We undertook a second safari to Sitabani forest reserve. As the other forests in the Jim Corbett National Park, can accommodate only thirty jeeps in a day for a safari and these require reservations much in advance for the Government permit is required to enter the forest many prefer to go to Sitabani where about one hundred and thirty jeeps can enter the area in a day and permits are easily granted. However, the forest is so big that it does not look crowded. Sitabani is a forest reserve that is referred to as landscape forest. This is in the buffer zone. For a long time people in the villages near this area did agriculture by slash and burn cultivation and the land in the nearby region was eroded. Now about seventy kilometer of land has been preserved as Sitabani and a beautiful forest of teak, Sal trees, Jamun trees and many other variety of trees has come up. Though it does not have many tigers one can sight a lot of elephants and a variety of birds. This beautiful forest area has three entrances, Bhandargarh, Kayari and Pawal garh. As we stopped at Pawal garh, I could not help but remember Jin Corbett's book, Man eater of Kumaon that has the famous story of Bachelor of Pawal garh. We could see a lot of Termite Ant hills that are so artistically built. It is a an amazing regenerative power of nature that the termite hill never grows on a healthy tree but in a destroyed or degenerative tree. In the middle of the forest is an ancient temple of Sita, from which the forest derives its name. It is believed that Sita gave birth to Lav and Kush in the spot where the temple is built. This is a monument that is a protected monument by the Archeological survey of India. As we left the peace quiet and the pollution free environment of the jungle we could see the sun setting and the scene was indeed one that will stay with me for ever, along with the silence of the forest.
