Location of Kaziranga National Park: - In the north eastern state of Assam on the banks of mighty river Brahmaputra is located the world famous Kaziranga National Park.
By Road Reaching the Kaziranga National Park- Guwahati the national capital is around 200 kms from the Kaziranga national park, there is a good four lane road connecting Guwahati with Kaziranga national park. Kohora the main gate of kaziranga national park is not very far from this highway, Dimapur is also not very far around 165 kms from the kaziranga national park.
By Train- It’s not very tough to reach the kaziranga national park by Indian railways the railway stations at Tezpur and Nagaon are well connected with all parts of India specially the capital city Guwahati, Nagaon is 70 kms from Kaziranga while Tejpur is a mere 50 kms. Both the railway station are a mere hour drive from the national park.
By Air- The nearest airport is at Tejpur around 50 kms from the Kaziranga national park. The airport at Guwahati is very well connected with all major cities of India. Guwahati is around 200 kms from the national park.
History and Features of Kaziranga National Park: - This area was visited by the viceroy of India lord Curzon along with his wife mary Curzon they came to this place in search of one horn rhinoceros but unfortunately they could see none. Mary Curzon wife of Lord Curzon took personal initiatives to declare 232 kms of forest as protected forest in 1905 later in 1916 the area was declared to be a game sanctuary where hunting was prohibited. In 1968 the Kaziranga was declared a national park. In1985 UNESCO accredited Kaziranga a world heritage site, In 2006 the Kaziranga national park was also declared a tiger reserve. This area has a very healthy tiger population and it boasts of highest density of tiger population anywhere in India.
But the major attraction at Kaziranga is the one horned rhinoceros. The Kaziranga national park is spread in an area of 278 square kilometers roughly 40 kms in breadth and around 13 kms in length. This area is the terai region of Himalayas on the banks of river Brahmaputra, the area gets inundated by the floods of river Brahmaputra in every monsoon season. It’s a marshy area characterized by tall grass very perfect as a home to the rhinoceros. The name Kaziranga perhaps comes from Kazi and ranga, in local Karbi language the Kazi is name of a girl while ranga denotes the village perhaps a woman named Kazi ruled over this area.
Flora and Fauna at Kaziranga: - TThe most famous mammalian species of Kaziranga is the one horned rhinoceros; the Royal Bengal tiger is the second most famous specie along with the Asian elephant, swamp deer and the wild water buffalo comprehensively they are called the big five of Kaziranga national park. There are some 35 mammalian species at Kaziranga around 15 of them are declared threatened. Kaziranga is also a very important avian area being a marsh land it attracts hundreds of migratory birds.
Leopard, Indian wild buffaloe, sloth bear, wild boar, sambar, various species of deer, Indian civet, mongoose etc.
Apart from these mammalian and avian species the park has a lot of reptilian species like, lizards, snakes, alligators , crocodile etc.
The kaziranga is situated on the banks of Brahmaputra the mighty river of east which brings alluvial soil to the national park, the tall grass of the national park is home to the vast fauna of the Kaziranga. Apart from the marsh land there are open forest areas, permanent inundated land mass which holds lots of Piscean life.
Safari at Kaziranga: - Both elephant’s safari and jeep 4x4 safaris are available at kaziranga national park. The elephant safari is best suited considering the long grass and the marshy conditions of the kaziranga national park, the high perched tourists can easily spot the wild life specially the rhinoceros and the Royal Bengal tiger.
The elephant safari is conducted in the morning time while jeep safari is operated in morning shift and the afternoon shift. The timings of jeep safari are as follows-
Morning Safari - 7 am -9:30 am
Afternoon Safari - 1:30 pm- 3:30 pm
Elephant safari timings
06 Am - 0730 Am
The elephant safari only operate from November to the end of April as monsoon sets in the north east early and the park remains closed for the tourist activities in the monsoon months.
Best time to visit Kaziranga: - As the monsoon sets early the best season to visit kaziranga is in the winter season from November to April.
Accommodation at Kaziranga: - The national park has easy availability of accommodation in all segments four star to budget category. The infrastructure around the national park is reasonably developed to support the tourist activity.
