The Tharu People and the Jungle

Long before Bardia was a national park, the Tharu people lived in harmony with its forests. Their knowledge of this land is profound — and still alive.

Generations of Tharu families settled the buffer zones surrounding what is now protected forest, developing farming and forest-use practices adapted to a landscape shared with tigers, elephants, and rhinos. That relationship — practical, respectful, and deeply local — still shapes the communities bordering the park today.

Guests who spend an evening with a Tharu family, or watch a traditional stick dance around the fire, come away with more than a cultural performance. It's a window into how people and wildlife have coexisted here for a very long time, and continue to.