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FACTS ABOUT GEORGE CASTLE
George Castle
Deep inside the Madhav National Park, at its highest point, stands the exquisite
George Castle at a height of 484 m (1597 feet) from the sea level. This castle was
built in 1911 by Jivaji Rao Scindia, the then ruler of Gwalior for an overnight halt
of King George V of England, who was to visit the forest for a tiger shoot. Tourists
have a breathtaking view of lakes and a panoramic view of the Kardhai forests
from here. Within the sanctuary, you’ll find George Castle, a dwarf two-storey
structure built by Maharaja Jivaji Rao Scindia as a hunting lodge to
commemorate a visit by King George V on a shooting expedition. It so happened
that he managed to kill a tiger on the way and had no need to come here. It is no
more than a desolate building; but because it’s built on the highest point of the
park, it permits views all across the tree cover families of Nilgai, though there are
also chinkara, sambar, chowsingha and blackbuck. The leopard is the carnivore
highest in the food chain here but the nocturnal animal is difficult to sight. Wild
dogs can be sometimes seen in packs along the banks of the Sakhya Sagar. Wild
pig, jackal and jungle cat are also represented. There are large cages with tigers
and leopards in captivity. In fact, many tiger stories stalk these woods, like ghosts
unable to abandon their worldly abodes. In 1911 during King V’s visit to India
the Scindia ruler Madho Rao Scindia built a castle in the Madhav National Park
for his royal guest’s night halt during tiger shoot.
Name- Shourya Pratap Tomar
Class- IX ‘B’

