CHIKHALDARA

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.

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.