Journey to Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park, located in the state of Madhya Pradesh consists of a core area of 940 km square, which is surrounded by a buffer zone of 1,005 km square. The core area of the park and most of the buffer zone forms the Kanha Tiger Reserve and are located in two districts: Mandla to the west and Balaghat to the east. In addition, a small section of the buffer zone in the southeastern sector is part of Rajnandgaon District. Out of the entire park’s core area, only 25% is open to visitors. There are nearly 150 villages in the buffer zone and over 260 villages within a radius of 10 km.

Since its establishment on 1st June 1955, a series of stringent conservation programmes for the protection of the park's flora and fauna has given Kanha its deserved reputation for being one of the finest and best administered National Parks in Asia, an irresistible attraction for all wildlife lovers and a true haven for its animal and avian population.

The name Kanha itself may be derived from kanhar, the local term for the clayey soil in the valley bottoms, or from Kanva, a holy man who once lived there in a forest village. Two river valleys are prominent features of the park's topography: the Banjar in the west and the Halon in the east. Both these rivers are tributaries of the Narmada, which flows through the district headquarters town of Mandla, 64 km (40 miles) to the northwest of the park's western entrance. Kanha's valleys are enclosed by hills topped with plateaux, locally called dadar.

Please feel free to view my Kanha National park exploration photo gallery @ http://travel.webshots.com/album/557880001efIMUh