Mahua Kothi is really top of the range luxury accommodation at Bandhavgarh. The lodge consists of charming individual Kutiyas (little houses) built in traditional style - complete with carefully crafted crooked walls! Each is accessed through private courtyards with shaded seating, traditional swings and traditional mud floors.
These cottage rooms at Mahua Kothi have been stylishly built with wooden shutters, and tapered mud-coloured walls which are finished by hand in lime and earth washes. They have open rafters with roughly-hewn wooden beams, handmade pottery roof tiles, and floors dressed in katni stone strips set in lime mortar. All the cottages have ensuite bathrooms with twin hand basins mounted on a wooden log, indoor shower, bath, separate w.c. and house gowns in traditional local cloth.
Mahua Kothi is furnished with richly coloured local textiles in shades of rust and burnt orange, roll-down mats to keep the early morning sun out, ceiling fans and air conditioning. I could go on, but it would spoil the element of discovery in staying in such a great place.
Mahua Kothi has been developed by a partnership between Indian hoteliers Taj, and wildlife experts CC Africa, bringing expertise from two continents and merging very different styles.
What they have created here at Bandhavgarh has lifted India's wildlife safaris to a new level. The lodge is beautifully built, the hospitality is excellent and importantly they have put huge resources into training their naturalists, making them the best qualified of all the lodges. When you stay at Mahua Kohi you don't just get a tiger safari, you get a whole wildlife experience from these expert safari guides.
