Sariska National Park, ancient tiger lands.

Sariska wildlife sanctuary is green, serene and was the hunting preserve of the Alwar royals, and its palace has been privy to many of these shoots. There is the sight of first hill burnished with the rust leaves of dhok, as one crosses over the hill into Kalighati Valley. There is a leaf – fringed avenue of dhok that greets the visitor at the old gate leading to Kankwari, overgrown on both sides with old trees of guler and pilkhan. Then there is a site of an explosion of blue- breasted quail, of the deep pools of the Siliberi Nala flowing down from Pandupol and of Pallas fishing edges watching for prey from nearby evergreen trees. I still treasure these memories from my numerous visits to Sariska.

My last tiger sighting at Sariska, one hot April was in the grassland just beyond Kalighati. Sariska was established as a Tiger Reserve in 1978. Before independence, the reserve was part of the erstwhile Alwar state. There are 16 revenue villages and associated cattle camps inside its boundaries. Almost all of the Sariska is hilly terrain dominated by the Aravallis, which run north- south along the park. Two vast plateaus Kanwari and Keraska top the Aravalli. There are three large lakes within the boundary of the park: Mangalsar, Sillserh and Somasagar.

Early morning and evening are the best times to make trips into Sariska National Park, though chances of spotting the cat are few and far between. That’s just not on the account of the diminishing tiger population, but more on account of the terrain like the undulating low hills, wide valleys and hill plateaus are hardly ideal for tiger spotting.

You would be easily able to view the nilgai, chital, langur cavorting through the tree cover. And by luck you might also view the tigers, leopard, jackal, with dogs and hyena. However birdwatchers can spot the white- breasted kingfisher, serpent eagle, great Indian horned owl and other avian species quite easily.

The most enjoyable part is the drive through the park where paths are dip down into the valleys and sinister shadows cross the jungle. If you want to do a cross-country jungle safari, then book one of the authorized forest jeeps well in advance at one of the two hotels Tiger Den and Sariska Palace.

When you are done with the animals, drive down into the Sariska forests to the ruined fortress atop a solitary hillock at Kankwari. Here emperor Aurangzeb imprisoned his elder brother widely held to be the legitimate successor to the throne of Delhi. From Kankwari move on to Neelkanth, a temple town near Tehla builds by the Gurjar Partiharas. Neelkanth was mysteriously submerged under a deluge of sand and rocks centuries ago, and nobody around knows what made the town suffer such a fate. The Naldehwar shrine nearby attracts hordes of pilgrims and picnickers- the former to the natural shivaling formed within an old tree trunk in the higher reaches of the forest, the latter to the little brook and seasonal waterfall at the base of 364 steps you have to climb to reach the lingam.

Sariska has only two choices to stay, a heritage hotel and Rajasthan tourism property Sariska Palace and Tiger Den. There are no options to dine apart from your hotel. However a visit to one of Alwar’s most popular eateries, the Prem Pavitra Restaurant is a must.