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Narnala Wild Life Sanctuary by Ms Imtienla Ao
Narnala Wild Life Sanctuary by Ms Imtienla Ao
To
The district gazetteer of Akola describes the Narnala fort in a very lucid
manner: An excerpt :-
The Shakkar Talao is connected with various legends. The cow called
Kapila, pure white, and Kamdhenu, the granter of desires, descends from
heaven at midnight and passes through the water to a pinda, shrine, of Mahadeo
beneath it, and there yields her milk. Unhappily this story was told long ago to an
incredulous Deputy Commissioner, who at first made the retort that though all
other liars might be dead the relater was one left alive, and then had the tank
sounded and searched by a Bhoi diver. Nothing was found but mud, upon which
the officer added, 'Is there nothing in the tank?'. Then take the patwari (who had
told the tale) and drown him there'; and though the order was not enforced this
unsympathetic attitude has greatly discouraged the recounting of anecdotes. It is
said also that a paras, spike of a dome, lies in the tank with the power of turning
everything it touches into gold, and that an elephant's shackles were once
changed in this way when it entered the tank. The water dried up in the famine of
1899 -1900 and nothing was found, but it is remarked that no one knows what is
hidden in the mud. At the west end of the courtyard mentioned are a pretty
mosque and handsome stables, while near the other end is a block of four large
covered cisterns with broken but graceful arches rising above them, Some have
thought them Jain water- cisterns, but they are locally called tupache- take and
Formerly there was a sister gun called khadak bijli, terrible lightning, but this
somehow fell over the cliff in to Chandan Khora, the valley of sandal wood, and
mysteriously disappeared from sight. Two other guns lie near the Akot gate, to
the south of the ordinary entrance, but the bulk of the military stores were
The Dhobi Talao, though in ruins, is still a favorite waterhole for wildlife
The Dhobi Talao is a pretty tank which holds water all the year. It has a
series of arches at one side, with summer houses, if one may use the word,
consisting of two stone chambers one above the other and covered by a flat roof.
Water was taken thence to a garden, and one stone is grooved in allmost a score
of places by the rope which ran on it. The garden is ascribed to the Bhonsalas
and is still marked by some champa trees, while two lofty stands for tulsi, basil,
plants also reveal Hindu influences. Moreover a shrine of Mahatoba, or Mhatoba,
on the south of the tank, is famed for the cure of snakebite. The victim must utter
the name of the god and place a stone or piece of earth on his head. Upon this
An Introduction:-
The Government of Maharashtra’s Notification No WLP/1096/CR-279/F-1 dated
2nd May 1997 declared the ancient Narnala Fort and its surrounding patch of thick green
forests as the Narnala Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Narnala Sanctuary comprising of only 12.35 Sq Kms lies nestled in the Satpura Hill
Ranges barely 60 Kms away from Akola. The Sanctuary, touching a maximum altitude of
933.50 msl, has temperature varying from 35 to 43 degree Celsius and an annual rainfall
that varies from 500 to 900 mm. Lying south of the Melghat Tiger Reserve, this
Sanctuary is under the administrative control of the Deputy Conservator of Forests,
Wildlife Division Akot working under the Conservator of Forests and Field Director,
Melghat Tiger Reserve based at Amravati.
The Akot WildLife Division with its Headquarters at Akot has the following Wildlife
Sanctuaries under its administrative control.
The area is well known for its richness of flora and fauna. The Sanctuary area has
special historical, biological, mythological, archaeological, scenic and recreational values
and is a point of attraction for the tourists and the people of Maharashtra. The rich and
varied miscellaneous forests of the area provide natural habitat to birds and wild
animals.
The village of Shanhanur is the main gateway to the sanctuary. A tar road connects
Shahanur to Popatkheda on the Akot-Harisal State highway. The main approach is-
Akot is the nearest city and lies on the Purna –Ajmer metre gauge railway line. The
nearest broad gauge railway station is Akola (45 km) which lies on the Mumbai-Nagpur-
Howrah main railway line. The proximity to the railhead at Akola makes it accessible to
people from Mumbai as well as those from Nagpur.
The serpentine Tar Road winds its way right up to the Fort
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE.
The hill fort of Narnala is the central attraction from which the name of the Sanctuary is
derived. It is a very old structure with some reports suggesting that the first fortifications
were made by the descendents of Pandavas. The fort consists of 3 separate forts of
Jaffarabad in the East, Narnala in the center and Telyagarh in the West. The fort is
enclosed, except in those places where natural escarpment of rock renders artificial
defense unnecessary, by crenellated stone walls. The fort covers 392 acres with a wall
perimeter of 24 miles (36 km). It is said to have 22 gates and 360 Buruj towers or
bastions.
