Bandhavgarh Fort

Introduction

Bandhavgarh fort

Bandhavgarh national park offers two kinds of tourism i.e. wildlife tourism and heritage tourism. Being a popular tiger reserve, it offers variety of mammmal and bird species. In addition to this one can also find ancient fort and other monuments and sculptured statues in core safari zone of Bandhavgarh. Now a days Bandhavgarh fort safari is closed for visitors. Bandhavgarh fort lies in Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh state in Central India. It has a great history. As per ancient deity, this fort is gifted by Lord Rama to his younger brother Laxmana due to which it was called Bandhavgarh. Here "Bandhav" means brother and "garh" means fort. It is a hill-top fort at a height of 811 meters in Vindhyachal hills and known by the name of "Moti Mahal". At present it is turned into ruins. Till year 2012 this was visited by tourists from outside and later forest department closed the site for tourists. During Kabir Mela, normal visitors can visit the site on bare foot. It is usually held in last week of December month. This Kabir darshan yatra is one of the most popular event when we have golden opportunity to walk through Tala zone forest area and visit the Bandhavgarh fort site, its statues, man-made caves and ancient temples. One should must try to attend this heritage walk and be part of this event.

Fort History

It is a 10th century fort, located at a safe height of 811 meters on a hilltop. At the top of a hill their is a plateau of 4 sq.km. at which fort and other monuments are located along with man-made water holes. Their are about 32 hill and hillocks in Bandhavgarh forest area. It lies in Tala zone of Bandhavgarh and is visible from almost all the corners of forest. Bandhavgarh is ruled by different dynasties since 2nd century like Magh, Maurya, Vakataka, Sengar, Kalchuri and Baghels. In 2nd & 3rd century, Bandhavgarh was under Magh dynasty. In 5th century it was under rule of Sengar Dynasty followed by Kalchuris. The rule of Haihay Kalchuri during 9th century can be called the golden period of this region. Fort is believed to be of them. After Kalchuri rule, Baghel rajpoots, derived from Gujarat, finally took over the fort in 13th century. They ruled over the region from Bandhavgarh as their capital. Later Baghel King Vikramaditya Singh abandoned Bandhavgarh fort in 1617 when Rewa, at a distance of 130 km from Bandhavgarh, was established as their new capital. They are actually compelled by circumstances in which Mughals influence was the main reason. Abandonment leaves room for wildlife development in this region. When Baghel Kings became aware of it, they declared Bandhavgarh as their hunting preserve and strictly prohibited tree cutting, wildlife hunting by others. Although Baghels left shifted their capital to Rewa but the area remain in their control till year 1968. They visited the forest, time to time for hunting and had their stay in Maharaja Kothi building which is now converted into hotel called "Maharaja Royal Retreat".

Fort Attractions

Bandhavgarh fort visit is a great experience to witness the great history of this place. Marks of human establishments are scattered in Bandhavgarh forest in the form of man-made caves, sculpture art, rock-cut rooms, huge statues, water reservoirs, temples etc. In below given table, we have listed some prominent fort safari attractions.

BANDHAVGARH FORT ATTRACTIONS
Shesh Shaiya
(On the way)
Karn Pole Gate
(On the way)
Vaman Incarnation Idol
(On the way)
Kachahri (Court)
(On the way)
Ghudsaal (Stable)
(On the way)
Bandhavgarh Fort Moti Mahal
(At Hill-top)
Bandhavdheesh Temple
(Active at Hill-top)
Kabir Temple
(At Hill-top)
Tortoise Idol
(At Hill-top)
Fish Idol & Inscriptions
(At Hill-top)
Varah (Boar) Idol
(At Hill-top)
Dharam Das Temple
(At Hill-top)
Treasury Building
(At Hill-top)
Water Well
(At Hill-top)
Watch Tower
(At Hill-top)
Raja Talao (Man-made pond)
(At Hill-top)
 

How to reach

By Flight :

Nearest airport for reaching Bandhavgarh fort is Jabalpur airport, at a distance of 180kms/04:30hrs. It has direct flight connectivity with Mumbai, Delhi, Bhopal etc. Second best option is Khajuraho Airport (250kms/05:30hrs) which is having flight connectivity with Delhi and Varanasi. Further from airport to Bandhavgarh is done by taxi cars. We offer Jabalpur airport taxi service and Khajuraho airport taxi service to visiting Bandhavgarh and other tourist destinations of Madhya Pradesh.

By Train / Railways :

Nearest railway station for visiting Bandhavgarh fort is Umaria railway station (Station Code:UMR). It is about 37kms from Bandhavgarh Tala village and have direct train connectivity with Delhi, Agra, Gwalior, Jhansi, Jabalpur, Bhopal etc. Other options are Katni railway station (100kms/02:30hrs) and Jabalpur railway station (180kms/04:30hrs). Both railway stations are better train connectivity than Umaria.

By Road:

Bandhavgarh national park is well connected by road. Tourists reaching by road option can comfortably reach Bandhavgarh on there cars or taxi cabs. Its surrounding cities and towns at 150 kms radius are Umaria, Katni, Satna, Maihar, Shahdol (67 km) etc.  

