By road
~160 km from Jabalpur
Central India · Madhya Pradesh
Kanha, Madhya Pradesh
The Jungle Book's own sal forests · ~160 km from Jabalpur
Getting there
By rail
Jabalpur, ~160-175 km, or Gondia, ~145 km
By air
Jabalpur Airport, ~160-176 km; Nagpur and Raipur (~250-300 km) are alternatives
Best time to visit
October to June; the meadows glow in winter
Don't miss
Kanha and Kisli meadows
Shravan Tal
Sunset point at Bamni Dadar
Things to do
Tiger and barasingha safaris
Nature trails in buffer zones
Gond village visits
Where to eat
Sources: open-meteo, wikimedia, Photo: Emfnffjjhhhujkbregedgf · Public domain
What to pack
Layered safari wear, binoculars, camera with reach
A quieter corner
Barasingha at dawn in Kanha meadow — the deer saved from extinction here
About Kanha
- Forest
Where it is
Kanha National Park lies in the Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh, in the Maikal hills of the eastern Satpura range, a landscape of sal forest, bamboo and open meadows.
History
Kanha's forests were protected in stages from the British period onwards; the area became a national park in 1955 and one of India's first Project Tiger reserves in 1973. Conservation here saved the hard-ground barasingha, a swamp deer found in the wild almost nowhere else, from near extinction.
People
The forests around Kanha are home to the Gond and Baiga peoples, known for their forest knowledge and painting traditions, and Hindi and Gondi are spoken. Many villagers now work as naturalists, guides and drivers.
Known for
- The hard-ground barasingha
- Tiger and leopard safaris
- Sal forest and open meadows
- Gond and Baiga culture
Did you know?
The hard-ground barasingha, Madhya Pradesh's state animal, was brought back from the brink in Kanha, and deer from its herd have been used to reintroduce the species to other reserves.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.