In an obscure jungle packed with wildlife, located in the Amravati district of the Vidarbha region is the Chikhaldhara Wildlife Sanctuary. With an abundance of wildlife, lakes and waterfalls, Chikhaldhara is also home to the famous Melghat Tiger Project in the Dhakana- Kolkaz National Park. It is also the place to look out for other types of wildlife -- magpies, chitals, sambhars, panthers, sloth bears, wild boars and langurs.

Legend has it that Chikhaldhara was named after Prince Kichaka who was killed by the powerful Bheem, a Pandava, for offending Draupadi. Bheem tossed his body in a valley nearby and the area came to be known as 'Kichaka bara', and later Chikhaldhara. The British, however, established the village, as a 'hill station' in the 1830s. The town also earns itself fame for two unlikely characteristics. This picturesque hill station area is the only place in Maharashtra where coffee is grown, adding to its rich flora and fauna of the region. And Chikhaldhara is also considered to be, geographically, one of the last Marathi-speaking areas before the Hindi belt begins, just north of it.