Fossil National Park

Fossil National Park
Located between the Kanha and the
Bandhavgarh national parks in the Mandla
district, the site is rich in fossils, said to be
around sixty million years old. These fossils
have helped to unfold the mysteries of the
evolution process of plant kingdom and
animals. Ghughva, the main site of the fossil
park is about 6.84 acres in extent along with
three other associated sites, Umaria-Silther
(23.02 acres), Deori Khurd (16.53 acres) and
Barbaspur (21.35 acres).
It is very rich in large fossil trunks, fossil fruits
and a variety of quartz stones. Fossils of
Hyphaene seen in Ghughva- a variety still living
in the African continent, further suggests that
once India was a part of the African continent.
Four km away from Ghughva, near the village
Umaria, a good number of fossils are also seen
at Umaria- Silther. At Deori-Khurd (9km from
Shahpura) and Barbaspur (2 km from
Manikpur) site fossilized trunks are also seen in
standing position. In Mandla district, many
sites of the fossils are found and most of the
paleobotanical antiquated relics belonging to
the Deccan intertrappean series. Fossils have
always facilitated the scientific understanding
of our old civilization.