"Twelve Gond-style bungalows in sixteen acres of forest at Narna, twenty-five minutes from Kanha’s Khatia gate"
Kanha Earth Lodge was built eleven years ago on sixteen acres of natural forest at Narna, a Gond village on the edge of Kanha's buffer, and the buildings take up less than five per cent of it. There is no neighbouring lodge and no through road. The Khatia gate, which gives entry to all four core zones, is twenty-five minutes away.
The bungalows follow traditional Gond architecture: mud plaster, local stone, terracotta tiles and rough-hewn timber beams, with furniture made from waste and recycled wood, old tamarind and saja among it. Each has a day bed that doubles as an extra bed, a writing desk, a veranda over the forest, an en-suite bathroom with double vanities, air conditioning with 24-hour power backup, organic teas and a coffee plunger with fresh ground coffee, and organic toiletries in glass jars. Housekeeping comes twice a day.
Sixteen acres of forest, twelve bungalows, and the lodge's own jeep into the park.
The lounge looks over the forest and is furnished in recycled wood and Gond artefacts. The library stocks books on the biodiversity of Central India and has a screen for wildlife documentaries and the naturalists' talks. The infinity pool sits between mahua trees at the forest fringe.
The rate carries one cycle of meals from lunch to the next day's breakfast. Breakfast is served on safari, lunch is usually a regional thali, and dinner is à la carte from Indian and global menus, with breads and bakes from the lodge's own bakery and homemade ice cream. The organic garden supplies the kitchen, and the Gond dinner under a mahua tree, with tikkar roti roasted in camel-foot leaves, lamb booti curry and basil ice cream, runs on selected dates.
The lodge books only private jeeps into Kanha. Around the lodge there are nature trails, birding walks and cycling with the resident naturalists, a sunset walk to a hilltop plateau with a view over the park, a picnic on the Banjaar river twenty minutes away, the weekly tribal haat, pottery and Gond painting workshops, a young naturalist programme for children, and alfresco and bush dinners. The lodge has adopted the Narna village school.
Our take: this is the lodge that sells the mainstream Kanha trip on quality rather than price. Private jeeps, a kitchen worth the drive, and a forest of its own at the quiet end of the park.
Kanha Earth Lodge, Village Narna, P.O. Sarekha, Tehsil Baihar, District Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh 481111. The Khatia gate is about 25 minutes by road. Jabalpur airport is about four hours, Raipur about three and a half, Nagpur about five. The lodge arranges transfers.
Kanha with a private jeep every drive, a serious kitchen and a forest of its own.
Twelve luxury bungalows, each with a veranda over the forest and a day bed that doubles as an extra bed.
About twenty-five minutes from the Khatia gate, which gives access to all four core zones, Kisli, Sarhi, Mukki and Kanha, and to the buffer zone.
One cycle of meals from lunch to the next day’s breakfast is in the rate. Breakfast is served on safari. Tea and coffee are complimentary in the main area, and every bungalow has a kettle with organic teas and a coffee plunger.
No. The lodge provides only private jeep safaris in Kanha National Park, which is also how we price every trip here.
A day bed that doubles as an extra bed, a writing desk, a veranda over the forest, an en-suite bathroom with double vanities, air conditioning with 24-hour power backup, organic toiletries in glass jars and housekeeping twice a day.
Yes. The lodge says it caters for vegan and gluten-free requests, with freshly cooked Indian and global food.
Kanha Earth Lodge sits at Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Which gate to use, when the park opens and how the zones are allocated are on the Kanha page. Permit, jeep and guide fees for Madhya Pradesh are in what a safari costs.
Mud plaster, stone and terracotta tile in the Gond manner, with a day bed by the window, a writing desk, a veranda over the forest and a bathroom with double vanities. Air conditioned, 24-hour power backup. The day bed takes a third guest.
A boutique jungle camp on the periphery of Kanha Tiger Reserve, styled on the Jodhpuri shikar tents of old hunting camps crossed with an African safari camp. Quarters come two ways, tented suites and lakeside cottages, each with a bamboo shower and a verandah deck facing the lake. The lake itself is rain-harvested, and the kitchen draws on the camp's own organic garden, cows, hens and bees.
Rates on request, usually back within the hour
Ask on WhatsApp
A lodge in a hundred acres of its own forest adjoining Kanha Tiger Reserve, near Kohka village. Accommodation stays intimate: twelve safari cottages with private verandahs, plus two secluded jungle bungalows, the four-room Perch and the two-room Wildernest. The kitchen cooks with organic produce from the lodge's farms, and the on-site Kanha Museum of Life and Art is worth an hour between safaris.
Rates on request, usually back within the hour
Ask on WhatsApp
Soulacia is a luxury eco-resort at Village Khatia beside Kanha National Park, founded in 2009 on a barren plot that held just four solitary trees and since grown into its own small ecosystem. It sits a two-minute drive from the Khatia entry gate on the Kisli side of the park, with in-house naturalists, solar power and a farm-to-table kitchen.
Rates on request, usually back within the hour
Ask on WhatsAppLeave an email or a WhatsApp number, whichever you prefer. A person replies and takes care of the whole booking with you.
One tap on WhatsApp. No password, no card, leave anytime. Every new find and every deal lands with you first.
Message us on WhatsAppOpens WhatsApp — send the ready-made message, tap Join in our reply, done.
You're on the list the moment you're done. Done it? Continue →
Nothing arrived? Send us a quick “hi” instead — that works every time. Message us on WhatsApp →
Your booking is handled personally by the Indiaesque team, start to finish — no call centre, no middlemen.
You're in. 🎉 New finds land on your WhatsApp before they land here, and a real person is one message away.
One tap on WhatsApp and you're on the list. Every new find reaches you before it reaches the site. Never spam, leave anytime.
Message us on WhatsAppOpens WhatsApp — send the ready-made message, tap Join in our reply, done.
You're on the list the moment you're done. Done it? Continue →
Nothing arrived? Send us a quick “hi” instead — that works every time. Message us on WhatsApp →
Free forever. We'll confirm on WhatsApp and send our best finds there — leave anytime.
New finds reach the list first — on WhatsApp, before the site. Free, leave anytime.
We use cookies to measure how the site is used and how well our ads work. That includes cookies set by PostHog, Microsoft Clarity, Meta and Google. How we use them.