Heritage

The Bungalow

An old forest bungalow among the Saja and the Sal, where the jungle still keeps its own time.

From another age

Before the tents, there was the Bungalow.

Its veranda faces the forest the way such verandas always have: chairs set out for the evening, a lantern waiting to be lit, and the jungle close enough to hear. It is the oldest story on the estate, and much of the reason Saja and Sal feels the way it does.

The Bungalow among the trees, rendered as an engraving — The Bungalow, in engraving

Chapter I

The forest bungalow

The old jungle memoirs of India are full of places like this: a bungalow at the end of a forest road, a hurricane lantern hissing on the veranda, a fire smoking in the compound and, somewhere beyond the clearing, the alarm call of a sambar. Forest officers, surveyors and shikar parties set out from such places at first light and came home by lamplight, with the day’s notes to be written up by the fire.

Sit on the Bungalow’s veranda as the light goes and that world feels very close. The tiled roof, the deep columns, the fireplaces and the antlers on the walls all belong to it, and the forest beyond has hardly changed at all.

The Bungalow's long veranda: cushioned benches, a planter's chair, lanterns and hats on an old hall stand, with the forest beyond

A Victorian fireplace, lit, with antlers on the mantel

Chapter II

Built for the jungle

Picturesque and perfectly proportioned, the Bungalow is the archetype of classic style and good taste: a tiled roof, a wraparound veranda and a central living room with spacious rooms opening from it.

Victorian fireplaces kept out the chill of long jungle nights — and still do.

The Bungalow in its clearing, framed by tall trees

Chapter III

Among the Saja and the Sal

The Bungalow stands among majestic Saja and Sal trees, beside a tranquil stream, with a lake lying just next to it.

The estate takes its name from these two great trees of the Kanha forest: the Saja, its bark patterned like a crocodile’s hide, and the Sal, tall and straight, the tree that defines the jungle here.

Chapter IV

From hunting to conservation

Before 1933
The shikar years
Kanha’s Sal forests are hunting country, visited by shikar parties and by the forest officers and surveyors who mapped the jungle and recorded its wildlife.
1933
A first protection
Kanha’s forests are declared a wildlife sanctuary.
1955
A national park
On 1 June 1955, Kanha becomes a national park.
1970
Saving the barasingha
The hard-ground barasingha, found nowhere else on earth, falls to an estimated 66 animals. A long conservation effort in Kanha brings it back from the brink.
1973
A tiger reserve
Kanha is designated a tiger reserve.
Today
The only shots are photographs
Trail cameras in front of the Bungalow record tigers passing in the night. The old hunting country has become one of India’s great tiger forests.