Under the veneer of Rewa’s insipid “dusty little Indian town” feel is a treasure trove of forgotten history and an intriguing past that has comfortably faded into oblivion. At first glance, I couldn’t understand what made Madhya Pradesh Tourism send me this way, to this obscure place with nothing remarkable in sight. Little did I know that I was actually being sent down the rabbit hole of vanished stories.

Rewa is a little town in northeastern part of Madhya Pradesh and the erstwhile capital of Baghelkhand region in the past and Vindhya Pradesh in modern times, which was later merged into Madhya Pradesh. Today, you would be hard pressed to find anything evocative of the past glory but there are several mute witnesses in the form of crumbling and dilapidated ruins within the maze of modern constructions that tantalize you with the lure of a secret.

Walking along the banks of Rani Talab in the heart of Rewa I first noticed the remains of a temple with fragmented top and shrubs growing through the cracks in a dark corner. The next morning while looking for a museum of some sort, few more crumbling buildings in utter ruins scattered amidst the town came to my notice. It was only when I entered the colorful fort gate that I realized Rewa was a place of consequence in the past but has now fallen into a chasm of despair stuck between negligence and bad memory.

It was here that young emperor-to-be, Akbar, was given refuge for a while during which period he developed a close friendship with the prince of Rewa Ram Singh who would later go on to become the Maharaja of Rewa. In fact, two of the renowned “Navratnas” of Akbar’s court, virtuoso Tansen and ingenious Birbal were sent by Maharaja of Rewa kingdom after Akbar’s ascension to throne.

Inside the fort was Baghel Museum, a dilapidated section of the fort renovated to hold various paraphernalia belonging to the Baghelkhand dynasty that ruled Rewa and the surrounding districts of Satna, Shahdol, Sidhi as well as Singrauli and Chitrakoot of Uttar Pradesh since 13th century.

Geographically located next to the now famous Bundelkhand, Baghelkhand also holds similar treasures as its celebrated neighbour but is unfortunately ignored and forgotten for some reason. The only time Baghelkhand has ever come to the forefront of news was when the princess of Rewa came into limelight on silver screen for participating in Dance India Dance and embarrassingly enough when the museum was raided and looted by thieves who got away with historic artefacts worth crores! Despite the royal family still being alive and affluent, they have conveniently ignored their past treasures and maintained the museum only perfunctorily. There wasn’t a guide available knowledgeable enough to take me through the history of Baghelkhand and its rulers but the collection itself was quite fascinating. Ming vases gifted by the Chinese, delicate perfume bottles, weaponry and shields belonging to their soldiers, coat of arms and gifts from Queen Victoria among others were at display in a large hall.

In the adjoining room was the most treasured of Rewa’s riches, the taxidermied remains of Mohan, a white tiger captured as a cub in the wilds of Madhya Pradesh in 1951. White tigers are Bengal Tigers but with a recessive gene that causes absence of yellow coat color. Maharaja Martand Singh wasn’t content with just seeing this beauty in wild but wanted to lock it in like countless others who see no irony in restraining wonder. Mohan has since left behind an unfortunate legacy of fathering an inbred lineage of every known white tiger in the world at this point.

Mohan was first mated with normal coloured Royal Bengal Tigress called Begum only to produce three litters of normal coloration. When that didn’t work, Mohan was then bred with one of his own daughters Radha and the ploy worked but it led to the beginning to downfall of the white tigers. Highly valued for their rare look of blue eyes, pink nose and the ethereal white coloration, White Tigers have been inbred to the point of no return causing several genetic deformities in litters and breeding depression among the tigresses producing offspring. Only after the inbred white tiger litters were visibly deformed did the practice of breeding white tigers with normal colored tigers take off to some degree of success. However, this has launched another chain of disastrous consequences where the normal coloured cubs are considered a useless collateral and killed instantly.

Mohan is regrettably credited as being the first white tiger captured in the wild ever but that doesn’t seem to be true. What’s true is that Mohan was the last wild white tiger ever to be captured; they have been hunted to extinction since. Looking into the dejected blue eyes of life size stuffing of Mohan through the glass cage, where he is forced to persist till eternity, I sensed nothing but immense sadness come over me. Stuffed tigers are almost always preserved with an aura of ferocity in their demeanour. Not Mohan. There was neither pride in his dead eyes nor ferociousness in his likeness.

