Places of interest around Khajuraho
Pandav
Falls
Raneh
Falls
Ken Gharial Sanctuary
Ken River
Lodge
Where story became a legend and the legend became a story.
Mini Grand Canyon of India awarded as best Holiday for 2017.
Crocodile Sanctuary, with a rear species of crocodile.
Named by locals Tree House due to its river view restaurant
Pandav Falls 'petit' waterfall
In continuation to our Khajuraho trip Day 3 – We started our journey early morning to explore attractions beyond Khajuraho.
One of the wonders of this place I consider it to be the legendary paradise of Pandav Water Falls in Panna National Park, located on the side stream of Ken River, about 3o kms from Khajuraho, via Khajuraho Airport road and then turning right on NH75.
This is the place where story became a legend and the legend became a story, which keeps narrated generations over generations. Pandav Falls is a petit waterfall in Panna district and got its name from a local legend related to the five exiled Pandav brothers of epic Mahabharata, which is considered the longest epic poem in world literature.
Teen area with a lot of trees, plants and some monkeys here and there.
All of a sudden the breath-taking emerald colored serene water was laying at our feet surrounded by steep cliffs. At the center of the cascading rocks on the left, a stream from Ken River has found its way to the lake.
There are multiple stories on creation of lake however the one that I found really interesting is as per the local legend, Bhima (one of the most powerful of Pandav brothers) struck the ground with his “Gada” (Mace/Club essentially of a spherical head mounted on a shaft and spike on the top) in search of water, resulting into the lake.
Next to the lake you would notice thousands of years old caves, where Pandavs stayed for some time during their exile as per the legend.
A lot of local visitors carry big plastic bottles to collect water from the water fall which as per another local legend is considered to be sacred, and blessed by Draupadi the queen of Pandavs, with eternal love.
Well, at this time we did not take our chance to get blessed, however do not forget to take empty bottles to collect some water from the pond if you so wish to take the blessings with you.
Next we decided to move towards Raneh Falls instead of exploring Panna National Park due to our time limitation and safari timings which were not in our favour at that point in time.
RANEH FALLS - THE MINI GRAND CANYON OF INDIA
Raneh Falls, named after King Rane, located in Chhatarpur, is about 45 mins drive (30 kms) from Pandav Falls and about 30 mins drive (21kms) from Khajuraho.
You need to buy tickets to enter into the area from where mandatory local guide accompanies you in your own vehicle. Raneh Falls is like a mini Grand Canyon in the United States (as per our guides’s words).
Majestically beautiful, naturally colorful, we were unable to take our eyes off the rocks in various shades and forms. January-May is the time when you can see actually these prominent white, pink, green, red & grey crystalline formations, because during monsoons the entire canyon and the surrounding might be inundated with water.
We were surrounded by various rubber trees during our walk towards the spot from where we had the view of the canyon, and biggest waterfall of the area, though there are multiple water falls some of which, are seasonal during rainy season.
Ken Gharial (Crocodile) Sanctuary
A little drive further next to the Raneh Falls, we reached the Ken Gharial (Crocodile) Sanctuary which is full of crocodiles along the long stretch of river and canyon.
We were lucky enough to be far from the crocodiles, and at the same time we had the opportunity to capture on our cameras, some of the “sunbath taking” crocodiles on the rock side.
KEN RIVER LODGE - TREE HOUSE
Soaking in nature to it’s full within us and mesmerizing views all over, we decided to spend some time at lovely spots next to the Ken river near Pandav Falls.
Tree House and / or Ken River Lodge, where one can drive up (approximately one and half kilometers off the main road ) to the banks of the ken river. With it’s wonderful tree houses built on tree, that overhang the river, views of Ken river are amazing in addition to the natural habitat of forest area and lot of activities and safari options.
Satisfied with our full day’s activities and lots of nature’s memories to cherish, we headed back to Khajuraho to prepare ourselves for long drive back to Delhi from Khajuraho early morning next day.
Visit to Khajuraho would be complemented by adding all the above places to your itinerary. While we could not explore more around Khajuraho, if you have few more days, you may consider adding Safari in Panna National Park, or trip to Bandhavgarh National Park and Orchha in your itinerary list.
Happy Traveling!
Watch this space for the next blog to introduce you to another exiting glimpse of my travels.
