Introduction
Whenever we talk about Bandhavgarh national park tour, one word will come into the context many times. Whether it is about how to reach, safari vehicles assembling point, permit booking counter, distance from safari point etc. This most popular word is Tala village. It is the epicenter of all Bandhavgarh tourism activities and description of this tiger reserve is incomplete without referring to this village.
Tala Ticket Counter
At Bandhavgarh national park, we will find 3 core zones i.e. Tala zone, Magadhi zone and Khitauli zone. Similarly we will find 3 buffer zones i.e. Dhamokhar zone, Panpatha zone, Johila zone. Despite of these different safari zones, located at different areas, safari permit booking provision is single. At this national park, we can do direct window safari permits booking from single spot, located at Tala village called Tala ticket counter. From here only we can do our manual safari permits booking, safari vehicle booking and all safari guides booking. Thus it is epicenter of all the jungle safari activities. All the tourists, from any hotel or resort or lodge, visiting to any of the safari zone, will have to visit the Tala ticket counter to mark their attendance and collect the safari guide. Here vehicle parking facility, rest room facility is available. Presence of this ticket counter building enhance the importance of Tala village due to which this village is most popular spot among for tourists undertaking wildlife safari tours of Madhya Pradesh.
Tala Zone Entrance
Tala safari zone of Bandhavgarh tiger reserve is counted among oldest safari zones thus very popular among wildlife lovers. Those who are regularly visiting this forest, are well aware of its popularity and importance. For visiting this safari zone, entrance gate is close to Tala village agea which adds importance to this village. Name of this safari zone is derived from this village. Tourists visiting Tala zone, coming form any of the resort of Bandhavgarh, will have to pass thorough this village which emphasizes the importance of the location of this village.
Location
Location of Tala village is at north-east part of tiger reserve. It lies on main road which connects Umaria town to Manpur town due to which public transport buses are passing through this village and offers bus connectivity option for villagers. It is just on the edge where we will find Khitauli core zone on north-west and Tala zone on south direction. Famous Charan-ganga river passes through this village which ensures water supply to villagers in all the season.
Local People
This village is basically a tribal village in which we will find settlement of Gond tribe people. Here main occupation of villagers was agriculture and its allied activities. Here we will find ancient Maharaja Kothi hotel which was one time power center as it was abode of Baghel rulers. During their visit to Bandhavgarh, they stay in this kothi and later it was converted into a heritage hotel. With the evolution of tiger reserve and increase in tourism activities, local demographic change has been noticed with the investment of outsiders into agricultural lands and converted them into luxury resorts and safari lodges. This introduced the change in occupation also. Now we will find people from different castes, religion doing different occupations. Tourism increased the commercial activities thus local people entered into business and service sectors.
Shopping in Bandhavgarh
Due to its strategic location and passing route of tourists, coming from any of the local resort, Tala village emerged as a major shopping spot. Here we will find many small restaurants, tea-stalls, departmental stores, souvenir shops, art galleries, vegetable shops etc. The collection of such versatile shopping items, makes this village emerged as a major shopping place of Bandhavgarh. Even all local resort staff, visits this village for their personal shopping and for items required at resorts. Thus it is the nearest marketing place for people living at Bandhavgarh national park whether they are tourists, resort staff, department staff or local villagers.
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