In the later years of Maharaja Martand Singh, who first caught and encouraged the deplorable breeding of white tigers, he showed a surprising change of heart and diligently rallied for the establishment of Bandhavgarh National Park and protection of tigers in general. He succeeded in his efforts and even campaigned to end tiger hunts among royalty. But before you think this story has a happy ending, his son, current Maharaja Pushpraj Singh purportedly took on the mantle of wildlife conservation from his father. So what did he do with his clout and passion? He helped open a white tiger safari at Mukundpur where three white tigers in captivity are at display, costing a whopping 50 crores to establish. The saddest part of this story is that the next plan is to develop a breeding center to create more white tigers.

Mohan would be rolling in his grave at our obnoxious obsession with his kind, if only he were buried!

For the longest time, I shied away from traveling in India because popular culture led me to believe India is all about religions, festivals, sadhus and cows. None of which interest me as a photographer or traveler. Only when I started traveling in 2008, I discovered India's silent places. Places full of character yet devoid of the crowd that has become synonymous with our country. In my quest my avoid throngs of people as much as possible, I started straying away as far as possible from the mainstream and thus began my journey to discover another India, one whose profile changed like traffic signals on a busy intersection within a span of few kilometers!

I've been thinking of a long term project for Instagram for a while now. I still haven't come up with a perfect one but I'd like to share another side of India that I've seen during my travels to begin with. In this 30 part series, I have profiled some of the most stunning and offbeat places I've come across during my travels in Black & White on Instagram but I'm posting the color images here on the blog.

Get yourself a cup of coffee because this is one long post with plenty of photos.

My first tryst with stepwells was in 2010 in Rajasthan and Gujarat when I inadvertently stumbled upon an ancient stepwell in Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. I was aware of Chand Baori by then but always thought it was an exception rather than a rule. However, a quick research told me stepwells were popular all over the northern part of the country.

2 years later when I stumbled upon this gorgeous stepwell at Hampi was when I realized that south India was full of them as well, albeit an alteration of the style and the purpose. Popularly known as Kalyani or Pushkarini, there are more stepwells in south than I can dare to count. From not even being aware of stepwells' existence to becoming one of my favorite architectural marvels, is how India can surprise you!

This image holds the record for the number of times people asked me if this was India! Few years ago I had seen this breathtaking picture of a serene lake at sunset with a footbridge over it. Surrounded by lush greenery, the image looked totally out of this world and I was quick in assuming it couldn't be India. Turned out it was India. To be more specific, it was in Chikmagalur region of Karnataka. In my own backyard!

So after years of hiking and cycling in Chikmagalur area, on one particular trip I was set upon finding this gem of a lake and arrived at Ayyankere reservoir which is in the outskirts of Chikamagalur. The lake at sunset looked as stunning as I had imagined it to be and I was more than content with the find. However, months later, I find out that this lake and the one in the image were not the same.

I was supposed to be looking for Hirekolale Lake in Chikmagalur but I stumbled upon Ayyankere Lake in the same region.

So then I wonder. India, how much more awesome can you be?

#3 Chitrakot Falls, Bastar, Chhattisgarh

Out of all the fake Niagara namesakes in India, Chitrakot Falls in Chhattisgarh is probably the only one that fits the bill. Entire River Indravati tumbling down an abrupt dip in the riverbed from a height of over 100ft is a sight to behold, especially in the monsoons. If Chhattisgarh was a revelation, it was largely due to Chitrakot Falls, it was so not what I had imagined the state to be.

#4 White Rann, Kutch, Gujarat

I've dreamt of the salt flats of Salar De Uyuni for embarrassingly too long before realizing one of the world's largest salt flats were hiding right under the nose of the super famous state of Rajasthan. Also, this was so not what I had imagined Thar desert to be.

#5 Maguri Beel, Tinsukia, Assam

Part of the Dibru Saikhowa Important Bird Area, Maguri Beel is a wetland complex teeming with avifauna including waterfowl and grassland birds. It's not part of the national park but right outside it. After a very eventful few days in Arunachal and Assam, our driver suggested he'll take us to a secret place full of birds near Dibrugarh on our last day of the trip.

We arrived at Maguri Beel not knowing much and without much expectations but the lake is surely throbbing with aquatic and avi fauna. We took a leisurely boat ride at sunset on this vast lake where we saw hundreds of birds around us who would fly away no sooner we would even inch towards them. It was fitting end to a great trip to northeast which was full of new finds.

Only after getting back did I learn that Maguri Beel is a hot favorite among ornithologists and birding enthusiasts. A secret only the birding community was privy to, until our driver brought us here that is! 

