Taru, the deified village chief
Legend has it that the park's name is derived from a local village chief named Taru, who met his fate at the jaws of a tiger and was subsequently deified. To this day, a shrine dedicated to Taru near Tadoba Lake attracts adivasis, especially during the annual fair held in December-January. The region's forests were once ruled by the Gond kings, where hunting was a common practice. However, in 1935, hunting was banned, marking the first step towards the park's conservation journey.
A union of natural wonders
Spanning an expansive 1,727 square kilometres, the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve was created by merging the Tadoba National Park, established in 1955, and the Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary, formed in 1986. This union in 1995 gave rise to the magnificent reserve we see today. The reserve is divided into three forest ranges: Tadoba north range, Kolsa south range, and Morhurli range in between. It features two lakes, Tadoba Lake and Kolsa Lake, as well as the Tadoba River, which swell during the monsoon, sustaining the park's vibrant wildlife.
