The Golden Triangle of India is what they call the cities of Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. After having done the first two, we were on our way to the third, greatly anticipating finally getting a chance to see the Taj Mahal. But on the route from Jaipur to Agra, we decided to do a three day layover in Bharatpur, home of Keoladeo National Park. It’s a bird lover’s paradise, and Kimberly is in paradise when she can photograph birds and check off another UNESCO World Heritage site from the bucket list.

The park was about a 30 minute walk from where we were staying; as usual in India and other hot climates, we got a pre-dawn start. When we arrived at the park, of course we faced a gauntlet of tuk-tuk drivers wanting us to hire their services for the day. (You can also rent your own tuk-tuk in the park). But we decided the best way to get around the place was by bicycle.

So we went to the bicycle rental stand, and picked out the bikes we wanted. And then… the attendant disappeared without a word. We waited a good ten minutes, but still no sign of him. So we ultimately settled on the second best way to get through the park: the old shoeleather express.

Almost immediately, we started to spot a wide variety of birds. These include the painted stork, the ring-necked parakeet, the purple heron, the white-breasted waterhen, the Oriental darter, the Bronze-Winged Jacana, the purple-rumped sunbird, the White-Throated Kingfisher, the Common Kingfisher, the red-vented bulbul, the Black Drongo, and the Eurasian collared dove. But no partridge in a pear tree.

Some interesting facts about some of these inhabitants. The Oriental darter in the water is easy to mistake for a snake. The Bonze-Winged Jacana is a gender reversal species, with the males raising the young ones. (We’re not sure if the females like football.) The Black Drongo is a tiny bird but fearless in battle, bullying raptors without flinching. The Purple Heron performs an invisibility trick by pretending to be a reed. Quite a colorful crew in this park.

Rhesus Macaque

But perhaps even more conspicuous than the birds were the monkeys who took over the roadways. We’d read that there are also pythons in the park. We didn’t encounter any, though we would have liked to — just not at terribly close range.

In fact, we made a point of seeking out what is informally known as the Python Temple. Technically it’s called the Keoladeo Shiva Temple, a very small 300-year-old temple at which reportedly a certain python (presumably always the same one) likes to hang out, perhaps receiving its own spiritual blessings. But we saw no sign of it; merely a holy man trying to lure people inside for a religious ritual.

Painted Storks

Another form of potentially hazardous wildlife reported in the neighborhood is the leopard. At one point in the road, there was a sign cautioning visitors not to venture farther, because leopards had been spotted in the territory beyond. The leopards, for their part, seem to know to remain on their own side of the sign. Intrigued, we followed the lead of some other people we saw and ventured past the sign, and we all managed to come back in one piece. Later, we were told that the sign was put into place last year when a leopard was sighted, it no longer applies this year (yet). They seem to invade only if there’s been excessive rain.

There was a group of local women, clad in traditional colorful clothing, who didn’t seem overly concerned dangerous about wildlife, perhaps because they were in a group. Not only were they a little beyond the sign, but they also were wading waste deep into the water, which was probably populated with snakes of some flavor or other. (It did have a few buffalo, though they’re not particularly hazardous.) They were gathering up… something, we couldn’t make out what, but some plant form or another.

One other noteworthy species of fauna we spotted was a nilgai, a type of antelope. It’s the largest species of antelope in Asia. In fact, it’s soooo large… How large is it? Well, we thought it must have been a horse at first, as we saw it about to cross the road. Then on closer inspection we realized it was a horse of different color. Unless we’re much mistaken, it was the first nilgai we’d ever seen, and certainly the first in the wild.

Nilgai

All told, we put in a good ten miles on foot this day, and were still home in time for lunch. We’d seen quite a variety of birds and other critters, even though it was really off-season. Next time, if there is a next time, we’ll have to hit the park when the natural wonders are at their peak. And we’ll have to catch the bike rental dude before he unexpectedly departs for a protracted break.

Events occurred 10/13/2026