#6 Kolukkumalai Tea Estate, Theni district, Tamilnadu

I have to tell you, I am not a big fan of Tea Estates. All it does is to remind me of the dense wilderness that was cut down to make way for the estates. However, this particular tea estate managed to catch my interest. After all how many times have I seen a tea garden dwarfed by rugged mountains, deep valleys and dense wilderness right by the side of the plantations?

At 8000ft, this has to be the world’s highest tea estate and seems the tea grown here possessing a special flavour and freshness because of the high altitude. The backbreaking journey to reach the Kolukkumalai tea estate is totally worth the effort for the views are extraordinary. On a stormy day, we climbed over a mountain side and cross over to the other side at the top to reach Kolukkumalai. From here, we could see the mountains and villages in Tamilnadu. The tea factory here has been standing since 1930s and is still in use to produce tea in the orthodox seven step process. The sad part is almost all of the produce is exported. I had a cup of tea and it tasted divine, but considering the cold and the rain, any hot cup of tea would’ve delighted my taste buds.

At a distance of 32kms from Munnar, the last 10kms ride through this estate is quite bumpy and backbreaking but the views totally make up for it. Strictly only 4 wheel drives can tread on this trail. Jeeps are available at the start of the trail to reach this estate.

#7 India's only ape found in Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in Assam

There’s a small patch of dense forest, roughly 20 sq. kms, surrounded by sprawling tea estates and human settlements in the north eastern state of Assam in India, which happens to be an unlikely home for the only ape species found in India, the Hoolock Gibbon. While the great apes (Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Orangutans) have always been popular, I wasn’t aware of Gibbons, also known as the lesser apes, until this visit. Surviving only in small pockets in the remote jungles of Bangladesh, Myanmar and north east India, this forest is the probably the only accessible place to observe Hoolock Gibbons with ease.

In Assam’s Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, I spent a day walking through the forest with a guard and tracking the curious apes. Despite the onslaught of human encroachment, the jungle was surprisingly dense with prolific upper, middle and lower canopies. We managed to see two separate families of Hoolock Gibbons on our walk swinging high up in the canopy.

The now endangered Western Hoolock Gibbon has suffered intense hunting and habitat loss that led to a staggering decline in their numbers over the last 3 to 4 decades, making this small patch of forest very important. In a country obsessed with the Tiger, it is sad that little awareness is raised about other such unique creatures, which is a pity because the Hoolock Gibbons are vital seed dispersers and more importantly a beautiful species that I was lucky enough to observe in their natural habitat.

#8 The Dolmens of Marayoor, Kerala

To begin with, dolmens are prehistoric structures believed to ancient burial chambers. Characterized by four stones and a fifth cap stone on the top, these structures are found across the world but the origins and intentions of building these remain unclear till date. In Marayoor, believed to be as old as 10,000 B.C, these are locally known as Muniyaras and several dolmens can be seen on a stone hill to the left of the Pambar River.

We reached Marayoor almost as the sun set, passing through the spectacular natural sandalwood reserve. A school is at the base of the hill and strewn all across the hill are ancient dolmens. As it rained intermittently, I walked barefoot on the cold stone to explore several of these fascinating yet dilapidated stone structures. Surrounded by high mountains on all sides, with crazy wind blowing and the constant drizzle, it was a mesmerizing evening, to be in presence of something built by our early ancestors belonging to Iron Age or Stone Age!

A church prominently stood, brightly painted, amidst the greenery of Marayoor, the clouds were playing with the mountain tops, Pambar River was flowing down below and loud bhajans from a temple nearby filled my ears even as the winds howled. Just behind the mountain are primitive tribes who believe in animism resisting contact and fostering their own traditions and culture. Standing on the hill top, it was a magical heady mix of nature, beauty, religion and beliefs that transcended timelines. In short, that evening was spectacular.

At a distance of 40kms from Munnar, Marayoor is a must visit for those interested in its rich ancient heritage and natural beauty. Without the context, the primitive stone structures and the rock paintings by the Pambar river might look ordinary but they are hardly so.

#9 Siju Cave, Garo Hills, Meghalaya

Sitting in a small hut by the side of a swollen Simsang River in South Garo Hills of Meghalaya, we waited for the rain to subside so we could enter a flooded cave - one of the longest of India. But when it comes to damp and dingy places where creatures of the dark thrive, I’m a lost cause. However, curiosity prevailed for a short while when I summoned up courage to enter the mammoth Siju Cave, locally known as Dabakhol (translating to Bat Cave), an awe-inspiring system of deep labyrinths with a perennial stream running right through it.

