Inside the forests of Bandhavgarh: The evolving nature of tiger tourism

Samrat remained unmoved. He yawned a little. His gaze settled somewhere in the middle of our jeep. And then, for a few seconds—which would have felt like an eternity to all of us sitting inside the car—Samrat stared straight ahead.

We froze. They all thought the animal was looking at them.

At that moment, when the world seemed to come to a surprising halt, someone yelled, “Camera…image,” and we came to our senses to reach for the visual tools to capture the moment.

Samrat slowly started walking away. In seconds he crossed the road and disappeared into the bushes… but not before turning to look at us.

Tiger in Bandhavgarh | Photo credit: Special arrangement

He saw us. In Bandhavgarh, a sign with a tiger near the exit gate reads: “Don’t be disappointed if you don’t see me. Because I saw you.”

Samrat is one of more than 100 tigers that make home the muddy lanes of Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh. Samrat translates as ‘king’ in Hindi and this massive male Bengal tiger strolls carefree through the park’s Tala and Khitauli zones.

“I saw Samrat here for the first time, so he is special,” Viswajit Singh Solanki, a tour guide, tells me about this 8-year-old tiger, “He lives in the hills and is quite elusive.”

We drive slowly through the muddy lanes of Bandhavgarh, declared a tiger reserve in 1993 after being a national park for several decades. The state itself – Madhya Pradesh – leads India’s tiger census with more than 780 tigers spread across its wildlife reserves.

While Bandhavgarh boasts a considerable diversity of flora and fauna, including the Indian pitta and the crested eagle, the tiger remains the center of interest. According to the latest population census, it is home to 164 tigers, of which 35 tigers are accessible to tourists in the core and buffer zones.

Resort Lounge | Photo credit: Special arrangement

The reserve covers 1,536 square kilometers and is divided almost equally between the core and buffer zones. “Buffer zones include farms and villages that exist with certain restrictions,” explains Viswajit, “They are important because sub-adult tigers rely on such zones for easier prey such as cattle, while adult tigers prowl the core zones where there are more deer and other prey.”

The call of the jungle

Solar power powers more than 75 percent of the cottages at Kings Lodge, a measure taken to promote sustainability. “We hope to be declared carbon neutral in a few years,” says Manav Khanduja of Pugdundee Safaris. The team also runs the popular Pro-Nat program, a non-profit initiative aimed at people who want to pursue wildlife and related industries as a career. While another programme, A-Nat, targets amateur naturalists who are keen but cannot spare too many days, the latest initiative is ‘Y-Nat’, which primarily targets children (in the age group of 12-17 years) and includes four practical modules revolving around forest-related topics.

Tiger tourism: then and now

The tiger is a superstar in these parts of town, says Manav Khanduja of Pugdundee Safaris, which runs the 14-hectare Kings Lodge set in a natural forested property that includes 10 lodges and 8 stilt houses. “Bandhavgarh is definitely one of the best places in the world to spot a tiger,” he confirms, “but because of the huge pressure to see it, tourists also prefer frequent buffer zones, which was not the case a few years ago.”

Safari snapshot | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Manav recalls a time in Bandhavgarh several decades ago when ‘tiger shows’ were a popular term in the pre-mobile phone era. “Elephants were employed to spot the tigers and one elephant would park at the site. Tourists who were willing to pay an extra fee would climb the elephant to catch a glimpse of the tiger. Back then there was no pressure to see the tiger because the option was available,” he explains. Such “tiger shows” were eventually banned by the government. “Today, with the advent of technology and artificial intelligence, we need to find ways to implement responsible tiger tourism,” he adds.

Spectacular view

We head into the jungle through the Tala Zone, home to more than a dozen caves, some of which are full of bats. Locals believe that the fort here is more than 1,000 years old, with the legend that Lord Rama built it for his brother Lakshmana – thus earning the place the name ‘Bandhavgarh’ (brother’s fort). Subsequently, it became the hunting ground of kings. Maharaja Marthand Singh of Rewa is the man often credited with establishing and protecting the national park in the 1960s.

Guests on the bike path | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Today, tourists can plan safaris inside the park, but they won’t be allowed mobile phones – in fact, most reserves have lockers or boxes to store your mobiles. This follows a Supreme Court ruling in early 2026 that aims for responsible wildlife tourism and less stress for animals. “In the past, the focus was on observing the beauty and majesty of the tiger,” recalls Viswajit, “Tourists used to spend time focusing on every little detail, including its stripes and injury marks. I hope that after this ban, we can bring back those days because now we focus more on taking shots and photos. We had cases where tourists tried to take selfies with the tiger as a tiger.”

The writer was in Bandhavgarh on invitation from Pugdundee Safaris

Published – October 3, 2026 11:19 AM IST