Bharatpur

Bharatpur holds the Keoladeo National Park — the Ghana Bird Sanctuary — one of the world's most important bird sanctuaries, where the shallow water and reeds of a former hunting marsh now support an avian diversity that puts most dedicated birding destinations to shame.

Keoladeo was developed as a duck-hunting reserve by the Bharatpur maharajas in the 1850s, with an elaborate water management system that ironically created the habitat that now protects the birds. The conversion from hunting reserve to national park in 1972 was controversial locally but has produced an ecosystem of 375 bird species across a compact 29-square-kilometre area that UNESCO listed as a World Heritage Site in 1985.

The Ranthambore Fort, two kilometres upriver from the bird sanctuary, is the most dramatically positioned of Rajasthan's Rajput forts: built on a junction of two ravines and occupied since the 10th century, its ruins now overlook the tiger reserve that surrounds it. The combination of Mughal architecture — the palace buildings that successive emperors added — and the wildlife landscape below is one of the most cinematically composed settings in Rajasthan.

Places to Visit in Bharatpur

• Keoladeo National Park
• Lohagarh Fort
• Bharatpur Palace

Things to Do in Bharatpur

• Birdwatching by cycle-rickshaw or on foot
• Boat safari through the wetlands
• Lohagarh Fort visit