Chikhaldara Hill Station
Chikhaldara
Chikhaldara is a charming hill station in Amravati district of Vidarbha region. It is situated at an altitude of 1118 m and has the added dimension of being the only coffee growing area in Maharashtra. Chikhaldara offers you an abundance of spectacular viewpoints, lakes and waterfalls, wildlife. The scenic beauty of Chikhaldara can be enjoyed from many vantage view points. Chikhaldara has flourished in terms of flora and fauna because of the heavy rainfall it receives. Chikhaldara is surrounded on three sides by the Melghat Tiger Reserve area.
Chikhaldara
The glory of Maharashtra lies in the histor-
ic fact that it has constantly fought against
intruders and never truly surrendered. It
therefore has, in the true sense, an unbroken
spirit. This spirit of freedom was always kept
alive by the mountain ranges which border
Maharashtra from two sides – the mighty
Sahyadris from the west and the Vindhya
ranges from the north. These mountains
are dotted by hundreds of forts and remote
places where earlier it was almost impossible
for an outsider to gain access. Subsequently,
with the closeness of metro cities like Pune
and Mumbai, many places in the Sahyadris
got established as hill stations and popular
weekend destinations. Comparatively, the
Vindhya mountain ranges remained unno-
ticed. The hill stations in this area have re-
mained mostly low profile and Chikhaldara is
one of them.
Located about 100 kms north of Amravati,
Chikhaldara is the only well-established
hill station in Vidarbha. It is situated on a
mountain range beyond which Maharash-
tra ends and Madhya Pradesh begins. It is a
mountain-top plateau with an average height
from the mean sea level of about 1,088 me-
ters (3,570 feet). Because of its unique loca-
tion, Chikhaldara has an average rainfall of
154 cms which is almost twice as compared to
the other parts of Vidarbha. The good rainfall
and the remoteness have allowed this area to
host an excellent forest and this is the prima-
ry attraction of this place.
Chikhaldara is surrounded on three sides by
the borders of the Melghat Project Tiger Area
which is spread over an area of about 1,676 sq
kms. This Project Tiger area is divided into
several smaller wildlife reserves to enable ef-
ficient management and the Melghat wildlife
reserve, which is about 780 sq kms, forms
the entire southern border and partly the
western border of Chikhaldara. The Gugamal
National Park, which is about 320 sq kms, is
the core zone of the Project Tiger reserve and
forms the eastern border of Chikhaldara and
partly its northeastern border. This part be-
ing a core zone is one of the most untouched
and pristine parts of the reserve.
Flora And Fauna
Chilkhaldara and Melghat Project Tiger
(MPT) are two inseparable entities. Unless
one knows about the natural wealth of the ti-
ger reserve it is very hard to understand the
importance of this hill station. The MPT area
contains about 700 species of plants belong-
ing to 400 genres and 97 different families. Of
these 700 species, 90 are tree species which
is the true wealth of this reserve. The jungle
is mainly of the dry deciduous type with teak
and bamboo as its most dominant vegetation.
Other trees like Saag, Mahua, Ain are also
the dominant species here.
Because of this extensive floral diversity, there
is a huge amount of faunal diversity as well.
The tiger reserve consists of over 70 tigers,
almost the same number of leopards, about
200 sloth bears, 1,800 Indian gaurs and hun-
dreds of herbivore animals like cheetal, sam-
bar, barking deer, wild boar, choushinga, etc.
The reserve also has rare animals like the fly-
ing squirrel, pangolin, mouse deer, ratel and
honey badger. Secretive animals like wild
cats, caracal and hyena can also be spotted
in this area along with mammals like jackals,
wild dogs, porcupines, a variety of mongoose,
squirrels, shrews and other rodents.
More than 350 species of birds reside here
that include hunting birds like the crested
serpent eagle, changeable hawk eagle, shikra,
besra, white-eyed buzzard, honey buzzard,
etc. Attractive birds like the flame-backs,
orioles and pea fowls are common enough
too. The chatter of birds like parakeets, iora,
magpie robin and shama keep the jungle
alive during the day time while the night shift
is taken over by the owls and the night jars.
Sights And Sounds
Chikhaldara has great historical references.
It is said that Bhima, the second-eldest and
strongest among the Pandava brothers in
Mahabharat times, killed King Kichek in this
area and threw his body into the valley. The
valley is now known as Kichekdara and the
water reservoir in which Bhima washed his
hands is called the Bhimkund. This area is
dotted by extremely small villages inhabited
by the Korku tribals. It was originally ruled
by tribal kings who were defeated by the Ba-
hamani dynasty which later was ruled over
by five smaller dynasties. Among these, Im-
adshahi was the one which started ruling this
area. The Gavilgad and Narnala forts were
built by Imad Shah. Later on, the Imadshahi
dynasty was exterminated by the Moghuls Nijamshah and Adilshah and the rulers kept
on changing. Finally, it came into the hands
of the Marathas with Sambhaji Maharaj, the
eldest son of Shivaji, taking over its reins.
Gavilgad and Narnala are two extremely
large forts with perimeters of more than 15
kms each. Of these two forts, Gavilgad is situ-
ated right next to Chikhaldara. Narnala, on
the other hand, is at a distance of about four
hours from Chikhaldara. Both these forts
are interesting from the archaeological and
architectural points of view. Gavilgad is just
5 kms from Chikhaldara’s main bus station.
The fort is situated on two adjoining hills
connected to each other and protected by for-
tification from all sides. You enter through
the main gate on the first hill which is smaller
of the two. After crossing three gates, you
come to the main area which looks as if it was
primarily designed for battle purposes alone.
To enter the second part of the fort, you must
again cross three huge gates.
This part of the fort has ruins of the palace,
mosque and other residential quarters. It
also has several water reservoirs. The forts
are now the abode of sloth bears, hyenas
and leopard which venture out after sunset.
Apart from this fort, Chikhaldara has several
other spectacular places such as the Panch-
bol point, Hariken Point, Mozari Point, DeviPoint, Sunset Point, Prospects Point, Monkey
Point, etc. The Panchbol Point is famous for
multiple echos while the Hariken Point is
known for its high-speed winds. Though all
of Chikhaldara has a good population of Rhe-
sus monkeys and langoors, Monkey Point
specifically has a huge number of them. The
Sunset Point provides a spectacular view of
the jungle with different shades of green that
resonate with the sounds of the wild animals
and birds as the sun goes down.
Chikhaldara has good rainfall but being lo-
cated on the top of a mountain, the drainage
makes it necessary to conserve water. The
government has therefore built many water
conservation projects, thus leading to the
formation of reservoirs such as the Bir Dam,
Kalapani Dam and the Shakkar Lake. To go
camping, one must visit village Semadoh,
which is just about 20 kms from Chikhaldara
on the banks of the river Sipna. Nature lovers
can book this place through the Amaravati
Forest Department’s office at a very nomi-
nal cost and get a real feeling of living in the
woods. It is also quite possible to get a sight-
ing of the shy flying squirrel at this camp site
which is also a gateway to the Melghat Wild-
life Sanctuary.
The best season to visit Chikhaldara is from
October to June. Chikhaldara is not closed
during the monsoon season but access be-
comes difficult. However, it is an ideal time to
see the waterfalls and the rivers in full spate.
At Chikhaldara you will find a fair number
of hotels in various price ranges. The most
interesting property is owned by the Maha-
rashtra Tourism Development Corporation
(MTDC). They have a spacious and well-
wooded property with comfortable rooms at
very economical rates.