Explore Your Wild Side At the Pashan Garh Panna Wilderness Lodge
The central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh is renowned for its rich, cultural heritage. Home to the world-famous, heritage Khajuraho temple complex, the boundaries of Madhya Pradesh also encompass a number of national parks and wildlife reserves, which once served as the private hunting grounds of royalty.
The Panna National Park, situated in the Vindhya mountain range, along the Ken River (rumored to be one of the cleanest rivers in the world), is perhaps the most well-known of the various Madhya Pradesh national parks. Located at a distance of 25 kms (16 miles) from the famed Khajuraho complex, the park, whose landscape features a plateau populated with dense teak forests, grasslands, tumbling waterfalls and treacherous ravines plays host to a wide variety of native Indian flora and fauna.
In fact, Panna is reputed to be one of the best tiger reserves in India, though apart from these majestic predators, the park also serves as the residence of nearly 200 species of birds, and various other forms of indigenous Indian wildlife like leopards, wild dogs, sloth bears, hyenas, sambar, chital and chinkaras (species of deer), Nilgai (a kind of antelope native to central and south India), gharials (a fish eating crocodile) and the fresh- water mugger crocodiles. It is no wonder then that the Panna National Park is a favored haunt of wildlife enthusiasts in India.
Accommodation in the park is provided by a variety of small lodges and hotels, though the most luxurious lodging in Panna is supplied by the Taj Group operated Pashan Garh Panna Wilderness Lodge. The Pashan Garh Panna Wilderness Lodge, whose name translates as ‘stone house’, consists of a small cluster of well-appointed stone cottages that are located atop a small hill, situated at the edge of the national park. The lodge’s elevated location is such that it affords magnificent views of the surrounding forests and beyond.
The 12 luxury cottages that make up the Pashan Garh Panna Wilderness Lodge are situated along a small stream and are enveloped by 200 acres of lush, verdant, jungle wilderness. Fashioned after the dry-packed stone houses, that litter the local Panna region, these luxe dwellings have a rugged and rustic outward appearance adorned as they are, with dramatic roofs fabricated from slabs of slate.
However don’t let this rustic appearance fool you, for this rough-hewn exterior in fact encompasses a sleek and sophisticated interior which is outfitted with butter-soft leather furniture and tasteful dust- colored linen and block-printed silk soft furnishings. Each cottage is further equipped with central courtyard and a private romantic verandah or sala, which offers spectacular views of the forest canopy and the nearby watering holes. These air-conditioned cottages, but naturally, offer a whole host of luxe hotel amenities like in-room safes, indoor showers, laundry services and more and it must be mentioned that they are disabled friendly as well.
However, if this post has evoked your interest in the Pashan Garh Panna Wilderness Lodge, it is worth noting that the lodge is closed between the 1st of July and the 15th of October every year, as the Panna National Park is shuttered during central India’s annual monsoon season.