Jim Corbett Park

 Jim Corbett park in Uttrakhand is a treat . We started our tour with first visiting the  Jim Corbett Falls. On the road from Nainital to Ramnagar at Kaladhungi Road is the Jim Corbett falls. Amidst a lush green forest one has to walk about two kilometres . One can admire the jungle and enjoy the teak forest as we walk and suddenly behind a big rock a natural waterfall emerges. When we reached here the whole area was deserted with out any tourists. The walkways looked almost like they were abroad. Slowly as we wound our way up the hill, we could see tourist buses coming and many tourists getting down.

We took the first tour in the jungle to, Sitabani Forest Reserve. This naturally enclosed place at Amgarhi is nestled in the foothills in inner Terai some 18 Km from Kosi Barrage, Ramnagar in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. This beautiful dense Sal (stronger than Teak Timber) forest is opposite to Jim Corbett National Park and is an extended part of the park. It is home to Royal Bengal tiger, Deer, Elephants, wild bore, Sambhar, and several species of birds. We entered through the main gate, Bhandarpani. Enjoying and experiencing the picturesque clean and green drive, that criss crossed magnificent landscapes, with natural springs, small pure water rivers, crystal clear blue sky, wild jamun grooves, several berries, vast Grasslands, and occasional frightening calls of barking deer, monkeys and langoors, signalling the presence of Big Cats in their neighborhood, we reached at the ANCIENT TEMPLE OF SITA. Perhaps this is the only temple or one of the few temples dedicated to Sita the Goddess and Warrior wife of Lord Ram. According to legends at Sitabani she gave birth to her twin sons Luv and Kush. The temple and site is protected by archeological department of India. This is the most enchanting and peaceful scenic place. Though we could not locate the Big cat, but the landscape captured our soul with an invitation come again. Finally our generous and knowledgeable driver cum guide Mr. Mohan detour the return and we passed through the famous village Pawalgarh (Bachelor of Pavalgarh by Jim Corbett), and the exit post of Pavalgarh and Kiyari. This is one of the must tour for nature and landscape lovers.

We undertook another  safari to Sitabani forest reserve. As the other forests in the Jim Corbett National Park, can accommodate only thirty jeeps in a day for a safari and these require reservations much in advance for the Government permit is required to enter the forest many prefer to go to Sitabani where about one hundred and thirty jeeps can enter the area in a day and permits are easily granted. However, the forest is so big that it does not look crowded. Sitabani is a forest reserve that is referred to as landscape forest. This is in the buffer zone. For a long time people in the villages near this area did agriculture by slash and burn cultivation and the land in the nearby region was eroded. Now about seventy kilometer of land has been preserved as Sitabani and a beautiful forest of teak, Sal trees, Jamun trees and many other variety oftrees has come up. Though it does not have many tigers one can sight a lot of elephants and a variety of birds. This beautiful forest area has three entrances, Bhandargarh, Kayari and Pawal garh. As we stopped at Pawal garh, I could not help but remember Jin Corbett's book, Man eater of Kumaon that has the famous story of Bachelor of Pawal garh. We could see a lot of Termite Ant hills that are so artistically built. It is a an amazing regenerative power of nature that the termite hill never grows on a healthy tree but in a destroyed or degenerative tree. In the middle of the forest is an ancient temple of Sita, from which the forest derives its name. It is believed that Sita gave birth to Lav and Kush in the spot where the temple is built. This is a monument that is a protected monument by the Archeological survey of India. As we left the peace quiet and the pollution free environment of the jungle we could see the sun setting and the scene was indeed one that will stay with me for ever, along with the silence of the forest.