Panna

Panna National Park, spread across the Panna and Chhatarpur districts of northern Madhya Pradesh, is one of central India's most rewarding wildlife destinations and the scene of one of the great conservation success stories in modern India. Declared a tiger reserve in 1994 and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2020, the park protects about 540 sq km of dry teak forest, open grassland, and dramatic gorges carved by the Ken river — a landscape of plateaus, escarpments, and waterfalls strikingly different from the flat teak forests of other reserves. In 2009 Panna lost its entire tiger population to poaching; a bold reintroduction programme that followed has been hailed as one of the most successful big-cat recoveries anywhere, and the park today is once again home to a thriving tiger population, alongside leopard, sloth bear, wolf, chinkara, and the gharial and mugger crocodiles of the Ken. The river is central to the Panna experience: a boat safari along the Ken, gliding past sunbathing crocodiles and the layered cliffs of the gorge, is a highlight found in few other reserves, and the scenic Pandav Falls and the Raneh Falls canyon nearby are spectacular. Panna is also India's diamond country — the Majhgawan mine near the town is the only working diamond mine in the country — and it lies just 25 km from the UNESCO temples of Khajuraho, making the two a natural pairing. The dramatic Raneh Falls canyon, with its multi-coloured crystalline volcanic rock, and the Pandav Falls and caves add to a Panna visit that combines wildlife, waterfalls, and diamond-country landscapes. For vegetarian travellers, the forest lodges serve generous vegetarian buffets, and the Bundelkhand region offers its own veg table — dal-bafla, poha-jalebi, kachori, and bhutte ka kees. The park is open roughly October to June and closed in the monsoon; March-June gives the best sightings.