Best season - The best time to visit Valmikinagar is
between October and June. A number of rest houses manned by the Irrigation
Department are usually available.
Nearest Town - Bettiah ( 80km)
Main attraction:- Tiger, One horned rhinoceros
To Reach : Valmikinagar can be reached via Bettiah, with Patna as the nearest
airport (105km).
Where to Stay :- Irrigation department maintains rest houses which are
affordable and value for money within the reserve. You can find budget and
mid-range hotels near Gandhi Nagar and on National Highway 64.
Valmiki National
Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the West Champaran district of Bihar state.Valmiki Sanctuary
was established as the 18th tiger reserve in 1990 and ranks fourth in the
density of tiger population. The park is bounded by the Royal Chitwan National
Park of Nepal in the north and the river Gandak on the western side with the Himalayan Mountains as a backdrop. Adjacent to the
sanctuary, in the forests in Chitwan National Park of Nepal, is the historic
Valmiki Ashram.
Valmiki Ashram near Valmiki Nagar holds great religious
importance for Hindus. According to popular belief, it was the ashram of sage
Valmiki and wrote the Ramayana here. Various temples, which are located in the
periphery of 3 - 4 kms around the Valmiki Ashram, are the Jatashankar
Temple, Nardevi
Temple and Kaleshwar
Temple, surrounded by green forest in
the backdrop of the Himalayan
Mountains. Triveni Temple
is located across the Gandak barrage in the Nepal territory at a motorable
distance of 2-3 kms from Gandak barrage.
Valmiki Ashram is located at a distance of about 7 kms from
Valmikinagar, the Gandak barrage, in the deep forest of Chitwan National Park
in Nepal.
Rishi Valmiki had written the great epic, “Ramayana”, here. Various points of
interest around the ashram are: Birthplace of Luv & Kush (the two sons of
Lord Ram and his divine wife- Sita); Sita’s ‘Falahar’ eating place; Meditation
place of the great Sage-Valmiki; the place where the Ashwamedh horse was tied;
Amrit Kuan; Vishnu Chakra; Gagristhan and the Hawan Kund.
Close to Valmikinagar is Triveni, which is a holy place for
Hindus. The name is derived from the fact that three river, namely – Naraini,
Sohna and Pachnad- merge here, to form Gandak, soon after they emerge from the
hills. Triveni is also believed to be the site at which the fight commenced
between the Lords of Forest and Water (Gaj and
Grah or the Elephant and the Crocodile).
While roaming in the national park, visitors will come
across enormous collection of flora and fauna which draws the attention of many
people. The forest here is dense and moist and a large amount of the park is
covered with tall green trees. There are several trees here, but among them the
most common that visitors can find are the wet grasslands, reed beds, cane, and
Sal.
There are two rivers that flow through the park – Gandak
and Masan River. The Gandak River
with the Himalayan range in the distance offers a great view and is a haven for
photographers. There is a healthy diversity of animals along with tigers in the
tiger reserve like leopards, fishing cats, deers, black bucks and rhesus
monkeys.
Apart from the beautiful nature and unusual bird species,
the Valmiki National
Park is popular for wild animals that are an icon of Bihar wildlife. The park consists of moist Sal bearing
forests, dry Sal bearing forests, moist mixed deciduous forests without Sal,
cane and tropical seasonal swamp forests containing reed beds and wet
grasslands. The species found in the park include tiger, sloth bear, wolf,
various species of deer, serow, leopard, python, peafowl, chitals, sambars,
nilgais, leopards, hyenas, Indian civets, Jungle cats, Hog deer, wild dogs etc.
One horned rhinoceros and Indian bison often migrate from Chitwan to
Valmikinagar. There are 8 villages in the buffer area but no habitation in the
core area.
Archaeologically rich places in and around Valmikinagar are
Lauriya Nandan Garh and Someshwar Fort. There is a lion pillar of Ashoka at
Lauriya Nandan Garh, which is a single block of polished sand stone. The pillar
is 32’- 9.5” in height with a diameter of 35.5” at the base and 26.2” at the
top. This pillar is over 2000 year old and in excellent condition.
Nandan Garh is a huge mound composed of bricks and is about
80 feet high. According to the authoritative source, it is an Ashoka Stupa, in
which ashes of Lord Buddha’s funeral pyre are enshrined. Someshwar Fort is
situated in Narkatiyaganj sub-division, near Nepal border, on top of Someshwar
Hill at 2884 ft. above M.S.L. It is in a ruined state but its remains are well
defined.
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