Hidden Jewel Jhalana

Hello friends, its Sunday again that means time to give you information on Mother Nature, a different world altogether. Our country is gifted with so many forests and some of them are the best in the world. The unfortunate is that we are not aware of small forests that are highly rich with resources and nearby as well. Hence I decided to write about the forest which is hardly known, I describe the same as the hidden jewel of India and the name is “JHALANA” Let’s go through the experience in the next section I am sure after reading you will agree that it is a Jewel.

Experience with the wild

With this section, I will provide you the feel of Jhalana, the experience was such that each moment in words here will give you feel of the forest. To begin with, let me tell you how we finalize the place. Since the trip was to meet NRI Amol we wanted a special place which was the responsibility of Saurabh, as usual, the expert came out with something unique I mean Jhalana. Even I was not aware of the place but we all prefer to explore new places we finalized the same without any debate. The place is located in pink city Jaipur, isn’t it surprising! Yes, it is part of the wonderful pink city but still not known to many. Now let us enter the forest to meet wonderful species.

We entered the forest for the evening safari on day one where we saw dramatic atmosphere, which will remain as the best sighting ever. It was dramatic because of an amazing scene between two animals. During the late evening when it was almost time to come out of the forest we saw sub adult Leopard teasing big Blue bull, I know it is unbelievable but it’s true. The Leopard was of growing age but not yet reached the level where it can attack such a huge big bull but see the courage of small Lepo, proving the brave DNA. It was just amazing the way it was challenging Blue bull.

This was a real treat and rare sighting, the small Lepo was running behind Blue Bull with mock charge, it was like 5-year kid challenging fully-grown young man. The game between both came as surprise and one of the best moments of life, unfortunately, the same could not be captured due to late and dark evening but the same is already registered in our heart.

Apart from the Lepo-Bull drama, we had a super sighting of Striped Hyena in back to back visits. Jhalana being a small forest the opportunity of sighting is always remains on a higher side. Hyena is nocturnal animal normally remains active during the night but we were lucky enough to saw it on two occasions with head on walk on the road. Sighting Leopard and Hyena on number occasion is very rare and difficult but the beauty of Jhlana is that it offers such unique stuff with ease; this is the reason why I called Jhalana a JEWEL. Now its time to know details of the forest in the next section.

The Hidden Jewel

The reason I said it is hidden jewel because no one is aware that there is a forest called Jhalana, many people think it is Jalana (part of Maharashtra) but such Jewel is located in the heart of Rajasthan that is in Jaipur city. It is hardly about 15 KM from station/airport, the total area of the forest is approximately 20 sq KM because of such small area it offers a great sighting. Here the apex predator of the forest is Leopard because the habitat is not suitable for tigers, but even without the tigers the forest rocks with Leopards and other wild animals.

Along with wild animals, the outskirts of Jaipur city offers twin lakes of Chandlai and Barkheda, which host amazing water birds such as Bar-headed goose, cormorants, Crakes Egrets, Flamingos and many more. Because of a mix of birds and wild animals within such a small area justifies being the Jewel.

This is my home

The forest is home of Leopard, Hyena, Jackal, Sambar, Deer, Blue bull, Peacock, Langurs, squeal, Eurasian Sparrow Hawk, Shikra, White-throated Kingfisher, Scoops Owl, Mongoose, Black-shouldered Kite and many more. Now you all are aware of Jhalana's beauty so you have all the more reason to plan your visit and get connected to the Mother Nature. Please visit "My Sweet Memory" section for pictures of some of the listed birds/animals.

Thanks, Saurabh, Vishnu, Amol, other co-travelers and Sumit Juneja for such a lovely memory.