Kalinjar Fort

MILITARY ARCHITECTURE

The Kalinjar fort is not only a good example of military architecture, but it also has a number of interesting temples within its precincts. This fort, located atop a hill, was a stronghold of the Chandela rulers. It has strong battlements, which are interspersed with highly fortified gates. The strategic location of the Kalinjar fort on rocky terrain, combined with its defenses, gave it an awe-inspiring look.

The palaces and temples within this fort conform to the Hindu style of architecture, as do the cupolas or chhatris atop the buildings, traditional Hindu motifs on pillars and temples etc.

KALINJAR FORT

The origin of this fort is shrouded in mystery and not much is known as to when and by whom the fort was built on a holy hill. However, modern historians draw the inference that this fort was built by the Chandela king Kedar Burman in the seventh century AD. The fort was a unique monument of its time and had no parallel in any other part of the country in terms of grandeur and artistry.

Earlier, it was ruled by various Hindu dynasties and later on it went into the hands of Muslim rulers. But with the exception of the Chandela dynasty to which the credit for building this fort goes, none of the later rulers could hold it for long. Finally, in AD 1812, this magnificent fort fell into the hands of the troops belonging to the British East India Company whose forces inflicted a lot of damage to the structure and monuments of this fort.

The fort can be reached by ascending the stone steps cut out on the hillside. The fort can be reached through its various gates or darwazas, which punctuate its battlements. The fort has seven gates; the Alamgir Darwaza, Ganesh Dwar, Chauburji Darwaza, Buddha Bhadra Darwaza, Hanuman Dwar, Lal Darwaza and Bara Darwaza.

IMPORTANT MONUMENTS AND ARTIFACTS WITHIN THE FORT

There are a number of interesting buildings within the precincts of the Kalinjar fort. Most of the grandeur and majesty one presently sees within this fort is due to the Chandela rulers' creative imagination, their highly developed aesthetic sense, and their religious fervor. The Chandelas were great devotees of Lord Shiva, but also showed keen interest in building temples of other deities. The Chandelas were great patrons of art and architecture and the temples within the Kalinjar fort are no exception. The Neelkanth Mahadev Temple located on the western side of the fort is an interesting structure. The front of this temple resembles a cave like opening. The main shrine is scooped out of the rocky hillside, which can be entered through a pillared passage. This temple has an imposing 4.6 feet shivalinga (phallic representation of Lord Shiva) within the cave.

Close to the shivalinga cave stand the idols of Bhairav and goddess Parvati (consort of Lord Shiva) made of black stone. One can see a number of images of gods and goddesses and intricately decorated pillars strewn all over within the Kalinjar fort. The vagaries of nature and man have taken their toll but the remnants indicate a synthesis of several ancient cultures and faiths. The palace of the Chandela prince Aman Singh is strewn with sculptures depicting different gods and goddesses. These sculptures are either made of granite or sandstone. Although most of these images are broken, the rich carvings on them attract one towards them.

There are a number of Trimurti images depicting the faces of the three principle Hindu gods-Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva-in a composite form. The presence of images of Mahavir (one of the principle deities of Jain religion), and Kamdev (Hindu God of Love) among others, speak of influences from diverse cultures and religious streams. The above-mentioned aspect also leads to the conclusion that the Chandela architecture was not the achievement of artistes from one particular region.

Another interesting structure within the boundary of this fort is the Venkat Behari Temple. Though the interior of this temple is in an advance stage of decay, it presents a majestic look from the outside. The hemispheric dome over this temple gives it a odd outlook as domes are generally not used in the traditional Hindu style of temple architecture. There are a number of water tanks or kunds in the fort like the Sita-kund, the Pandu-kund, and the Patal-Kund etc. which are indicative of the Chandela's taste for aquatic resorts and their architectural skills of having such structures built on such high altitudes.

LEGENDS OF KALINJAR FORT

Kalinjar means 'the destroyer of time' in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. Kal is time, while jar is destruction. It is commonly believed that Lord Shiva had slain the god of time here. Since then the hill on which the Kalinjar fort stands is considered holy. This hill has been described in many Hindu scriptures and has a number of legends associated with it. The scriptures state that this holy place had four different names in the four yugas or time periods according to Hindu mythology. In satyug or period of righteousness and truth, it was known as Kirtinagar (city of glory), in tretayug or the second time period, it was Madhyagarh, in dwaparyug or the third time period, when the Hindu the epic of Mahabharat unfolded, it was Singhalgarh (seat of the lion) and in kaliyuga or the present and last time period, it came to be known as Kalinjar.

HOW TO REACH

Kalinjar does not have an airport and the nearest airport is at Khajuraho, which is 130 km away. The nearest railway station from Kalinjar is in Attara at a distance of 36 km. Kalinjar is well connected by road to most of the important centers in Uttar Pradesh and India.