Located around 18 KM from Bhubaneswar, Nandan Kanan literally meaning celestial garden this beautiful zoological and botanical garden nestled in between the Chandaka- Dampara Wildlife sanctuary is spread across 400 hectares and located besides the Kanjia Lake.
Established in 1960 and opened to public in 1979, Nandan Kanan is one of the most prominent zoological parks in the world and has many firsts to its credit.
It’s most famous for its white tigers and is the host zoo for the species.
It’s the first zoo to breed the endangered gharials in captivity.
It’s the first zoo in India to open a white tiger safari, before that it had a lion safari, currently apart from the white tiger and lion safari; the park has opened a bear and deer safari
It’s the first Indian zoo to become a member of the world association of zoos and aquariums.
The botanical garden set besides the Kanjia lake houses many rare species of plants and trees and complements the zoological park on the either side to the T.
School children are invited to participate in competition like sit and draw and other activities like naming of tiger cubs during the wildlife week, elephant day and wetland day
Timings
April to September – 7.30 am to 5.30 pm
October to March – 8 am to 5pm
Please note the park remains closed on Monday
Entry fee
Adult – Rs.25/- per head
Children in the age group 3-12 yrs – Rs10/- per head
Foreign citizens – Rs.100/-
Camera- Rs.10 per camera.
Cottages – 8 am to 5pm – Rs.200 per cottage
For Guide’s, Picnic, parking and other charges visit the website – www.nandankanan.org
Important Information: -
Outside food items are not allowed inside the park premises. However there are number of food joints located within the park.
Nandan Kanan is well connected to Cuttack and Bhubaneswar by road. One can reach Nandan Kanan by cab or auto and Bus no.207 Nandan Kanan- Airport of city bus service.
Nearest railhead is Barang -Passenger trains and East Coast Express have stopovers at Barang. One can board the train from either Cuttack or Bhubaneswar station, before boarding just check the route as you don’t want to be travelling in the opposite direction, alight at Barang railway station and walk down to the park, its just 1.3 KM from the station. Alternatively one can take the bus from the Barang bus stand which is a 2 mins walk and board on bus no. 207,it plies along the Nandan Kanan – Airport route.