Maharaja of Jaipur. Overnight stay at the resort.
Day 7:
-
Morning jungle drive. Later drive on to Bharatpur to visit the
Keoladeo Bird National Park. The Keoladeo National Park or
Keoladeo Ghana National Park formerly known as the
Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan, India is a famous
avifauna sanctuary that sees (or saw) thousands of rare and highly
endangered birds such as the Siberian Crane come here during the winter
season. Over 230 species of birds are known to have made the National Park
their home. It is also a major tourist centre with scores of ornithologists
arriving here in the hibernal season. It was declared a protected sanctuary in
1971. It is also a declared World Heritage Site. The sanctuary was created
250 years ago and is named after a Keoladeo (Shiva) temple within its
boundaries. Initially, it was a natural depression; and was flooded after the
Ajan Bund was constructed by Maharaja Suraj Mal, the then ruler of the
princely state of Bharatpur, between 1726 to 1763. The bund was created at
the confluence of two rivers, the Gambhir and Banganga. The park was a
hunting ground for the maharajas of Bharatpur, a tradition dating back to
1850, and duck shoots were organised yearly in honor of the British viceroys.
In one shoot alone in 1938, over 4,273 birds such as mallards and teals were
killed by Lord Linlithgow, the then Governor-General of India.Evening, a short
walk to the Jungle.Overnight stay.
Day 8:
Take a boat ride to the nesting colonies of birds.More than
300 species of birds are found in this small wildlife park of 29-
sq-kms of which 11-sq-kms are marshes and the rest
scrubland and grassland. Keoladeo, the name derives
from an ancient Hindu temple, devoted to Lord Shiva, which stands at the
centre of the park. 'Ghana' means dense, referring to the thick forest, which
used to cover the area. Overnight stay at Bharatpur.
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