Keoladeo Ghana National Park / Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary

Keoladeo National Park or Keoladeo Ghana National Park was formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary located in Bharatpur in the state of Rajasthan in India. The sanctuary was created 250 years ago and is named after a Keoladeo (Shiva) temple located with in the limits of the sanctuary. Keoladeo National Park was the private duck shooting preserve of the Maharaja of Bharatpur since the 1850s. The area was established as a national park on 10 March 1982.

Keoladeo Ghana National Park is a declared World Heritage Site for the rare and endangered species of the migratory birds which come to breed here. This heritage site is located at about 2 kilometers south-east of Bharatpur and 55 km west of Agra, in the eastern parts of Rajasthan. The National Park is spread over approximately area of about 29 square kilometers.

Keoladeo National Park locally known as Gana, is popularly known as “bird paradise” as more than 370 bird species have been sighted and recorded. The National Park is a famous avifauna sanctuary that plays host to thousands of birds especially during the winter season. Otherthan that over 230 species of birds are known to have made the National Park their home. The Sanctuary is one of the richest bird areas in the world. It is known for nesting of its resident birds and visiting migratory birds.

Keoladeo Ghana National Park is a man-made and man-managed wetland formed to protect Bharatpur from frequent floods and to provide grazing grounds for village cattle. The Reserve area is a mosaic of dry grasslands, woodlands, woodland swamps, and wetlands. These diverse habitats are home to 366 bird species, 379 floral species, 50 species of fish, 13 species of snakes, 5 species of lizards, 7 amphibian species,7 turtle species, and a variety of other invertebrates.

Birds in this sanctuary can be classified in to land birds and water fowls. Some of the Land birds found here are warblers, babblers, bee-eaters, bulbuls, buntings, chats, partridges, quails, Indian grey hornbill, Marshall's iora, osprey, peregrine, Pallas' sea eagle, short-toed eagle, tawny eagle, imperial eagle, spotted eagle and crested serpent eagle.

Some of the well known water fowls are herons, storks and cormorants, gadwall, shoveler, common teal, cotton teal, tufted duck, comb duck, little cormorant, great cormorant, Indian shag, ruff, painted stork, white spoonbill, Asian open-billed stork, oriental ibis, darter, common sandpiper, wood sandpiper and green sandpiper.

About the entrance in to the park
The park opens from morning to evening through out the year.The ticket is Rs 200 per foreign visitors and Rs 75 for Indian visitors.
Vehicles are not permitted inside the park, you have to park them in the designated parking area. The parking fees for a four-wheel vehicle is Rs 50.
After parking your vehicle at the parking lot, you can choose to walk, bicycle, or go by cycle rickshaw, Tonga or boat when the water level is high.
There is no charge for taking a digital camera inside the park but for the video camera the charge is Rs 450.

How to reach Keoladeo National Park?
Nearest airports to the Keoladeo National Park are Delhi, and Jaipur. Daily flights are available between Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Varanasi, and Lucknow.
Many trains running from New Delhi in the route (New Delhi – Mumbai and Agra – Jaipur route) stop at Bharatpur. Bharatpur is easily reached by train or bus. You can also use private taxis from New Delhi or Agra to reach Keoladeo National Park.

Accommodation facilities inside the park
Bharatpur Forest Lodge has  16 rooms
circuit house and dak bungalow also offer good accommodation options
Visitors coming to Bharatpur can also stay in palaces, havelis and other heritage properties converted into hotels.
An array of 3 star hotels and resorts are also located in the vicinity of the park