The tank built to store oil and Ghee silhouetted against the clear blue winter sky
The ancient Narnala Fort encompassing the entire plateau adds historical value and
enhances the natural scenic beauty of the Sanctuary. With Mahals, massive canons and
intricately carved Gates dotting the landscape, the Sanctuary attracts a host of visitors
and pilgrims every year. A Mosque and a Hanuman Temple situated at the top add to the
religious diversity. However, the most remarkable feature of the Sanctuary is the
remnants of a well-planned, highly efficient Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) system,
which even to this day offers a permanent refuge for the wild animals and birds of the
Sanctuary. More than 20 of such talaos are believed to have been in existence, with
many downhill talaos being fed with water from the topmost Shakkar talao through an
elaborate network of drainage channels. Now most of the lakes have been covered by
The 'Dog Temple' survives till today and is a place in the area where it is believed that
the bites of mad dog, jackals etc are supposed to be cured if the affected person takes a
dip in Shakkar Talao and visits the dog temple. Many people still visit the area on this
belief to take a dip in the holy tank and offer flowers at the temple. Both Hindus and
Muslims visit the area.
The valuable endemic species like Sandal (Santalum album) are reported to be
occurring in one of the fragile valleys in the area aptly named Chandan Khora.
The existence of a large number of medicinal plants like Safed Musli (Chlorophytom
tuberosum), Shatawari (Asparagus racemosus) etc and the proximity to the MPCA at
Gullarghat in MTR add to the ecological significance of the Sanctuary.
Tourism is the world’s largest employers accounting for 10% of jobs worldwide (WTO
1999). With over 30,000 protected areas around the world covering about 10% of the
land surface (IUCN 2002), it is imperative that management of Protected Areas (PAs)
move toward a more integrated form of management that focuses on the interface
between the Government and the local stakeholders and the role that external
agencies like NGOs can play in brokering appropriate institutional arrangements. An
arrangement, which recognizes the conservation needs as well as the social and
economic needs of the communities living in and around protected areas while
bringing in more aware and responsible travelers to these natural areas. The
ecological significance & fragility of these PAs coupled with the poor economic
status of the people necessitates an integrated approach to tourism in order to address
both these drawbacks.
Keeping the above realities in mind, the Akot Wild Life Division proposes to take up a
“Community based Ecotourism project for Nature Conservation” in all the three
Wild Life Sanctuaries under the Division. This project envisages that the local community
would reap the economic benefits that tourism could bring while at the same time
arousing their concern & pride in their rich natural and cultural heritage, which in
turn will motivate them towards preservation & conservation of these resources.
Our Checklist records about 150 species of birds and the animals commonly sighted
include Fox, Jackal, Wild pig, hare, Sloth bear etc. with occasional sightings of Tiger and
Leopard. The old forts also provide refuge for several colonies of bats.
The small Korku tribal hamlet called Shahanur hails the visitors at the gate of the
Sanctuary. This village of amicable Korku tribals offers a window to the traditions and
culture of this tribe. In the face of rapid globalization, there is however a great need to
restore the pride of these people in their cultural and natural heritage and channelized it
towards meeting conservation objectives at the same time enhancing their capacity for
cash generation to meet the challenges of this globalized market economy. With sincere
efforts and minimum funding, the sanctuary can be developed as an ideal eco-tourism
Existing infrastructure
The excellent rainwater harvesting and drainage system built on the fort plateau
epitomizes the ancient wisdom of water conservation through rainwater
harvesting. A total of 22 large tanks and numerous smaller tanks were connected
in a well-planned intricate manner that the overflow of water from tanks situated
at a higher elevation flows into tanks at lower elevation. Thus ensuring that not a
single drop of rain is allowed to go waste.
Taking a dip in the Shakkar Talao & Offering flowers at the ‘Dog Temple’ in the
sanctuary is believed prevent and cure rabies from the bites of mad dogs, jackals
etc. People from as far as MP visits the sanctuary for this purpose.
Major mammals including Tiger, Leopard, Sloth Bear, Sambar, Chital etc.
Several large colonies of bats inhabit the dark ruins of the fort.
The bird life is also very rich with a large number of resident as well as migratory.
Migratory waterfowls can be seen in the perennial water bodies situated on the
Narnala plateau. The Kham talao (Cover Photo) is a mini paradise for bird lovers.
Apart form this, Narnala also serves as the southern gateway to Melghat and is an
excellent launching point for visiting places like Khatkali, Gullarghat, Surai waterfall,
Dhargad, Bori, Koktoo etc. The visitors specially the adventurous nature lovers can
straightaway take the trek route that can take them from Shahanur village right up to the
courtyard of Ambar Mahal and the Moti Masjid. From thereon they can visit the
Barhanudin Tomb as well as take a dip at the Shakkar Talao or they can take to the right
and see the well made for storing Oil and Ghee and proceed towards the plateau where
they can see the main channels that bring in rainwater to the Shakkar Talao. The choice
is now theirs as to whether they continue on the same route and come out at the point
where the nine yard canon lies or they can backtrack and go through the ruins and other
smaller tombs. Proceeding in this direction would bring them to the Forest Inspection hut
and the windy point from where one can enjoy the view of the scenic Satpura mountains
and the Gullarghat village in the valley below.
Proposed Activities
The dam over the river Wan that supplies drinking water to Akot and Akola cities