Arriving at the mouth of the cave from where the stream gushed down, I gripped my friend’s hand firmly in fear as we waded through the waters. Behind us, the faint glow of daylight diminished as we moved further towards the pitch black oblivion. The only noise resonating in the chamber was the muffled sound of flowing water.

On our way back, I asked Plinder, our guide, how deep he must have explored before. He said a kilometer. I asked him how deep we must’ve gone, he chuckled and said maybe 300 meters. Before I could drown in embarassment, I found comfort in the fact that it’s not everyday you find caves in India where shrines haven’t been built or glaring lights haven’t been put up. Here in Siju, subterranean adventure is as pristine as it comes.

#10 Thirumala Nayak Palace, Madurai, Tamilnadu

New York Times has just included Tamilnadu in it's world list of 50 odd places to visit in 2016, Tamilnadu finally gets some due! The 17th century Thirumala Nayak Palace built in stunning Indo-Sarcenic style is a fine example of all the hidden jewels scattered across the state.

Overshadowed by the towering Madurai Meenakshi Temple, this palace gets little attention but it's no less spectacular. At some point when the original palace was four times bigger than what remains today, it was considered to be one of the wonder of south it seems. 

#11 Kugti Wildlife Sanctuary, Himachal Pradesh

Most of us here do share a fascination with Pakistan! I have always wanted to visit that side of the border but I mostly knew the closest I can ever get to Pakistan would be only to the Wagah-Attari Border. So when the folks at Microsoft Lumia invited me to go on a trip to Amritsar, I jumped at the opportunity.

Situated 25kms from the city of Amritsar, Attari is a village 3kms before the India-Pakistan international border at Wagah. The pleasant surprise after reaching Attari was that Punjab Tourism had arranged for us to be seated right next to the Iron Gate on the Indian side. Across the gate was Pakistan! I looked that way more than I watched the Indian side- so tantalisingly close, yet so unreachable. 

Since 1959, an elaborate border ceremony has been staged every evening and continues till date. Michael Palin called this ceremony "carefully choreographed contempt" and I think that's an apt description. Tall people from Border Security Force (India) and Pakistan Rangers (Pakistan) march, salute, stomp and enact aggression. Respective country folks are incited to cheer for their country and the audience is more than happy to indulge in the shoutfest.  Just before sunset, the iron gates are opened. The flags are simultaneously lowered and folded. Then the soldiers retreat with the flags and the iron gates are shut. It's a strange ceremony between two countries that share so much history and animosity. It's interesting nonetheless and it's the closest I'll probably get to that side!

I keep saying I'm not a temple person and I keep getting blown away by temple after temple! Getting up at 3.30AM is not exactly my idea of fun but hey, duty calls! We were on our way to witness the Palki Sahib ceremony where the holy book, Granth Sahib is moved to the sanctum in a palanquin. We did see the procession but what blew my away was the beauty and serenity of the Golden Temple. In the night, the temple glowed and reflected in the pool of nectar surrounding the structure. By morning, the red of the sun reflected in the holy waters. The temple itself, at the centre of the pool was extremely beautiful with intricate marblework with embedded gems quite similar to Taj Mahal. Inside, every inch of the wall and ceiling was covered in elaborate designs made of gold embossing and other bright colors. I was lost in the two floors of the sanctum marvelling at the intricacy of the fine Sikh craftsmanship. 

After the visiting the Wagah Border and Golden Temple, our group descended upon the old streets of Amritsar. I wasn't sure what I would photograph in the city but the old city turned out to be quite colorful and really really old. Every lane had interesting visuals and the colors were mindblowing. Add to that, I was shadowing the talented Sid - The Wanderer who specializes in street and portrait photography. So, with the help of an inconspicuous camera and an expert I actually quite enjoyed taking these street shots!

"It is easy to think the forest is beautiful and harmless sitting inside the safety of the vehicle but take 10 steps inside the forest, off the trail and you will see how scary it really is."

Imagine walking on a cold winter morning in the dense jungle where the mist is so low and thick that you can’t see beyond few feet. Imagine this is a national park where wild things are, including the tigers and leopards. Imagine doing this alone with nothing but a baton in your hand. Sounds like a perfect set up for a gory movie? Only this is reality, for many of the forest dwellers living in the jungles of India.

