Famous For Wildlife, Photography, Nature
Duration of Visit 2 to 3 hours
Fee Detailed Guide Below
Visiting Time 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM
The Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary covers an area of 240 square kilometers, making it the largest wildlife sanctuary of Goa. Located on the foothills of Western Ghats, this sanctuary stands as a home to numerous species of plants and animals. You can also find many trekking trails and viewpoints in this sanctuary. The most iconic attraction of all is the Dudhsagar waterfall inside the sanctuary.
The Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife sanctuary stands for the main purpose of protecting the natural resources of Western Ghats. Originally called as Mollem Game Sanctuary, this region gained the recognition as a wildlife sanctuary in the end of 1969 and Mollem wildlife sanctuary. Later, in 1978, the park was recognized as a national park and was called the Mollem National Park and later was called the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife sanctuary. In early 2000s, the park was affected by illegal mining of iron and manganese. Thus, government is in pursuit to purchase all the private land inside the sanctuary region.
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The Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife sanctuary is located in Southern Goa. The park is closer to the eastern border of Goa, closer to Karnataka. The park falls under Sanguem Taluk.
The national park is covered with evergreen forest, exotic to the west coast of Western Ghats. Most of the flora belongs to the moist deciduous family. You can find evergreen forests even in high altitudes of this park. The main species of trees found in this park are timber trees and crepe myrtle. These trees form a canopy stopping sunlight from falling on the ground. Thus, the growth of grasses and small plants are very restricted in this region. There are 128 species of non-flowering plants and 722 species of flowering plants found in this region, most of which are indigenous to the Indian Peninsular.
The park region is a lush home for many herbivorous animals like spotted deer, sambar, barking deer, mouse deer, hog, and others. You can rarely spot the leopard cat, tiger, toddy cat, panther, Indian Civet, jackal, jungle cat, sloth bear, scaly ant-eater, flying fox, flying squirrel, common otter and others. The Goan state bird, the ruby-throated yellow bulbul, is the most commonly sighted one in this park. Apart from this, there are more than 120 species of birds in this park, like common grey hornbill, ashy wood swallow, pompadour pigeon, crested honey buzzard, jungle owlet, paradise flycatcher, Malabar pied hornbill, olive backed pipit, sulphur bellied warbler and others.
Butterflies are very common in this region, thanks to the lush flowering plant foliage. Top butterflies to spot here are the common mime, blue Mormon, common mormon, crimson rose, plain tiger, tailed jay, southern birdwing, common jezebel, plum judy, andothers. Top snakes to spot in this park are hump-nosed pit viper, Malabar pit viper, common krait, tree snake, rock phyton, cat snake, and others. The most commonly spotted snake in this region is the King Cobra.
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Apart from the Dudhsagar waterfalls, the park holds numerous important sites and historic structures like Tambdi Surla Temple, Devil’s Canyon, Tambdi fall, and others.
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The sanctuary is open throughout the week from 8:00 Am to 5:30 pm.
Unlike most of the sanctuaries in the country, the BhagwanMahavirSanctuary remains at prime beauty even during monsoon. During this season, the waterfalls will be lush with water, and you can find many flowering plants in bloom. However, trails will be slippery and spotting animals will be next to impossible. Most of the tourists visit the park during the peak tourism season of Goa, the winter season. Winter starts in October and ends in March.
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This sanctuary is located near Mollem Village, found at the east border of Goa. This sanctuary also covers Mollem National Park. This park is well-connected with other parts of Goa via the road. You can find jeeps and cabs from any part of Goa to this sanctuary. You can also find government and private buses to the park. The nearest town to this park is Collem. If you are planning to take the train, the closest railway station to the park is the Collem Railway station, which is 6 km away from the park. Top trains that stop in this station are Poorna Express, Amaravathi Express, Mail Express, Goa Express, and others.
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