Karunya Lah 8

Under the veneer of Rewa’s insipid “dusty little Indian town” feel is a treasure trove of forgotten history and an intriguing past that has comfortably faded into oblivion. At first glance, I couldn’t understand what made Madhya Pradesh Tourism send me this way, to this obscure place with nothing remarkable in sight. Little did I know that I was actually being sent down the rabbit hole of vanished stories. Painted entrance of Rewa Fort Rewa is a little town in northeastern part of Madhya Pradesh and the erstwhile capital of Baghelkhand region in the past and Vindhya Pradesh in modern times, which was later merged into Madhya Pradesh. Today, you would be hard pressed to find anything evocative of the past glory but there are several mute witnesses in the form of crumbling and dilapidated ruins within the maze of modern constructions that tantalize you with the lure of a secret. A dilapidated section of the fort with a view of an oddly placed urinal, symbolizing the weird l...

Sitting on the steps of a small shrine housing the imposing emblem of Chandela dynasty, a feisty prince battling a fierce lion, I remember being distinctly unimpressed with what I saw. Blame it on the marketing gimmick that touts Khajuraho to be something it is not, a grand display of Kama Sutra and assorted erotica. If a destination doesn’t even live up to its stereotype, then what is it worth really? The illusion shattered furthermore when I learnt that Khajuraho is not even the only temple that contains erotic carvings in India. There are at least 15 more across the country that we know of, including well-known ones such as Sun temple of Konark, Jain temples of Ranakpur and even Virupaksha temple of Hampi. Kandariya Mahadev Temple in the western complex Earlier this month, I walked into the manicured lawns of Khajuraho’s Western group of temples – a cluster of the most prominent and well preserved of the 20 remaining temples today. Chandelas who ruled over parts of central...

A blur of black whizzed past the thicket ahead of me in Sanjay National Park, a remote corner in Madhya Pradesh. If not for the rustle of the dried leaves that raked up few exciting seconds of anticipation, I would’ve definitely missed my first ever sighting of the elusive Sloth Bear in the jungles of this tiger reserve, which were so thick that a Tiger could’ve been right next to me and I wouldn’t have had any inkling whatsoever. The rockstar Sloth Bears of Sanjay National Park The jungles of MP's Sanjay National Park are so dense and unchartered that you literally forge your own path! Sanjay National Park, only recently opened for tourists after playing host to wildlife rehabilitation for years, is now apparently home to a thriving Tiger population of over 40, spread over 831 Sq Kms shared between Sanjay National Park and Dubri Wildlife Sanctuary. But apart from tigers, these forests are brimming with a variety of wildlife that makes it an exciting place to be for the ...

Few weeks ago I went exploring Madhya Pradesh's various kingdoms, wild and historic both. Starting with the impenetrable jungles of little-known Sanjay National Park in Parsili, I reached the crumbling ruins of Baghelkhand dynasty's forgotten legacy next. If these offbeat corners satiated the sense of exploration that we so seek from travel, the well trodden trails of Panna and Khajuraho offered a balancing respite from uncertainty. You can see all the places we travelled to and the things we saw in this post - In Photos: From Popular to the Offbeat, north-eastern Madhya Pradesh's diverse charms . Coming to the logistics of travel, here's where I stayed through the one week trip across Madhya Pradesh in collaboration with HolidayIQ and MP Tourism. Madla Jungle Camp, Panna Panna National Park has two entry gates, one at Madla and the other one is at Hinauta. While both the gates are almost equidistant from the town of Panna, Madla is probably the more comforta...