Introduction
Tala zone at Bandhavgarh tiger reserve is the most popular safari zone of this forest area. It is oldest safari zone thus very popular among wildlife enthusiasts. Till 2012, it was the only core safari zone thus whole safari activities were concentrated on this forest area and it was under severe tourism pressure due to over crowding. Due to this problem, park management divided it into safari routes and later on Khitauli zone and Magadhi zone were introduced as other core safari zone options. Still today, Tala safari zone is considered as the most scenic forest area of this tiger reserve. It lies in slightly north-east of tiger reserve, surrounded by hills with sufficient water source due to this during summers, it remains green with plenty of water supply for wild animals. Famous historical caves (man made and natural), statues, building ruins etc. are present in this zone thus it is most historically rich part of forest.
Topography
Tala zone lies in north-east part of tiger reserve area and mostly have hilly terrains with small meadow areas in which Chakradhara meadows, Rajbahra meadow are very popular among visitors and photographers. While entering inside this zone, we will be quickly find our self passing through hilly terrain with natural waterholes. In compare to other core zones (Khitauli and Magadhi), we will find that here vegetation will be more dense, trees are more tall, terrain in more hilly and presence of water is better.
Charanganga River
Usually we don't find any grand river inside Bandhavgarh safari zones but some seasonal rivulets, perennial are encountered during safari drives. It doesn't means that this grand forest area is not having any prominent rivers. Here rivers are present but they are in non-tourism areas thus we are not able to see them. Here we can find major rivers like Johila river, Sone river, Choti Mahanadi river etc. While doing jeep safari in Tala zone, we have to move through Tala village to Tala entry gate and during this route, we cross a small rivulets in which water supply remains constantly available in all seasons. This small rivulet is call Charanganga river. Its origin is from Shesh Shaiya hill point where water emerges through sandstone hill and flows downwards. This same river flows through backside of MPT White Tiger forest lodge and meets Sone river which ultimately reached Yamuna river. It is a evergreen rivulet and main reason behind establishment of Tala village.
Popular Areas
Some of the popular safari areas inside the Tala zone are like Chakradhara meadows, Andhiyari Jhiriya, Badi Gufa, Sita Mandap, Ketkiha, Rajbehra meadows, Shesh Shaiya point, Siddhbaba point, Baithan, Anicut trijunction, Jhurjhura trijunction, Bandhini trijunction, Bandhavdheesh temple site (tourists restricted), Kabir temple (tourists reistricted), fort-ruins (restricted) etc.
Hotels near Tala Zone
Due to oldest safari zone of Bandhavgarh tiger reserve, all major hotel or resorts were established close to Tala entry gate. Other important reason is that it is the only zone which have many villages close to it due to which private lands were available for hoteliers to establish their properties and thus majority of hotels are close to this gate. Even today, new luxury safari lodges are building close to this gate. Here we can find some most popular resorts like Bandhavgarh Jungle Lodge, MPT White Tiger forest lodge, Treehouse Hideaway, Tiger Den, Nature Heritage, Aranyak Resort, Taj's Mahua Kothi, Kings Lodge, Syna resort, Bandhav Vilas, Oberoi Vindhya Vilas, Untamed Bandhavgarh etc.
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