnificent
apartments within have patterned floor tiles with exquisite
intricate designs. The main central wing houses the museum
sculptures, ancient inscriptions and other exhibits that reflect the
art and skill of the region.
Government Museum: This is another building, the Kamra Khas,
within the fort. The museum houses a rich collection of items from
this region. There are exquisite sculptures, some so finely
chiseled, that they reveal an epitome of skill and grace so
stunning, almost a symphony in stone. These sculptures speak volumes
of the art of a bygone era and a culture typical of this area.
Keoladeo National Park: The bird sanctuary is located at a
distance of 2kms. South-east of the main town, 38 kms. South-west to
Mathura, 55 kms. West of Agra and 180 kms. South of Delhi. Keoladeo
National Park was originally the duck shooting preserve of the
Maharaja of Bharatpur, but now it is an internationally known and
unique bird sanctuary.
Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary is a three-in-one preserve offering
exceptional scope for study for those with interest in the nesting
and breeding of Indian water-birds. During the monsoon, egrets,
herons, darters and spoonbills nest here. Normally by mid-August,
the birds arrive and commence nesting.
The best time to visit the park is from October to late February,
when many migratory birds can be seen, including the highly
endangered Siberian crane. To escape the cold winter months,
migratory birds start arriving in October and by the first week of
November , the lakes are filled with coots, common teals, pintails,
garganey, teal , shoveller, pochard, mallard , Brahmany duck, eagle,
kingfisher, storks etc.Larger migratory birds like pelicans, greylag,
bareheaded geese, and flamingo arrive later. By the end of March,
most of them return to their nesting ground.
During summers, the park starts to dry up and fishes appear in
abundance.Hundreds of Sarus cranes also come from dry fields and
congregate in the park. Ground nesters like partridges, quails, and
lapwing and curlew breed during these days. They lay eggs on the
open ground.
Blue jay, hoopoe, hornbill, barbets, woodpeckers, parakeets etc. are
some of the birds that look after the young ones in the tree holes.
Weaverbird, sunbird and white-eye bulbul also breed during this
season. There are also Chital Deer, sambar, nilgai, feral cattle,
wild cats, whilst near python point, and also there are usually very
large rock pythons.
The park has a road from the main entrance to keoladeo temple.
Vehicles are permitted only up to Shanti Kutir barrier. The Forest
department’s Electra van can be engaged for going up to Keoladeo
temple and back. Bicycles and cycle rickshaws are also available
Shanti Kutir as well as the main gate. Nominal fee is levied for
entry into the park and for the use of cameras.
The sanctuary was formerly a vast semi arid region, filling with
water during the monsoon season only to rapidly dry up afterwards.To
prevent this, the maharaja of Bharatpur diverted water from a nearby
irrigation canal and, within a few years, birds began to settle in
vast numbers. Indeed keoladeo continued to supply the maharaja’s
tables until as late as 1965.An inscription on a pillar near the
small temple in the park bears testimony to the maharaja’s penchant
for hunting.
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