Keoladeo National Park

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Keoladeo National Park (1985); Ramsar Site · Bharatpur, Rajasthan

A shallow wetland of marshes, woodland and grassland outside Bharatpur in eastern Rajasthan, created in the nineteenth century when the maharajas dammed the area to flood it for duck shoots, and now one of the most important bird sanctuaries in Asia and a World Heritage Site. In winter hundreds of species gather: ducks and geese from Central Asia and Siberia, pelicans, storks, cranes and birds of prey, alongside huge resident colonies of painted storks, herons and cormorants nesting in the acacias after the monsoon. It was once famous as the wintering ground of the Siberian crane, which has not been seen here since the early 2000s. The park is small and flat, and the way to see it is slowly, on foot, by rented bicycle, or in a cycle rickshaw whose driver has been trained by the park as a naturalist guide and often knows where every owl roosts. Motor vehicles are not allowed inside. The wetland depends on water released from dams upstream, and in dry years it can be disappointing. It is an easy stop between Agra and Jaipur.

Keoladeo National Park Gate, Bharatpur, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, 321001, India

NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED; confirm before planning. The usual pattern: the park opens every day of the year from around sunrise to sunset, with slightly shorter hours in winter. Tickets, rickshaws and bicycles are at the main gate, and the rickshaw queue forms at opening. The bird season is roughly October to March and the resident breeding season roughly August to October; April to June is quiet and hot. Boats run only when water levels allow. The main traps: arriving mid morning after a fog-delayed drive from Agra, and coming in a dry year without checking the water.

Keoladeo National Park on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos