Velavadar Travel Guide: Blackbuck National Park, Harriers and the Bhal Grassland

Velavadar is a wildlife park, not a list of monuments, so the sights are the animals and the landscape. The park lies in the Bhal region of Saurashtra, on open grassland between two rivers, the Parvalia and the Alang, that drain into the Gulf of Cambay. Nearby, Palitana and Bhavnagar give the trip a cultural second half.

The blackbuck grassland

The Forest Department declared the park in July 1976 mainly to protect the blackbuck, and Gujarat Tourism says its area grew from 18 sq km to 34 sq km when 16 sq km were added in 1980. Blackbuck move in herds of males, of females and fawns, or of both, across the pale grass; adult males carry spiralling horns up to 65 cm long, and Gujarat Tourism puts the park's population at about 1,800. Blue bulls, the nilgai, graze among them. The herds are mostly in the northern part, according to the Forest Department.

The harrier roost

The park is one of the largest roosting grounds for migratory harriers, and four species gather here. The Forest Department's booking site says the late-evening congregations are a main attraction, particularly in winter, and Gujarat Tourism puts the wintering birds at about 2,000 in most years. Plan an afternoon safari that stays out until dusk to see the birds come in.

Wolves, hyenas and other mammals

The park holds Indian grey wolves, striped hyenas and jungle cats, along with jackals and foxes, and the booking site counts 16 mammal species in all. The Alang river, which forms the southern border, is the wolves' favourite retreat, says the Forest Department. Gujarat Tourism advises going early in the morning for wolves, which are elusive, while blackbuck are easy to see by day. No sighting is ever guaranteed. As darkness falls, the Forest Department says, jackals howl and wolves are occasionally heard.

Birds of the wetland and thorn forest

The booking site lists 186 bird species. Pelicans, flamingos, ducks, waders, painted and white storks and Sarus cranes use the small wetland in the south, and the department also lists demoiselle and common cranes. The southern patches of thorn forest suit birds of prey, and the Forest Department also names the houbara bustard and the lesser florican, a critically endangered bird that, the booking site says, is a local migrant in the monsoon.

Palitana and Shatrunjaya Hill

Palitana, 51 km south-west of Bhavnagar, is a Jain pilgrimage town at the foot of Shatrunjaya Hill, a hill covered with temples built over some 900 years. Reaching them means climbing more than 3,750 stone steps, which Gujarat Tourism calls a rigorous climb, and it lists the site as open from 6.30 am to 6 pm. Gujarat Tourism gives November to February as the best months, and it is better as a separate day than squeezed in around a safari.

Bhavnagar and the Takhteshwar Temple

Gujarat Tourism describes the all-marble Takhteshwar Temple, built on a small hill in 1893 by Maharaja Takhtsinhji, as giving views over Bhavnagar and the Gulf of Cambay. The temple is dedicated to Shiva, has 18 ornate pillars and is open from dawn to dusk. It is an easy evening stop for the night before or after the park.

The park is open every day from 16 October to 15 June and closed from 16 June to 15 October each year; the Forest Department adds that the area is often flooded in the monsoon. On the booking site, winter sessions (16 October to the end of February) run from 6.30 to 11.30 am and 2 to 7 pm, and summer sessions (1 March to 15 June) from 6 to 11 am and 2.30 to 7.30 pm. An older Gujarat Tourism listing gives 7 am to 1 pm and 3 to 6 pm, so use the booking site's hours.

For harriers, go in winter; for cool air, November to February. IMD's figures for Bhavnagar, the nearest city table, give January daytime highs of 28°C and nights of 14°C, against 40°C by day in May. About 93 per cent of the year's rain falls in the monsoon, which is why the park shuts. Weekends cost more at the booking site, so a weekday visit is cheaper.