Best time to visit

Bandhavgarh fort site is now a days closed for visitors. If forest department decision will be revised, it will be available for visitors during the time park is opened for jungle safaris. It means, if fort reopens for tourists, it will be visited from 16-October to 30-June. November to April is the best time to visit Bandhavgarh national park. If you are still want to visit the fort and your physical fitness is good then you have chance to visit it once in a year i.e. near Christmas date. For a single day, it get open for normal public to do walking trip to fort area, along with devotees of saint Kabir. This event is called Kabir darshan yatra in which devotees undertake a walking trip to fort area by walk only and pray at hill-top temple and return back. This process may take 4-5 hrs duration. It can be done by those who are physically fit to do long walk.

Accommodation

Their are number of resorts and safari lodges surrounding to Tala village of Bandhavgarh. Here all category of accommodation options are available in which tourists can stay and do the visit to Bandhavgarh fort. Note that fort ruins are inside Tala core zone thus here we can't expect any hotel. All resorts are outside core zone.

Next to Bandhavgarh Fort

In Bandhavgarh, apart from fort safari, one can do jungle safari drives. After visiting Bandhavgarh, next tourist destination options includes Kanha national park, Panna national park, Amarkantak, Khajuraho temples, Jabalpur marble rocks, Kundalpur Jain pilgrimage site, Chitrakoot, Varanasi etc.

MADHYA PRADESH DISTANCE CHARTS
Amarkantak Distance Chart Bandhavgarh Distance Chart Bhopal Distance Chart Gwalior Distance Chart Indore Distance Chart
Jabalpur Distance Chart Kanha National Park Distance Chart Khajuraho Distance Chart Madhya Pradesh Distance Chart Maheshwar Distance Chart
Mandu Distance Chart Orchha Distance Chart Pachmarhi Distance Chart Pench National Park Distance Chart Satpura National Park Distance Chart
Ujjain Distance Chart

RELATED LINKS
Agra Taxi Service Agra to Gwalior Taxi Agra to Orchha Agra to Panna National Park Bandhavgarh Taxi Service
Bandhavgarh to Jabalpur Taxi Bandhavgarh to Kanha national park Bandhavgarh to Khajuraho Taxi Bandhavgarh to Panna national park Bandhavgarh to Pench Taxi
Bandhavgarh to Prayagraj Bandhavgarh to Satpura National Park Bandhavgarh to Varanasi Bhopal Taxi Service Bhopal to Chanderi Taxi
Bhopal to Orchha Bhopal to Satpura National Park Bilaspur Car Rental Gondia Taxi Service Gondia to Kanha Taxi
Gwalior Taxi Service Gwalior to Agra Taxi Gwalior to Chanderi Gwalior to Khajuraho Taxi Gwalior to Orchha Taxi
Gwalior to Panna National Park Taxi Indore Taxi Service Indore to Aurangabad Taxi Indore to Bhopal Taxi Indore to Hanuwantiya Taxi
Indore to Maheshwar Taxi Indore to Mandu Taxi Indore to Omkareshwar Taxi Indore to Pachmarhi Taxi Indore to Satpura National Park
Indore to Udaipur Taxi Indore to Ujjain Taxi Indore to Vadodara Taxi Jabalpur Taxi Service Jabalpur to Amarkantak Taxi
Jabalpur to Bandhavgarh Taxi Jabalpur to Kanha National Park Taxi Jabalpur to Khajuraho Taxi Jabalpur to Panna National Park Taxi Jabalpur to Pench National Park Taxi
Jhansi Car Rental Kanha National Park to Bandhavgarh Kanha National Park to Khajuraho Kanha National Park to Satpura National Park Kanha Taxi Service
Kanha to Jabalpur Taxi Kanha to Nagpur Taxi Kanha to Raipur Taxi Katni Car Rental Khajuraho Car Rental
Khajuraho to Bandhavgarh taxi Khajuraho to Gwalior Taxi Khajuraho to Orchha Khajuraho to Varanasi Taxi Maheshwar Taxi Service
Mandu Taxi Service Mandu to Ujjain Taxi Nagpur taxi service Nagpur to Kanha National Park Nagpur to Pench National Park
Nagpur to Satpura National Park Nagpur to Tadoba national park Omkareshwar Car Rental Orchha Taxi Service Orchha to Chanderi Taxi
Orchha to Khajuraho Taxi Pachmarhi Car Rental Panna national park to Jabalpur Taxi Panna National Park to Prayagraj Taxi Panna Taxi Service
Panna to Bandhavgarh Taxi Panna to Gwalior taxi Panna to Pench national park Pench Taxi Service Pench to Kanha Taxi Service
Pench to Nagpur Taxi Service Pench to Tadoba Taxi Service Raipur Taxi Service Raipur to Kanha National Park Satna Car Rental
Satpura National Park Taxi Service Satpura National Park to Bandhavgarh Satpura National Park to Khajuraho Taxi Satpura National Park to Pench Ujjain Taxi Service
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