Chitrakoot Excursion : Places nearby Chitrakoot - Uttar Pradesh

Places to visit nearby destination - Chitrakoot

Govindgarh

Situated 19 km from Rewa, Govindgarh is famous for its scenic beauty and ripe mangoes. The area around Govindgarh was once the natural habitat of the rare white tiger, which, unfortunately, has become extinct by now. (The last white tiger was sighted here in 1951.) The Govindgarh Palace on the banks of a huge lake houses the personal museum of the Maharajah of Rewa.

Kalinjara Fort and Neelkanth Temple

Kalinjara Fort, 50 kilometres south-west of Chitrakoot, is one of the hallowed places that find mention in the Puranas and Mahabharata. /”The gradual acclivity, the abrupt ascent, and stupendous fortifications of Kalinjara, towering 900 feet above the plains, present a scene grand, majestic and sublime,/” wrote Captain William Pagson, of the Bengal Army, in 1835. Perhaps the physical immensity of the Fort has remained unchanged. It was in the reign of the Chandela dynasty in the 10th and 11th centuries that the fort finds increasing mention and importance. In the early 10th century, the Chandela King, Yasovarman, on ascending the throne, was given the title of /’Kalinjaradipati/’, or Lord of Kalinjara. The steep trek that leads to the fort gives credence to the theory that no enemy ever stormed this Chandela bastion, and hence it had to captured only through treachery or a long siege. The footpaths are neatly laid out, marked by whitewashed stones. Most of the ancient buildings are in ruins and only three buildings stand in different stages of decay. There is also a museum inside the Palace displaying two millennia of recorded history. The sculptures are mostly of the Chandela era, the treatment by chisel similar to that of Khajuraho temples. After passing through the rows of defensive walls of the Kalinjara Fort, one arrives at the famous Neelkanth temple. The main sanctum of the temple is inside a cave. The rock face on either side of the temple has exquisitely carved panels. Another flight of steps leads you through the third gate, after which you come out into the open, a large undulating hilltop.

Maihar

This little town, which gave Indian classical music the Maihar Gharana, is situated at a distance of 40 km from Satna. Maihar is home to one of the greatest exponents of Hindustani classical music, Ustad Allauddin Khan. The town is also famous for the hilltop temple dedicated to Goddess Sharada.