Valmiki National Park

                     Valmiki National Park

Valmiki National Park is located in the West Champaran district of Bihar state, India. The extensive forest area of Valmikinagar was previously owned by the Bettiah Raj and Ramanagar Raj until the early 1950s.Valmiki tiger Reserve (VTR) is one of the nature's virgin recesses in east India is situated in the North West corner of the State of Bihar. The Pristine forest and wilderness of VTR is an excellent example of Himalayan Terai landscape. VTR comprises of the Valmiki National Park and Valmiki Wildlife Sanctuary. The VTR forest area covers 899.38 sqkm which is 17.4% of the total geographical areas of the district West Champaran.
The Valmiki National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary lie in the West Champaran district of Bihar. Name of the district has been derived from two words Champa and Aranya – meaning Forest of Champa trees. Geographically, it is situated between 830 50' and 840 10' E longitude and between 270 10' and 270 03' N latitude. Total forest area comprises of about 900 sq.km., out of which expense of Valmiki Wildlife Sanctuary is 880 sq. km. and spread of the National Park is about 335 sq. km. area. In north, the protected areas are bordered by Nepal while the Indian state Uttar Pradesh bounds the Wildlife Sanctuary from western side.

The Valmiki tract is broken and undulating often showing highly fragile geological formations. As a result, there are steep ravines, knife-edge ridges and precipitous walls formed by land slips and soil erosion.
The great Gandak and the Masan rivers collect all the water from the numerous, tortuous tributaries. These rivers and streams keep changing course from side to side, facilitated by the erosion prone sandy and immature soil of the banks. Seasonal rivers like Panchanad, Manor, Bhapsa and Kapan display peculiar behaviour of erosion at one place and deposition of transported soil at another place.
Hill system is the continuation of Siwalik Range, largely made of imperfectly compacted and ill-formed sandstone dotted with pebbles and boulders. Owing to the fragile nature of parent rock material, the soil produced at the foothill is immature, loose sand and display sheet. The menace is further aggravated by maltreatment of the forests by people in general, frequent fires and heavy grazing.

Census

Species 1997 Tiger 53 Leopard 54

Forest Types

Bhabar Dun Sal Forest ,Dry Siwalik Sal Forest ,West Gangetic Moist Mixed Deciduous Forest ,Khair - Sisso Forest ,Cane brakes ,Eastern Wet Alluvial Grassland , Barringtonia Swamp Forest .

Major Flora Sal (Shorea robusta), Asan, Karama, Semal, Khair, Cane(Calamus tenuis), Jamun, Siccharrum, Mahulan, Piper, Lagun (Peepar)

Main Species

Tiger, Leopard, Fishing Cat, Leopard Cat, Chital, Sambar, Hog Deer, Black Buck, Gaur, Sloth Bear, Langur, Rhesus Monkey .

Archeology

i) Lauriya Nanadan Garh: There is lion pillar of Ashoka, which is a single block of polished sand stone, 32'-9.5" in height with a diameter of 35.5" at base and 26.2" at the top. The pillar is over 2000 year old and in excellent condition. Nandgarh is a huge mound composed of bricks and is about 80 feet height. According to a authoritative source, it is an Ashok Stupa in which ashes of Buddha's funeral pyre were enshrined. ii) Bawan Garhi: A name meaning 52 forts. It is also known as Tripan bazar. The remains of 52 forts and Tripan bazar are at Darubari. iii) Someshwer Fort: Someshwar Fort is situated in Narkatiagani sub-division, near Nepal border, on top of the Someshwar hill at 2884 ft above M.S.L. It is in ruined state but its remains are well defined. iv) Triveni: A holy place of Hindu. The name is derived from the fact that three rivers (Gandak, Sonha and Pachanad) merge here soon after they emerge from the hills. Triveni is also believed to be the site at which the fight commenced between Lords of Forest and Water (the Elephant and Crocodile).

THE COLORS OF BIHAR

Holi is a festival of colors celebrated all over the country. People celebrate it on the first day of the Hindu Calendar, that is 'Pratham Chairtra Mass' (February-March). In Bihar, a typical style Dhamar of holi song is sung in which the villagers celebrate it in a form of group with full joy and dance with musical instruments like dholak, jhal-manjeera, etc. This dance is related to the mythical story of Bhakt Prahlad and his demon father Hiranyakshipu.

Bihar is the state of fairs and festival related to various religious things. It is the state of much of the ritual communities. All of the communities have their own ritual folk traditions. But some of the folk cultures of Bihar celebrated by the all tribes of the state. One of them is the festival of Holi. Holi is the festival of India. It is the festival of colors, joys, and happiness.
Holi is the festival which celebrated by the people on the first day of New Year of Hindu Calendar which called as ‘Pratham Chaitra Massa’ that is the month of February or March. People of Bihar celebrate this festival with the Holi dance. Holi dance is the sign of joyous of people and the energy level to live the life with new manners. It is so beautiful folk dance in which both male and female participate. There are some of beautiful and rhythmic musical instrument like jhal – manjeera and Dholak make this dance so charm and energetic.
There is a mythological story behind the celebration of this festival and dance. It is said that the festival of holi is celebrated in the remembrance of Bhakt Prahlad. He was a true devotee of lord Vishnu. This is the festival which is not only celebrated in Bihar but also in all over the parts of the country.

Phagu Purnima

Phagu Purnima is another name for Holi where Phagu means the sacred red powder and Purnima or Pune is the full moon day, on which the festival ends.

At some places like Bihar, Holi is also known as Phagwa as it is celebrated in the later part of the month of Phalgun and the early part of Chaitra in the Hindu calendar. This corresponds to the English months of March-April.

The concept of New Year (Samvatsar) varies in the different provinces of our country. In some provinces, the month commences from the 'Krishna-Paksha' on the other hand in some provinces it commences from 'Shukla-Paksha'. For the former, the year ends on 'Purnima' of the month of Phalgun. The new years begins next day - Chaitra, 1st day of the Krishna Paksha. For them on this day the last year has died. For this reason in some provinces like Bihar and UP. Holika dahan is also called 'Samvatsar Dahan'. On this day all the bitterness and evil memories of the last year are burnt in the fire and the New Year is begun with a celebration.