Kaziranga, Assam
Discover Kaziranga
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, a living landscape, and one of India's most extraordinary places.
The national park
Kaziranga National Park
Kaziranga National Park lies in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of Assam, spread across the southern bank of the Brahmaputra River. It covers approximately 430 square kilometres of core area, with a much larger buffer zone extending into the Karbi Anglong hills to the south.
The park was established as a reserve forest in 1905, declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1950, and became a National Park in 1974. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 — recognised for its outstanding universal value as a habitat for threatened species and as a landscape of exceptional natural beauty.
The landscape is defined by the Brahmaputra floodplain — a dynamic, ever-changing mosaic of tall elephant grass, semi-evergreen forests, shallow wetlands, oxbow lakes and river channels. Annual flooding from the Brahmaputra is not a threat to the park but a defining ecological process — it renews the grasslands, fills the wetlands and shapes the entire ecosystem.
The landscape
The Landscape
Tall Elephant Grass
The dominant habitat — dense stands of tall grass (Saccharum and Phragmites species) that can reach 5 metres in height. This is the primary habitat of the rhino and the tiger's preferred hunting ground.
Wetlands & Oxbow Lakes
Shallow wetlands, seasonal pools and oxbow lakes formed by the shifting Brahmaputra. Critical habitat for waterfowl, waders, crocodiles and the Gangetic River Dolphin.
Semi-Evergreen Forest
Patches of denser forest, particularly in the Burapahar Range, supporting Gaur, Hoolock Gibbon and a rich diversity of forest birds.
Riverine Scrub
The dynamic margins of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries — constantly reshaped by flooding, supporting specialist species adapted to disturbance.
The river
The Brahmaputra
The Brahmaputra is one of the world's great rivers — rising in Tibet, flowing through Arunachal Pradesh and Assam before turning south into Bangladesh. It is one of the few rivers in the world to have a male name in Hindu tradition. The river defines the northern boundary of Kaziranga and shapes the entire ecology of the park. Its annual floods — which can inundate up to 70% of the park — are not a disaster but a renewal. The grasslands depend on flooding. The wetlands are created by flooding. The wildlife has evolved with flooding.
People & culture
Culture & Communities
The landscape surrounding Kaziranga is home to a rich diversity of communities — Assamese, Bodo, Karbi, Mising and others — each with their own traditions, languages, crafts and relationship with the land.
Assam has one of India's richest weaving traditions. Muga silk — produced only in Assam — is one of the world's most prized natural fibres. Mekhela chador, the traditional Assamese garment, is woven on handlooms in villages throughout the region.
Bihu — Assam's most important festival — is celebrated three times a year, marking the agricultural calendar. Rongali Bihu in April celebrates the Assamese New Year and the arrival of spring. It is a time of music, dance, feasting and community.
Tea
Tea Gardens of Assam
Assam produces more tea than any other region in the world. The distinctive Assam tea — full-bodied, malty, with a rich amber colour — is grown in the Brahmaputra valley, where the combination of climate, soil and rainfall creates ideal conditions. Tea gardens surround Kaziranga, and a visit to a working garden is one of the most distinctive experiences the region offers.
The wider region
Beyond the Park
Majuli Island
The world's largest river island, in the Brahmaputra — a centre of Vaishnavite culture, traditional crafts and a remarkable landscape of wetlands, villages and satras (monasteries).
Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary
A smaller sanctuary west of Guwahati with one of the highest densities of Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros in the world — a different and complementary wildlife experience.
Karbi Anglong Hills
The forested hills to the south of Kaziranga — home to the Karbi people, traditional villages, and a landscape that provides the wildlife corridor connecting the park to the wider forest.
Orang National Park
A smaller national park on the north bank of the Brahmaputra, sometimes called 'Mini Kaziranga' — rhinos, elephants and tigers in a less-visited setting.
Getting here
Getting to Kaziranga
By Air
The nearest airport is Jorhat (approximately 97 km east) or Guwahati (approximately 217 km west). Both have regular connections to major Indian cities. We can assist with transfers.
By Train
The nearest railway stations are Furkating (approximately 75 km) and Jakhalabandha (approximately 40 km). Guwahati has the most extensive rail connections in the region.
By Road
Kaziranga is on National Highway 37, connecting Guwahati to Jorhat. The drive from Guwahati takes approximately 4–5 hours. The road passes through beautiful Assamese countryside.