Queen of the Jungle: Mataram

    by Amit Pandya

     

    Every tiger is special and precious but there are only handfuls of them who are as loved, cared and respected as Mataram.

    When I first visited Pench in November 2020, I knew very little about Mataram and was quite surprised how I failed to notice her.

    Even after three trips and 25 odd safaris that were primarily focussed on her, I wasn’t able to find her until last November.

    When tigers were on the verge of extinction, she repleted the jungles with an army of tigers.

     

    While on my trip to Pench in January 2022, I was confident to see her as I had seen her walking like a queen last November. I had thought that we would get to see her for one more season but destiny had other plans. On 15th January, Mataram took her last breath and I was fortunate enough to see her for the last time and also attend her funeral.

    This felt like a personal loss to me as I was madly in love with her extraordinary life and contribution to the forests of Central India.

    No tiger, except perhaps from her bloodline, would be able to match her. She will always remain in my heart.

    Amit Pandya is a renowned wildlife photographer. Follow him on Instagram at: Amit_pandya_photography

    Subscribe to our newsletter To Recieve Updates

      The Latest
      • The Literature of the Deity

        Dr

      • Poems From Prison

        I Refused To Die When I refused to die my chains were loosened

      • To Be in Insanity, or Not to Be in Sanity: Accepting Madness in Sandhya Mary’s Maria Just Maria

        Review of “Maria Just Maria” by Sandhya Maria, translated by Jayasree

      • Framing Truth: France’s Reckoning with Sexual Domination in Images and Words

        The case of Gisèle Pelicot, who courageously allowed graphic footage

      You May Also Like
      • About women writing through bodies by Gurpreet Kaur

        the years of growing up were spent in finding ways to belong and belonging in

      • Sentence and Other Poems By CP Surendran

        Questions arise with the sun Now that your bed is empty, What unites us but your

      • Kindness of Strangers by Diya Sengupta

        Having lived in Bombay, India’s maximum city for almost fifteen years now