• Jan 25 2016
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Garh Kundar

One of the most mysterious forts of India is located in the sleepy village of Tikamgarh about 70kms from Orchha. A curious aspect about this fort is that the entire fort is clearly visible at a distance of 12 kms but completely vanishes as you near the assumed location of the fort! Even if this exercise is repeated two to three times, the result is the same! This is probably one of the reasons why Garh Kundar Fort is considered to be one of the most ingenious forts ever built.According to historians, the reason that the fort is seen on top of a hill at a distance but disappears out of view when you near it is because it is surrounded by hillocks on all four sides. As one moves forward, the hillocks appear to rise and the fort remains hidden behind them. If one overshoots the location and tries to return on the same path, one is met with the same puzzle. On closer inspection, one will find several paths that lead through these hillocks but it is difficult to guess which path takes you to the fort and one can surmise that many armies faced this conundrum. It would also appear that the fort situated on the hill provided an excellent view of approaching enemy forces and if one were successful in finding the way to the fort, then they would have to run for cover quickly as they would be fully exposed to the army guarding the fort from the ramparts.There is no record available about the construction of this fort but historians believe that it is about 1500 – 2000 years old. This fort was the headquarters and military base of the Chandelas. During the reign of great Raja Yashovarman of the Chandela dynasty, this fort was strengthened and a killedar was appointed. However, this fort was lost by Raja Paramadi to Prithviraj Chauhan who then appointed his trusted aide Khet Singh Khangar, the founder of the Khangar dynasty as the killedar. This fort was called Jinagarh ka Mahal at that time.