Manas National Park - A re-visit after 35 years

The Manas National Park in western Assam has many feathers to its cap. It was among the "first batch" of Tiger Reserves in India way back in 1973.It is one of the very few wilderness areas in India that has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with Kaziranga National Park (also in Assam) and the Bharatpur (or Keoladeo) Bird Sanctuary near Agra. Manas is also home to the endemic Golden Langur, the Bengal Florican and the Pigmy Hog, besides many other wild animals like the one-horn Indian rhinoceros, wild buffalo, tiger, gaur, elephant and many other species.

The Manas River (or the Beki, as it is called in the lower reaches - shown above) and the rugged hills of Bhutan to the north define the National Park to a signicant extent. Thus Manas offers a variety of wildlife habitats, from riverine forests, to heavy rain-fall and moist deciduous forests, besides extensive grasslands.

Over the years, Manas has witnessed ups and owns, but now the wildlife has made a good come-back. The local settlements have grown and Barpeta Road, once just way-station, is now a bustling town with fly-overs and shopping malls. A number of lodges have come up locally (where there were once only government rest houses), and a variety of facilities are on offer, including river rafting, wilderness walks and jeep safaris in the forest.

Manas National Park is conveniently accessible by train via the rail head of either New Bongaigaon or Barpeta Road, or by air from Guwahati City.

Orchids - Jewels of the Flower World

 Flowers of the orchid plants have some of the most interesting shapes and colours that one can find in the plant world. 

India has over 1200 orchid species growing in various parts of the country, out of which over 500 orchid species grow primarily in the Himalayan foothills at elevations of about 250 metres to about 2500 metres, and many of them in Northeastern India. Some of the best places to see orchids growing - some grow in autumn and many in spring and summer - is in in the Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal and in Sikkim, which is close by. 

Aerides odorata

Dendrobium nobile

Rhynchostylis retusa

Some of these, especially the Aerides species, or the well-known Vanda roxburghi or the Rhynchostylis retusa are able to tolerate a good deal of heat and can grow even in the plains of central India.  Many grow in Assam and in Arunachal Pradesh and other states of the Northeast.