Kalinjar Fort

Kalinjar (Kalanjar), a historical fort situated in Banda district (Uttar Pradesh) , is one of the most precious gift of India to the World hertige. This is one of the eight famous forts built by Chandela-kings during the end od 1st and beginning of 2nd millennium. Situated at the interface of U.P. and M.P. states of India this has been serving as the great barrier for ambitious kings/invaders aiming towards south.

The celebrated hill fort of Kalinjar is situated in the village of Tarahti under the Naraini Tahsil on the 56 km. south of Banda. It stands on an isolated flat-topped hill of the Vindhya range, which here rises to a height of 244m. above the plain. The main body of the fort lies from east to west, oblong in form, being nearly a mile in length by half a mile in breadth.



The fort was built on strong 25-30 meter wide foundation, having height of 30-35 meter with 8 meter wide summit spread all around with length of 7.5 km over the hillock. The material used was big sand stone/granite pieces put over each other or using lime mortor occasionally. Alongwith strategic importance of Kalinjar fort, this has equally been appreciated as the great monument of the art and science of fortification and a gem of archeology.

Much before fortification this place was considered to be one of the most revered places of devotional and meditational penance and has been cited in Vedas, Epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana, Buddha and Jain literatures. Kalinjar is the most respected and popular also in the folk songs of Bundelkhand.