Chambal Sanctuary India

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marcox
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Joined: April 25th, 2015, 3:11 am

Chambal Sanctuary India

Post by marcox »

Spend some weeks in India last december and made it to the famous chambal river sanctuary.

Saw a lots of mugger crocs and gharials in a 1h safari. Highly recommend this place. Seems to be the only clean river I saw in 4 weeks travelling trough india.
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Herping 101
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Joined: March 26th, 2018, 12:20 am
Location: Minneapolis, USA

Re: Chambal Sanctuary India

Post by Herping 101 »

Hi Marcox,
I have been a resident of New Delhi for the past 14 and 1/2 years, so I know my way around the country. if you are in New Delhi feel free to contact me my email is [email protected] and maybe we can go herping together. if you are in the Chambal area again I recommend going into the ravines, the Chambal Safari Lodge is a great place to stay and they will guide you through them. in the ravines all manner of birds and reptiles alike can be seen, if you go in the late spring before it gets to hot you can see the weaver birds building nest's. I have seen water monitors on the river bank as well, so if you go back be sure to look for those.

All the best,

Liam
marcox
Posts: 20
Joined: April 25th, 2015, 3:11 am

Re: Chambal Sanctuary India

Post by marcox »

Hi Liam

Thanks for your Message.

Is there any herping in dehli? We will come back to india in may for 10 days safaris in tadoba and pench.


Cheers

Marco
Herping 101
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Re: Chambal Sanctuary India

Post by Herping 101 »

Hi,
in Delhi the best place to go would be the ridge. it is a forest located right near Chanakyapuri. If you go towards the back of the ridge, right near Buddha Jiyanti park you will find a little swampy area, this is a regular place for Checkered Keelbacks to hang out. If you decide to flip rocks you will most likely find a few skinks, the occasional agamid, and dozens of geckos. if you look up the southern ridge reserve forest on google earth you should be able to find it fairly quickly. if you are looking for mammals you will most likely see a couple Jackals, pigs, and a lot of monkeys.

Happy Herping,

Liam
Herping 101
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Re: Chambal Sanctuary India

Post by Herping 101 »

sorry, it is the central ridge reserve forest
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jonathan
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Re: Chambal Sanctuary India

Post by jonathan »

The story of how Chambal stayed clean and relatively undeveloped is crazy.

On one hand, there's a myth that a large number of cows were sacrificed in the river, thereby poisoning the waters and making them unclean, so many people didn't want to have anything to do with them.

On the other hand, a huge cabal of gangsters ran the area for decades, pretty much keeping everyone else away until the 1990s when the government finally cracked down and drove them out.

An incredibly untouched 5,400 sq. km preserve owes its existence to ancient mythology and gangsters. :lol:


I had a fantastic experience there myself when I took my mom in November 2017....saw tons of gharial, mugger, ganges river softshell and indian roofed turtle along with a bengal monitor and a few of the typical common lizards/frogs. Mammals were also spectacular including ganges river dolphin, indian hedgehog, asian palm civet, indian grey mongoose, jungle cat (two), indian hare, nilgai, blackbuck, and flying fox. Around 100 species of birds in something like 36 hours too.
marcox
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Re: Chambal Sanctuary India

Post by marcox »

Interesting. I never heard of this myth.
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jonathan
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Re: Chambal Sanctuary India

Post by jonathan »

This small town is nestled on the banks of Chambal River, which is probably the cleanest river in India. According to ancient Indian texts, the river is considered to be cursed. It is believed that the river originated from the blood of thousands of cows sacrificed by the Aryan King Rantideva. Another legend states that it was cursed by Drapaudi for reasons unknown.

Maybe its unholy origins have helped Chambal survive and thrive untouched and unpolluted. It remains one of India’s most pristine rivers till date.
https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/o ... 55410.html


The legend has it that the River Chambal originated from the blood of thousands of cows sacrificed by a ruthless king wanting supreme powers. It is said that the dark history of this place is the reason why no industrial town has been established near the river, making it one of the cleanest rivers in India.
http://www.mptourism.com/blog/national- ... tuary.html


The ancient name of the Chambal was Charmanvati, meaning the river on whose banks leather is dried. In due course of time, this river became famous as the river of ‘charman’ (skin) and was named as Charmanvati.[2]

The epic Sanskrit narrative the Mahabharata, refers to the Chambal river as the Charmanyavati : originating from the blood of thousands of animals sacrificed by the Aryan King Rantideva.[16]

"So large was the number of animals sacrificed in the Agnihotra of that king that the secretions flowing from his kitchen from the heaps of skins deposited there caused a veritable river which from this circumstance, came to be called the Charmanwati.[17]"
Charmanwati was the southern boundary of Panchala Kingdom. King Drupada ruled the southern Panchalas up to the bank of the Charmanwati river (1:140).

According to folklore the Chambal area was part of Shakuni’s kingdom and the dice-game played thereabouts. After the attempted disrobing of Draupadi (the daughter of Drupada) she cursed any one who would drink the water of the Charmanwati river.[18] Thus it is believed that due to the curse by Draupadi, have helped the Chambal to survive unpolluted by man, and its many animal inhabitants to thrive relatively untouched. The Chambal remains one of India’s most pristine rivers.[19][20]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambal_River
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Chaitanya
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Re: Chambal Sanctuary India

Post by Chaitanya »

Herping 101 wrote: February 21st, 2019, 12:00 am Hi Marcox,
I have been a resident of New Delhi for the past 14 and 1/2 years, so I know my way around the country. if you are in New Delhi feel free to contact me my email is [email protected] and maybe we can go herping together. if you are in the Chambal area again I recommend going into the ravines, the Chambal Safari Lodge is a great place to stay and they will guide you through them. in the ravines all manner of birds and reptiles alike can be seen, if you go in the late spring before it gets to hot you can see the weaver birds building nest's. I have seen water monitors on the river bank as well, so if you go back be sure to look for those.

All the best,

Liam
If you ever want to herp in Northern western ghats and parts of Deccan plateau , PM me. I live in Pune and regularly herp around these parts. You are welcome to join me.
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