One afternoon in Kanha National Park, we were in search of that elusive king of the jungle, not the lion but the tiger. But it was an afternoon of no luck and wild goose chases. Sitting bored in the safari vehicle I sparked a conversation with the forest guard in our vehicle, Omkar Singh. He was a 40-year-old pleasant man with eyes that seemed to have known much action. After all he hails from one of the 18 villages that are still inside the National Park.

Since the formation of the Kanha National Park in 1955, of the 45 villages inside the protected area, many have been relocated to outside the park boundaries but some villages are still deep inside the core zone, co-existing in the wild along with the other inhabitants of the jungle. For them, dangerous walks like these are part and parcel of everyday life. And for those who take up a job with the forest dept. as patrolling guards, these dangerous walks are required to eke out a living.

It was one such forest guard who had a fateful encounter with a tigress circa 2006. The tigress was with cubs and the man was looking for the camp elephants that are left loose every morning. The morning mist was thick and he came too close without noticing the tigress’ presence, she charged at him. He shooed her away with his useless baton, she left but she came back again. He shooed her away once more. The third time she didn’t back down and he didn’t survive. All the while, the poor man was relaying the information on his radio transceiver to the office but before help could arrive, the tigress tore his head apart.

A chill ran down my spine as Omkar Singh narrated this story. His eyes were apathetic and he wore an expression that seemed to have accepted this fate as normal. He went on to tell me, when tourists visit they joke around, saying where’s the tiger? They don’t seem to appreciate or acknowledge its power, not of the tiger and not of the jungle. He said, it is easy to think the forest is beautiful and harmless sitting inside the safety of the vehicle but take 10 steps inside the forest, off the trail and you will see how scary it really is. I could easily relate to this thinking of my several hiking excursions into the jungle on foot. But of course, there were no predators and I wasn’t alone and yet it was scary. Walking in the same jungle where a Tiger walks is no mean feat, yet these people do that every single day.

The villages in the core, buffer zones and the immediate surroundings of the park often report cases of Tiger hunting their cattle. With little means to support their livelihood, the villagers are in favor of killing the tiger when it attacks. When one’s livelihood is at stake, how will they bother about conservation? Although the government provides compensation for such cattle kills, we all know how well the good schemes on paper are implemented in reality.

When I went to Bandhavgarh from Kanha, I was in for an even bigger shock. I had heard of these villages inside the core zone in Kanha but hadn’t seen any. In Bandhavgarh, during my safari in the Taala Zone, we passed by a village! The village was enclosed in a rickety fence not more than 6 feet high. And I saw fresh tiger pug marks just outside the fencing and apparently a tiger can jump over 12 feet high! I can only imagine the sleepless nights in a village like this. To make matters worse, there’s a highway between the two core zones and the tigers keep crossing this road it seems. True enough, the same day we spotted fresh pugmarks again on the road signaling a tiger had crossed over. Just few years ago, guests didn’t even have to enter the park it seems. Sightings were so regular just on the road. It left me in a melancholic mood, thinking how we have destroyed all our precious forests and now we are inching towards a dangerous situation of shrinking habitats and an impossible coexistence between the man and the animal.

On my last night in Madhya Pradesh in Bandhavgarh, I was discussing tigers around the campfire with the naturalists at the wild Treehouse hideaway that shares its boundary with the core Taala Zone. Ajit, a senior naturalist there asked us to calm down to listen, the alarm calls of deer were ringing in the forest suggesting the presence of a Tiger in the vicinity. He then tells me he’s encountered Tigers many times even within the property. Treehouse Hideaway intends to give the traveller a wild experience and it sure does! They often listen to the roars of the tiger. Ajit saw his first tiger when he was 16, in the jungles of Terai on a hunting expedition and he isn’t baffled by tiger encounters, even when he’s on foot. Shivraj, the very young naturalist recollects his fond memories of running into the jungle with torches in the night whenever they hear the alarm calls!

What a strange world I had stumbled into! There were people who were living with the tigers because they didn’t have a choice and few made the choice to live with them. On our way back to Kings Lodge, the headlight of our vehicle shined into the eyes of a pack of jackals raiding a village. We stopped while they quickly disappeared. I could hear the faint alarm calls of the deer again, the moon was shining bright and high and I was sad to leave the jungles of Madhya Pradesh. But somewhere deep inside, I was happy that I didn’t have to live with the tigers.

Note - I travelled to Kanha and Bandhavgarh last month on invitation, with Pugdundee Safaris

Also Read:
The Forests of Kanha - Instagrammed