Chikhaldara

Nestled in the district of Amravati, the township of Chikhaldara is commonly known for its Wildlife Sanctuary. The zone stands at an elevation of about 1120 m above sea level and is also acknowledged as the sole coffee plantation area in Maharashtra.

It is believed that the hill town of Chikhaldara was discovered in 1823 by the then Captain Robinson who belonged to the Hyderabad Regiment. Mr. Robinson was in love with by the lush green vegetation found here in the region, which actually reminded him of England. A little known fact about this hill town is that the ton was taken into consideration and a proposal was passed to make Chikhaldara the seat of Indian Government; however no measures are taken yet. This beautiful hill town of Maharashtra is replete with wildlife, lagoons, cascades and panoramas, which is stands in a cotton-growing area.

This hill town is a plateau which was featured in the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata, as this has been the place where Bheema killed the villainous Keechaka in a phenomenal short span of time and further threw his body into the valley, named ‘dari’ in Marathi. It thus came to be known as Keechakadara later renamed as Chikhaldara. It is also believed that, this place is also considered as the spot, where Lord Krishna took His wife Rukmanee.

But that not enough as there is much more to experience in Chikhaldara. The solitary hill resort in the Vidarbha region has the added grain to its glory asbeing the only coffee-growing area in Maharashtra. It is proliferated with wildlife as the place houses to numerous animals such as panthers, sloth bears, sambar, wild boar, and even the rarely seen wild dogs. In a close proximity to the region there lies this famous place called the Melghat Tiger Project which has a hold of 82 tigers. The picturesque magnificence of Chikhaldara can be relished from Hurricane Point, Prospect Point, and Devi Point. Other fascinating jaunts in and around the region are Gavilgad and Narnala Fort, the Pandit Nehru Botanical Gardens, the Tribal Museum and the Semadoh Lake.

Some of the villages situated near Chikhaldara are Badnapur, Morgad, Salona, Semadoh, Sonapur and Devgaon. The best time to travel to Chikhaldara is in the months of October to June.

The commonly found flora in the very region includes Teak, Ain, Bamboo, Tiwas, Dhaoda, Kusum, Mahua. As above said that the region is all stuffed with the fauna, it houses Tiger, Leopard, Sloth bear, Wild dog, Jackal, Sambar, Indian Bison, Barking Deer, Blue Bull, Spotted Deer, Chausingha, Ratel, Flying Squirrel, Wild Boar, Langur, Rhesus Monkey, Porcupine, Pangolin, Mouse deer.

The nearest airport to Chikhaldara is at Akola, which is situated at a distance of about 150km and the nearest railway station being in Badnera, at a distance of 110 km and has its nearest bus depot at Amravathi, which is at 100 km drive away from this hill town.