One of the finest artificially bird sanctuaries made by Bharatpur Maharaja in the world, known as the Keoladeo Ghana National Park.  Bharatpur is well-known for it world heritage listed bird sanctuary Keoladeo Ghanna National Park. This is one of the few places in the world where you can hope to sight hundred of different species of birds in just a few days. Over 400 species different birds have been identified in the park and you see them all over the place. Many tourists travelling to this destination have rated it as the highlight of their visit. The history of Bharatpur goes back to the epic age of Mahabharta when the Matsya kingdom flourished in the 5th century BC. Some archaeological remains of this period can be seen in the Bharatpur Museum. The city is supposed to be named after Bharat, the brother of Lord Rama. Bharatpur was the stronghold of the Jats in the 17th and 18th century.

Flooding of water created shallow wetland ecosystem causing it to be a perfect habitat for an astounding variety of birds. The park that was a hunting preserve for the Maharaja and the British continued to be so till 1964, after which the hunting was banned. This magnificent bird haven in actual came into being paradoxically as a duck shooting preserve for Maharaja Suraj Mull of Bharatpur. He transformed the shallow depression formed by the confluence of River Gambhir and River Banganga into a reservoir by damming the rainwater in monsoons.

However the ecosystem at the Park continues to be fragile due to pressures of tourism and need for water from surrounding villages. However the environmentalists won the day in 1985 when UNESCO listed it as World Heritage site and earlier in 1982 it was declared as National Park. And, today the Park is recognised as the most important breeding and feed grounds for the birds in the world. Some species are still endangered and especially the Siberian crane.