Sammilan Shetty's Butterfly Park — Attraction in Karnataka

It is a place for any butterfly wanderer and otherwise too for ones who love being close to nature and greenary around.

Three of us visiting the park for three days. Sarpita had come all the way from Kolkata with her mother to my home in Pune. We took an overnight bus to reach Belvai. Belvai bus stand is very close to Sammilan Shetty Butterfly Park. We were hosted in Sammilan’s guest house. This was about two Kms from the Park.

Coming from an urban hub, looking at this well planned park (for butterflies not us) was overwhelming. The moment you enter the park premises you feel you are in a jungle.

The butterfly park is very well planned and executed mostly with indigenous plant species that attracts butterflies to feed and breed around.

I got to see and learn of several plant species that I have not seen or known earlier, Clerodendrum, Hopea ponga and Aristolochia indica still stand out in my memory.

Since we had two whole days at the park, we were able to do several interesting observations like a weaver ant family devouring a freshly formed chrysalis of emigrant butterfly, a parasitoid caterpillar of Southern birdwing, a mating pair of medus brown, a peacock pansy caught up by a tiny crab spider, two tiny pigmy scrub hoppers bearing the rains out in open, Southern birdwings and several other butterflies enjoying nectar from the lantana an Stachytarpheta, a freshly eclosed yamfly quietly sucking Leea indica sap . However, the breath taking moment for me, was to see the Malabar banded peacock gliding through the park showing off its territory to us! A butterfly you will rarely see in the wild at such close quarters. It kept us on the toe for all three days.

The park is visited not only by butterfly enthusiasts like us but would not be wrong to say, the entire population of Beluvai and nearby areas. Families with young kids and elderlies, school children, college students all took pride in moving around and catching minimum of two to five names of butterflies before leaving. This is no less than a magic, creating understanding and sensitivity to every single visitors coming to the park. Every visitor is run through a small presentation on butterfly diversity and behaviour documented right here at the park. This is interesting as any sighting is not ensured/guaranteed in the wild. Nobody will see a yamfly eclose, a tiny larva eating up its own egg shell or a mud puddling behaviour. The park team (Sammilan + college student interning here) take rounds to do presentation as per the crowd influx in preferred language be it Kanadda, Tulu or English. After understanding a little bit about butterflies, the visitors are taken around in the garden to see butterflies and host plants.

On request, Sammilan also arranged for a visit to nearby Durga Reserve Forest and Someshwar Wildlife Sanctuary. We got more endemic lifers to our list, Tamil lacewing, Malabar tree nymph, Malabar raven to name a few.

The home cooked food by Aunty was such a relief to eating outside food every time we travel. We had both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food options. It was first time I was getting to taste some local delicacies. Not to miss the lovely coffee in pouring rains.

Sammilan Sir is very hospitable, we did not feel a thing amiss in the three day stay in Belvai. I bow to this personal interest and endeavour in talking about conservation through butterflies. Coming time will prove, this definitely has a far reaching effects.

(Ps: It should not be called a park, it’s all wilderness and madness around with butterflies, especially when you see Papilio Buddha, the Clippers and the Southern...

I am a butterfly enthusiast from Bangalore. I learnt about this place on the internet while researching about butterflies of Karnataka. I visited Belvai Butterfly Park on the 31st july and 1st Aug 2015 along with a couple of friends. This was my second visit. Both my visits have been very fruitful. Though my first visit to this park was in the month of April considered to be a dry month, I still was able to spot around 10 different species of butterflies (mostly common ones) in a span of 3 hours. And, talking about my second visit…it was an amazing experience. I spotted atleast 15 species of butterflies that I had previously not and was able to photograph most of them, Water Snow Flat, Yamfly, Rustic, Southern Birdwing, Clipper, Malabar Banded Peacock to name a few. I was so excited when I saw the largest butterfly of India for the first time – the female Southern Birdwing. I spotted the Malabar Banded Peacock 5 times during those two days but was unlucky as I could not photograph it.

I also met Vineeth who is currently researching on frogs of western ghats and was there that night for a frog watch. Vineeth and Sammilan were kind to oblige to our request and take us along. It was an enriching experience for us. We learnt so many things, identifying calls and tracking them…knowing about their habitat preferences, behaviour etc. We spotted around 8 species of frogs out of which atleast a couple of them being endemic. Seems partly funny and partly scary that we were attacked by Leeches and forced to cut short our outing, I have never seen such big ones in all my life…the leech specimens that we as students had used for dissection were much smaller in comparison. These were 6 to 8 inches in length…phew!!!

I must appreciate the efforts, resources and hardwork that Sammilan has put into creating this flourishing microecosystem. I could see an entire food chain in action here; from plants and trees to various types of insects to spiders to frogs to snakes to birds!

Sammilan has not only created a heaven for butterflies but also has created a great opportunity for enthusiasts like me. What I like about this place is that it is not artificial, no domes or honey dipped cotton swabs to attract and feed butterflies. This place has many host plant species and is as natural and wild as it can get. Butterflies come and go by their will and many of them have made this their home. So, it’s like a one stop shop for people like me. Where else can you get to watch and photograph such a wide variety of butterflies in one place (I mean natural habitat)? I can say Belvai butterfly park has kind of become synonymous to butterflies of western...

My first visit to a butterfly park was to the Bannerghatta butterfly park in Bangalore. I was initially impressed by the setup over there but during later visits was disillusioned as the species we see remained the same. Around that time, I started hearing about the Sammilan Shetty butterfly park and started seeing photos of some variety species of butterflies. I immediately started planning for a visit to the park and was waiting for an opportunity.

The wait finally culminated with a visit to the park in November 2014. What impressed me at first sight were the thick vegetation and the absence of man-made structures inside the park. According to me, providing a natural environment for the butterflies is utmost important and which was lacking at Bannerghatta. Well, the species of butterflies sighted in the park is enormous. Though it may vary with season, a sighting is guaranteed. Wherever you turn you can sight a butterfly. The park is not only about butterflies, you can find a variety of insects and for a macro photographer this is a dream destination. An early visit to the park will treat you to a variety of birds as well.

Another experience you’ll never forget is the hospitality of Sammilan and his family. Right from the moment we land there and until we leave they take care of us really well. Sammilan’s commitment to the park and how he maintains it is really commendable. Not many people can do this. My only suggestion to him is to leave the natural environment as it is. Do not try to build pathways so that visitors can walk easily. Let the terrain remain uneven, let the shrubs and bushes remain thick and let the grasses grow!

I visited the park this year too and I guess I’ll continue doing it. So Sammilan, you can expect me every year at your park and all the best wishes for this...