મારી નજરે ગુજરાત । ગીર જંગલ | Gir Forest | Mari Najare Gujarat | Gujarat Tourism | Aditi Raval
Welcome to the one and only place in the world where you can witness the Pride of Gujarat, Pride of India Asiatic Lions This is the first video of my life where we have tried to capture the wildlife, nature and culture of Gir Forest And in the first try itself, we understood that Saying in Gujarati (No joy in the world can match the joy found in the lap of nature at Gir) that is why Gir is known as “Mother” There are three locations from where you can go on a Jungle Safari in Sasan Gir which are Ambardi Safari Park, Gir National Park, and Devaliya park. An online booking facility is available for the same, if book a slot from morning or evening, you will definitely spot a lion. Whenever you are entering the parks, please make sure that you follow all those rules which are mentioned over here Whenever someone mentions about Sasan Gir, people tend to think that there will be stories revolving around Lions Before talking about lions and showcasing their different moods, let me show you the birds and animals of Gir who are simply busy and joyous in their own world “How does the entire Gir forest looks like?" This question might have crossed your mind and the answer to that question is “Devaliya Park” Yes, Devaliya Park is like a Miniature version of Gir. Don’t miss out on visiting this place The most handsome Lion of Devaliya Park is Devraj the charm and pride on his face The confidence in his eyes and his calm nature. Seeing all of this, It feels like Lion is the most lovable animal and it has this habit of looking eye to eye and talking in gestures.
Even if it doesn’t talk, it judges you for sure Lion is a Royal animal, its gait, eyes, each and every movement defines pride & grace Usually we use the word beautiful for women but on looking at the horns of the male deer, you tend to exclaim, “Such beautiful Horns” And their speciality is that they grow new horns every year. After coming to Gir SanctuaryI got to know that approximately (I don’t know about numbers reflecting on paper), but there are around 70,000 deer And perhaps the population of Male Deer will be around 30-40k Just think about it, where would all these 80,000 horns go after they shed them? So, the fun fact here is that after shedding their horns they consume their own shedded horns and these horns are the source Of calcium for their body. I am getting to know stories and facts like these after visiting Gir There is no concept of time in Jungle life, there is no urgency here they live in the present and live happily.
[ Lion Roaring ] The sound you hear, is the Lion’s roar, a signal to the Lioness that “ You are safe’ and to others outside its territory, it's a warning to them that “You are not safe, I am here” It has all the rights to block our road because we are in his territory and his home Narmada is the lifeline of Gujarat, Similarly, Kamleshwar Dam is the lifeline of Gir, There are 4 dams in Gir, and the biggest of them is Kamleshwar Dam. A major part of its water is used for wildlife. It is believed that there are almost 150 crocodiles in these waters. Before visiting, I always wondered why Gir is called “Gandi Gir” (Crazy Gir) But after later understand. After witnessing the beauty of Gir and the loving nature of its people, You will experience the mad/overwhelming love they shower upon you, it is from this madness that they display, the word might have originated ‘Gandi Gir' You will crazily fall in love with Gir on visiting here The way chameleon changes its colors, similarly Gir sanctuary also changes its colors, lush green in the first 6 months and in the next 6 months it turns into a Dry forest We came at a time where the forest is transitioning from lush green to a dry forest But after changing its color the forest blossoms with the Tesu flowers and the beauty is incredible. The endpoint of Gir Sanctuary where the tourism area ends is called Deva Dungar.
On the way to this point, I saw an awesome village Sirvan village, the village is safeguarding which community and its culture? This village is safeguarding the culture of Africans and their grand lineage since years now The dance of Siddis is part of welcome ceremonies at many places in Gir. "Siddi Badshah" In normal terminology, we say that they are bathing buffaloes But they call this “Dhamaarvu” Buffaloes especially like this because they love it as it gives them respite from heat. They get super clean and it is said that this also has a positive impact on their milk production. The importance of Gir buffaloes milk is very high and people who visit drink the special chai saying ”We love the pure buffalo milk’s chai” The people’s hard work is the reason behind it Maldhari community and its people have been coexisting with the Lions for centuries now They say that “ We exist because of them and they exist because of us” I couldn’t stop my inquisitive mind from exploring their way of living And I visited a 'Nesda' Dudhala Ness which belongs to Mr. Veera Bhai
Almost 50 people from Maldhari Community reside here It is said “ If you haven’t tasted the tea made out of pure buffalo milk you have not experienced the hospitality of Gir” Let’s go, you can taste it virtually [Slurps] [Slurps] Mine is like a kids version of the slurp [Slurps] If you drink this chai without slurping it, you won’t enjoy its real taste. The Nesda’s tea is so tasty, just imagine the taste of Gir’s cuisine at night My car automatically stopped right in front of the dhaba over here, this place is almost 70 years old and Granny’s father in law also used to make Rotlas (Type of Indian Bread) here. [To Granny] Granny where have you learnt making Rotlas from ? From your in laws, from your home or post marriage? [Granny] haha I have learnt from my home itself [Both Laughing] If you are visiting Gir you must try the desi cuisine available over here For lions the Mango Plantation outside the park is like home for them You can sometimes see the Lion and its family chilling under these mango trees I am still regretting the fact that why I didn’t visit GIR forest until now? Why did I take so long? But Please you shouldn’t wait, visit now so that you don’t regret later like me You will always have this feeling of “Why haven’t we visited this place till today?” Courage thy name is Lion, Inspite of being surrounded by large number of people, He sits wherever he wants to as per his wish, without any tension or fear The place where He sits is his area and that is his kingdom If you want to understand the saying “Lion don’t have a dwelling” you have to spend hours and days in the Jungles of Gir Because the video which you are watching is the end result of many days and hours of hard work After eating a tummy full meal not only gujaratis feel the drowsiness but also the king of jungle feels so How do we feel after eating 10-10 Indian Breads in an unlimited thali? Lions feel the same drowsiness and laziness… they too simply lay flat and do not like to get up from their place. We have captured the most lazy moments of the lion Whenever the Lioness is sitting alone like this, the people of Gir say that “Redhi baithi che pehli sinhan”(That lion is sitting alone) Redhi means Single When a Lion crosses your road in Gir’s jungle most of the jeeps switch their engines off And people in it minimize their movements and they enjoy watching lions at peace I loved this lion the most in Gir National Park because of its hair We met early in the morning too In fact there seems to be a connection between us, whenever we meet each other, he just stops in our way and just watches while making an eye to eye contact It feels as if he is trying to convey a message, ‘Don’t just come once, keep coming again and since you are here share this story around the world and share it in a manner that the world comes to see us” Even Maa Vasundhara (Goddess of Nature) might have wanted us to come here and showcase it’s beauty all across Because without the blessings of Maa Vasundhara we couldn’t have made such an amazing video After visiting Gir Forest I have learnt that we have to save not just one specie or a cluster, but we have to save an entire habitat otherwise jungles will be limited to something which can only be seen on our mobile screens.
The way Forest Friends, Maldhari Community, Range Officers, Local Villagers Trackers and forest officers are putting in efforts and hard work to save our forests and wildlife, I wish that we should also contribute in our own manner towards saving our forests. And in coming days as the number of lions in Gujarat increase, hopefully the forest area also increases
2021-07-12 04:33
