The Sariska Tiger Reserve is a rare mingling of natural history and the historical past. This dry, deciduous Reserve located in the undulating plateaus and wide valleys of the Aravali hills, is home to the 10th century Neeklanth temple, medieval Kankwari fort and rims of 32 Hindu temples of the 6th to 13th century which are of archaeological importance. An eighteen feet high, mutilated Jain idol stands prominently among the ruins. 
Another interesting feature in Sariska is Pandupol, a natural arch carved in limestone by the action of water, several hundred feet above the ground. An exquisite waterfall forms here during monsoon. There is a legend that the Pandavas spent a portion of the period of their exile here.
A dramatic change takes place in the complexion of the forest from lush green in the monsoons to a coppery color in the winter and finally to ash gray in the summer. During March/April, fiery orange blooms of leafless pallas and the ash grey of dhok give the jungle a mosaic like quality.
Here too, the tiger is at the top of the food-chain pyramid, but sightings of this magnificent beast are not so common. Among the herbivores Sariska is home to the chowsingha, a unique, exclusively Indian species and the world's only creature where the buck has two pairs of horns. There are hordes and hordes of langur and rhesus monkeys. |
