Location of Sariska National Park: - In the dry arid region of Rajasthan very near to the city of Alwar is situated the Sariska national park also known as the Sariska tiger reserve.
By Road- The tiger reserve is very well connected to the north Indian cities via a network of very good highways, the road from shahpura (on the Delhi-Jaipur highway no 48) leads directly to the Sariska national park. Delhi from sariska national park is 200 kms, Jaipur is 107 kms, Hindaun is 107 kms while Agra is another 200 kms. You can drive from Agra through Mathura –Deeg-Alwar or can choose to drive on Agra-Jaipur road and from Mahwa take the road to Sariska national park.
By Train- The nearest railway station is the Alwar railway station, this station has good connectivity with all important destinations of India.
By Air- The nearest domestic and international airport is the Jaipur international airport. The Indira Gandhi international airport is also not very far away from the sariska national park.
History and Features of Sariska National Park: - This area of sariska national park comes under the domain of Alwar royal dynasty, spread in an area of 881 square kilometer the national park is spread in the Aravali ranges with low lying rocky area, the maximum elevation is around 722 meters while the average elevation of the Sariska national park is around 300 meters. This entire area is a dry deciduous forest with very low rainfall (around 670 mm) every year. This park came in to news in year 2003 when it was reported about the vanishing of the tigers of sariska, at that instance the authorities resented the claim but gradually it was confirmed that Sariska had no tigers. Then in 2008 few tigers were relocated to Sariska national park from the Ranthambore national park since then the population of tigers at sariska has been growing steadily and in 2020 it was reported that sariska has a healthy tiger count of 20. The sariska national park was declared a wild life sanctuary in 1958. Then as the project tiger came into vogue in 70’s it was declared a tiger reserve in 1978.
Flora and Fauna at Sariska Tiger Reserve: - The flora at sariska is dry deciduous grassland type with these varieties of trees -Dhok, Ber, Khair, salar,Juliaflora, these trees require less rainfall and are mostly thorny. Apart from the royal Bengal tiger the sariska national park has a rich wild life comprising of many varieties of deer like sambar, chital, nilgai, jackal, Indian leopard, hare etc there are many avian varities too but sariska is not very well known for its bird species.
Best time to visit Sariska - Sariska is a very good weekend destination from cities like Delhi and Jaipur, travelling not too far you land up in the lap of wilderness enjoying the attributes of jungle and sure the icing in the cake is the chance of having a date with the royal Bengal tiger. Summers in this part are very harsh temperature may rise to 45 degree Celsius so winter is the best season to do the jungle safari at sariska, the water starts in October and continues till the end of march.
Jungle Safari At Sariska: - The safari is conducted in two slots one in the morning and the next is the afternoon, the timings change with the season. In summers from April to June the morning safari starts at 6 am till 9:30 am while afternoon starts at 3:30 pm till 7:00 pm. In winters from November to January the safari operates in morning at 7:00 am to 10:30 am in afternoon at 2:30 pm till 5:30 pm. The safari are conducted by a 4x4 jeep which can seat 6 people and cater vehicles which can seat 20 people. Apart from the safari vehicle charges there are tickets in entering the world life park too.
