Travel to Northern India: Ajaigar Fort
Ajaigarh Fort was built about 900 by the Chandela kings; the last Indian ruler was a local chieftain named Lakshman Daowa, who surrendered in 1809 to a British force commanded by a Colonel Martindell. The bombardment preceding that surrender left the fort in the ruins seen today.
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Path up.
View back down to Ajaigarh town; the current raja's palace is the white mansion on the opposite hill.
One of several successive gates.
Protective sculpture: Ganesh.
Stairs and summit wall.
Approaching the top: springs said to contain Ganges water.
The main gate.
Most of the summit is now forested.
Fuelwood gathering.
Tank: one of several such sources of water, suggestive of a once-substantial population.
Gate overlooking an east-side descent.
View over the east side.
A sculpture ensemble at the east gate.
Another view of that very peaceful place.
Shiva lingam atop Nandi, Shiva's mount.
Another Ganesh.
Kali.
Nandi.
One of several fragments of the summit palace, now almost entirely in ruins.
Another fragment.
A third fragment.
A fourth fragment of the palace.
Sculptural details, reminiscent of the Khajuraho temples.
Interior columns.
Capital.
Entrance.
Detail.
Detail.