Ranthambhore

Ranthambhore National Park is in Sawai Madhopur District of Rajasthan, located at the junction of the Aravalli and Vindhya hill range. By Indian standards, Sawai Madhopur is a small rural town with a population of around 100,000. The town is famous for its winter guavas, red chilis and mustard. Besides this, tourism and transportation industries are the mainstays of the local economy.
Till the mid 20th century, the National park was a private hunting ground for the Maharaja of Jaipur, but was nationalized soon after India gained independence. In 1972, when the Project Tiger was launched, Ranthambhore was one of the "original 9" parks to be earmarked for tiger conservation, under the Project Tiger.
The Park is one of the finest places to view animals, especially as they are used to being stared at here. The park covers an area of approximately 400 sq Km and together with Sawai Man Singh Sanctuary it is around 500 Sq km.
Ranthambhore National Park was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1957 and in 1974 it gained the protection of "Project Tiger". It got its status of a National Park in 1981.
In a Nutshell, Ranthambhore National park is a wildlife enthusiast and photographer's dream. It offers excellent accommodation and internal transportation facilities for the visitors to the Park. This is Probably the best place in the world to see wild tigers and according to an estimate, over 75% of the photographs taken of wild tigers in the world are from Ranthambhore

Ranthambhore National Park is well connected with all the major cities and stations in India.
The easiest way to reach Ranthambhore is to take a train to Sawai Madhopur. This town is well connected with trains to/from Jaipur, Bombay and Delhi.

• Nearby Airports - Jaipur and Kota
• Distance by Rail - Regular bus services link Jaisalmer to Jodhpur, Ramdeora and Bikaner.
• Train - Delhi - 362 km, Agra - 227 km, Bombay 1027 km, Kota - 108 km, Jaipur - 132 km
• Road - Delhi - 480 km (via Dausa), Jaipur - 180 km (via Tonk)

Jeeps and canters are allowed for the transport of visitors in Ranthambhore National park.
This year's (Oct 2009 - June 2010) policy has been declared which allows the following to go into the park each day:

Mini Canters : Are Not allowed at all.
Canters : Max 20 in number with 20 seats each.
Jeeps : Max 15 in number.

• Padam Talao:
  This is the largest lake inside the Park and most frequently visited by the animals in the park specially at the time of sunrise and sunset. The famous Jogi Mahal is located at the very edge of the lake.
• Bajariya:
  This a local market which caters to the need of the simple rural folk of the town and makes for an interesting trip around it to give the visitors a feel of Rajasthan as one gets to see the village folk in their colourful attire and bedecked with a lot of silver jewellery from head to toe.
• The Fort:
  The Historical monument inside the park atop a hill, that speaks about the bygone eras makes for an interesting afternoon visit.

• Entry :
  Morning Safari: 06:30 hrs | Evening Safari: 14:30 hrs
• Exit:
  Morning Safari: 10:00 hrs | Evening Safari: 18:00 hrs