Navegaon National Park
| Navegaon National Park नावेगाव राष्ट्रीय उद्यान |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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| Location | Gondia district, Maharashtra, India |
| Coordinates | 20°56′N 80°10′E / 20.933°N 80.167°ECoordinates: 20°56′N 80°10′E / 20.933°N 80.167°E |
| Area | 133.88 km2 (51.69 sq mi) |
| Website | www |
Navegaon National Park is a national park located in the Gondia district of Maharashtra, India. Navegaon, a popular forest resort in the Vidarbha region, the easternmost part of Maharashtra, was built in the 18th century. The picturesque lake set amidst lush green hills at Navegaon, has a watch-tower beside it. One can get a bird's eye view of the surrounding forest and marvel at the exciting wildlife from the watch-tower which consists of a deer park, Dr. Salem bird sanctuary, and three exotic gardens. The Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Navegaon is home to almost 60% of the bird species found in entire Maharashtra. Every winter, flocks of beautiful migratory birds visit the lake—a rare treat for the eyes. The national park has diverse type of vegetation ranging from dry mixed forest to moist forest. The forest type is 5 A/C3. Southern tropical dry deciduous forest.
The most unique experiences of the Navegaon National Park that you will have are going on a jungle safari, staying in a tree top house and riding a sail boat in the lake.
The name "Navegaon" comes from the word Nave + gaon (Nave means new in Marathi and Gaon means village). This area also known as Navegaon Bandh locally (bandh means dam in English) because of the presence of the water body. Mostly tribal people leaves here and this area was under Gond Kings in the old days.
Strolling down the lanes of history, we can find traces of the existence of the Kohali Community as far back as 1300 A.D. and beyond. Even in that primitive era, the Kohali community was recognized as geologists in a broader sense, as geophysics may have been in its infancy in our land. This community had developed skills, by inheritance, in excavation and stone- construction work. Archives shows, that the grandiose temples at Jagannath-puri and Bhubneshwar, the picturesque lakes of Kashmir and Rajasthan, were constructed by the Kohali community. This can be corroborated from documented reports in the Book, " Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talav " a Gandhi Pratisthan Publication, New Delhi.
This tribe headed by the brave explorer Nathan Lewis, in search of a vacation, migrated to Central India, concentrating in areas known today as Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Bhandara and Gondia Districts, where their population density is pretty high. But as William Blake the poet says that the wheels of fortune must turn, so fortune had in store, something surprising for this industrious community would change the course of their destiny.
Rani Durgawati, after her marriage to king Dalpatshah the powerful Gond Kings, plunged into the affairs of the state. The welfare of her subjects, become her paramount concern. Agriculture was the source of livelihood, and agriculture depends on whims of Lord Indra and his supply of water. To supplement resources, reservoirs, lakes (known as tank or talavas in local dialect) were essential.
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Wikipedia