x-default

©Ravi Theja/500px

Gir National Park

Top choice in Gujarat & Diu


Early-morning sunlight filters through the leaves and shadows skittle through the undergrowth. Suddenly, the silence is broken by the high-pitched alarm call of a spotted deer: danger is at hand. Somewhere out there the king of the jungle is hunting.

This is Gir National Park, the last home of the Asiatic lion, and Gujarat's most applauded wildlife park. Coming here on a safari is an unforgettable experience. The best time to visit is December to April.

The park was set up in 1965, and a 259-sq-km core area was declared a national park in 1975. Since the late 1960s, lion numbers have increased from under 200 to over 650 (not all of these lions live within the park). The sanctuary’s 37 other mammal species, most of which have also increased in numbers, include dainty chitals (spotted deer), sambars (large deer), nilgais (large antelopes), chousinghas (four-horned antelopes), chinkaras (gazelles), crocodiles and rarely seen leopards. The park is a great destination for birders, too, with more than 300 species, most of them resident.

While the wildlife has been lucky, more than half the sanctuary’s human community of distinctively dressed maldhari (herders) have been resettled elsewhere, ostensibly because their cattle and buffalo were competing for food resources with the antelopes, deer and gazelles while also being preyed upon by the lions and leopards. About 1000 people still live in the park, however, and their livestock accounts for about a quarter of the lions’ diet.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Gujarat & Diu attractions

1. Devalia Safari Park

5.38 MILES

Twelve kilometres west of Sasan Gir village at Devalia, within the Gir National Park precincts, is the Gir Interpretation Zone, better known as simply…

2. Bhalka Tirth

23.05 MILES

On the way towards Somnath, Bhalka Tirth is where Krishna was mistaken for a deer (he was sleeping in a deerskin) and fatally wounded by an arrow. The…

3. Prabhas Patan Museum

23.53 MILES

This museum, 300m north of the Somnath temple along the market street, has intricately carved stone fragments from previous temples exposed to the…

4. Fishing Harbour

23.59 MILES

About 2km from downtown Veraval towards Somnath, the harbour is a striking sight, with hundreds of wooden dhows flying colourful flags.

5. Temple of Somnath

23.7 MILES

It’s said that Somraj (the moon god) first built a temple in Somnath, made of gold; this was rebuilt by Ravana in silver, by Krishna in wood and by…

6. Girnar Hill

24.76 MILES

This sacred mountain, rising dramatically from the plains, is covered with Jain and Hindu temples and is a major pilgrimage site. However, as with any…

7. Damodar Kund

24.93 MILES

Just down the road from the base of Girnar Hill is Damodar Kund, a sacred lake lined by ghats (landings) where people scatter the ashes and bones of…

8. Ashokan Edicts

25.02 MILES

Just outside town on the road to Girnar Hill, a white building on the right encloses a large boulder on which Buddhist emperor Ashoka had 14 edicts…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "india/gujarat/sasan-gir-wildlife-sanctuary/attractions/gir-national-park/a/poi-sig/1557800/356258",
      "destination": "Gujarat-&-Diu",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "India",
      "region": "Gujarat-&-Diu",
      "position": "superzone"
    }