Baghel Museum

About the Baghel Museum

The Baghel Museum stands at Bandhavgarh as a record of the family that ruled from here. The Baghels took Bandhavgarh in the thirteenth century and governed from the fort on the hill until the capital moved to Rewa, and the museum preserves and displays the assets of the Maharaja of Rewa from that line. What is held here is a household collection rather than an archaeological one: objects that belonged to a ruling family and were kept intact for display.

The collection includes property of the Shikargarh, the royal hunting establishment, along with ancient equipment used for hunting by the Maharaja. Visitors who have spent their days in the park come here for the other half of the Bandhavgarh story, the royal life that ran alongside the jungle rather than the jungle itself.

Inside the collection

Mohan, the first white tiger

The museum holds the stuffed body of Mohan, described as the first white tiger, spotted by the Maharaja of Rewa. It is the single exhibit most visitors come for, and the reason Bandhavgarh and Rewa are linked with white tigers at all.

The Maharaja hunting equipment

Ancient equipment used for hunting by the Maharaja is displayed here, drawn from the Shikargarh, the royal hunting property. The pieces show how shooting parties in this forest were organised and outfitted. Together they form the largest group of objects in the museum after Mohan.

Assets of the Rewa household

Beyond the hunting material, the museum preserves and displays assets of the Maharaja of Rewa that have been kept intact rather than dispersed. Seen as a group they give a picture of how the ruling family of this region lived. Labels are brief, so a guide helps.

Planning your visit

The museum is an indoor stop and takes far less time than a park drive, so most visitors fit it around a safari rather than setting a day aside for it. It pairs naturally with the fort and the caves, which belong to the same Baghel history.

• Confirm opening hours, weekly closed day and the entry fee before you set out, as these are set locally and change.
• Allow under an hour unless you plan to read everything.
• Ask your driver or resort to combine the museum with the fort road on the same outing.
• Check on arrival whether photography is permitted inside.

Best time to visit

Being indoors, the museum is unaffected by the weather and can be visited on any day you are at Bandhavgarh. In practice the best slot is the middle of the day, between the morning and afternoon safari rounds, when the park is closed to visitors and the heat makes other sightseeing uncomfortable. It is also a sensible stop on a day when a park zone is not open to you.