Introduction

Bandhavgarh is famous for their wildlife but as well as it has great feature of mythology. The history of Fort is not clear but it mention in the epic that Lord Rama Was also stopped here between returning to Ayodhya. As the epic mention Rama was the founder of Bandhavgarh Fort. In terms of later history, Baghel dynasty, ruled from Bandhavgarh till 1617 when Maharaja Vikramaditya Singh moved the capital from Bandhavgarh to Rewa. Here is many things to see as Bandhavadheesh Temple, Fort, Treasury, Moti Mahal, Statues of Vishnu, Machli Temple etc. Saint Kabir spend much time here to meditate. A Temple of Kabir and a Kabir chora were built there in his memory One of the enlightened saints of the 16th century was Kabir. He chose the Bandhavgarh fort ancient caves to meditate and dwell in it. No one knows why but everyone feels that there must be something magical there and in its forests. These caves carry inscription in Pali language, which was written and spoken around 2000 years back. He was here during the reign of the Baghel ruler Virbhanusingh, who apparently became a disciple of saint kabir. Dharamdas, the wealthiest merchant of Bandhavgarh, was also his follower. The monuments with which kabir is associated are the kabir temple and kabir Talab seen over here, and kabir gufa, a place where he meditated for several years, situated about 2 km from here. Of late, his modern - day followers have started holding large gathering here.

Kabir Mela

The Kabir Panth (sect) began organizing its first mela. It has now become a regular feature of Bandhavgarh. The festival is held in honor of Kabir, a 16th century holy man who lived on the premises of Bandhavgarh Fort. The Follower of Kabir Panth Comes here in a large amount. They use Charanganga river for all their daily rituals. Most people stayed for several nights, living without proper toilet facilities. According to the Forest Department, more than 14,000 people entered from Tala gate. They walked all the way up to the fort temple and Kabir Chaura. Bamboos were cut for walking sticks. At the fort, there is a Kabir temple where the saint spent most of his time and meditated more often and took discourses for some of his very close disciples. Dharam Das Naam Sahib was one of his first disciples who was initiated at the Bandhavgarh fort. There is also an interesting story as to how Kabir gave his salutation to whole Central India. When Kabir arrived in Bandhavgarh, Maharaja of Rewa did not know how to greet him as Kabir was not a Brahmin by birth and the Maharaja could not have touched his feet. Kabir greeted him by “Salaam Sahib” and solved the problem instantly. This salutation became the most famous and most common salutation in central India thereafter.

How to reach

Kabir Temple lies in hill-top, inside core zone of Bandhavgarh. It can be reached through safari vehicle only, after permission from Forest Department. Now a days, it is closed for normal tourists.
By Flight: Bandhavgarh nearest airport is Jabalpur Dumna airport and second option is Khajuraho airport. Although Umaria town (37kms) have small air-stip which is used for small charter plains but not commonly used by visitors. Further journey from Jabalpur to Bandhavgarh or Khajuraho to Bandhavgarh can be done by taxi option. We provide tourist taxi service from both the destinations.

DISTANCE CHART
From	Distance (in Kms)
Kabir temple Bandhavgarh to Umaria	40
Kabir temple Bandhavgarh to Katni	105
Kabir temple Bandhavgarh to Jabalpur airport	190
Kabir temple to Panna National Park	220
Kabir temple to Khajuraho	260

By Train: Nearest railway station from Kabir Temple is Umaria station, at a distance of 38kms. Second best option is Katni railway station (110kms) and thrid option is Jabalpur station (190kms).

By Road: Kabir Temple is connected by road option. Its nearby towns are Tala Village, Umaria city, Katni city, Maihar town, Satna city. Tourists can travel by road, from all these towns and cities. Actual temple is inside forest core zone area thus, normal bus will not be available to reach this temple. We require safari jeep with due permission from Field Director of park, to visit this temple. However, in Kabir Mela time, devotees are allowed to enter in bare foot, to visit Kabir temple, without need for permission.

Tourist Attractions

Kabir Temple is inside Tala safari zone of Bandhavgarh. Here tourist attraction or activity is only jungle safari. While doing jungle safari drives, we can enjoy mammals sighting, birding, wildlife photography and local village visit. It is tourism restricted area thus despite of all amazing monuments, we can't visit this site during normal jungle safari drives.

Best time to visit

Kabir temple lies at hill top plateau in Tala zone which lies in core zone. This plateau is often mentioned as Bandhavgarh fort hill as ancient fort of Bandhavgarh was located here. In addition to this, many other temples and heritage monuments are located here. At present, park management has declared it as non-tourism zone which means, this part of forest is not accessible to normal tourists, doing jungle safari in Tala safari zone. It is open for visitors in August and December dates only for single day, from sunrise to sunset timing. On a particular date of August and December month, we can walk through the Tala zone forest trail that leads us to Bandhavgarh fort hill. It will be a holy trekking walk in which devotees and walk and visit the temples at free of cost. Park management will declare a particular date for this Kabir mela and accordingly we need to plan. Due to rainy season, August month visit is challenging thus we recommend to plan for December end period to undertake this holy journey and be part of Kabir darshan yatra. Here we need to note that permission for walk is decided by park management. Under special condition, they retain the right to suspend the holy walk activity.