A hilltop Chandela fort eighty kilometres from Khajuraho, their capital in the last years of the dynasty.
Eighty kilometres from Khajuraho, Ajaygarh Fort stands at a height of 688 m. It remained the capital of the Chandelas during the dark times before their reign ended, which gives it a very different place in the story from the temples at Khajuraho: those belong to the dynasty at its height, this to its decline.
The fort is a long excursion rather than a quick detour, and it is visited for the setting and the ruins rather than for restored buildings.
What survives are gateways, tanks, carved fragments and wall lines spread across the flat hilltop. There is no single showpiece building, so the interest lies in walking the enclosure and reading the layout.
The fort commands the country around it from a height of 688 m, which is the practical reason the Chandelas held out here. The outlook is the best part of the climb and the clearest explanation of the site.
At 80 km from Khajuraho this is a half to full day excursion by road, and it needs a little preparation.
November to February is the right season for a climb like this. The monsoon leaves the rock slippery and the approach difficult, and the summer months make the exposed hilltop punishing by late morning.
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