The Chandela protector of Khajuraho – Firstpost

Each year, in February, Khajuraho hosts an iconic dance festival. The setting has a surreal feel to it – thousands of people, including from abroad, watching classical dancing in the backdrop of 11th century CE temples. In a village deep in the Indian heartland, surrounded by what appears to be wilderness.

But Khajuraho is not an isolated site in the middle of nowhere. It was the cultural hub of the Chandela empire, which straddled a large part of central India. Apart from the temple town, numerous remains of that forgotten empire still exist. While Khajuraho’s being in a forested region saved it from the depredations of the bigoted invaders who entered the northern plains post 1192, the other Chandela sites bore the brunt of repeated assaults. With most scars being inflicted on the magnificent forts from where Chandela garrisons tried to fight the invaders off.

Forts such as Ajaigarh! Barely 70 kms north-east of Khajuraho, the mighty bastion stands on a hill seven hundred feet above the surrounding plains. On one side of the hill is a village of the same name. The hill is not motorable and needs to be accessed the hard way – by climbing 500 steps to the top. The gateway through which one enters is called the Kalinjar Darwaza, one of five such gateways that once existed here. Of these, only two remain in use, the other being the Tarhaoni Darwaza.

Around the Kalinjar Darwaza, visitors are rewarded by the sight of walls covered with rich Hindu and Jain iconography and inscriptions. The most striking is a huge depiction of Ganesha, carved on a large rock. Six hands are clearly visible, each holding an object, with perhaps two more locked into the tangle. Smaller icons of praying figures are on one side, with a mouse below. The Ganesha is depicted wearing anklets, and in the silence of Ajaigarh, a visitor can almost hear the bells on them tinkle. More Ganesha depictions are nearby. As is a huge Nandi, with a Shiva linga carved on its back.

There is an irregularity to the stone carvings here. Many are on stones which appear on the fort’s boundary wall in a random manner, indicating that these were parts of destroyed temples within the fort – parts which were then placed to strengthen the fort walls by those who did not care about the iconography. The presence of elegant temples within the fort, albeit ruined, confirms that theory.

The hill on which Ajaigarh stands was first fortified in the 9th century CE. It was then a minor part of the Chandela territory, whose political capital was Mahoba and strongest fort was Kalinjar. Events of the 12th century changed the scenario. In 1182, the Chandelas lost a decisive battle to the Chauhans. The Chauhans themselves suffered a catastrophic defeat a decade later and the Delhi Sultanate took control. It was at this moment that Ajaigarh gained importance and stayed that way for over a century.

It was a strange period. Every time a Sultanate dynasty was shaky in Delhi, the Chandelas tried to reclaim more territory and each time the Sultanate’s armies were on the march, a bit more territory was lost. The losses outnumbered the gains, and the once-proud Chandela empire was in its sunset. It was perhaps the Sultanate’s focus on Ajaigarh-Kalinjar-Mahoba that saved Khajuraho in this era.

The Mughal period came and Ajaigarh eventually fell to the invading armies of Emperor Akbar. By this point, the Chandelas were history, and the Bundelas had emerged as a force, though they were subservient to the Mughals. The most famed ruler of this dynasty, Chhatrasal, captured Ajaigarh in 1674. The anarchic 18th century saw more conflict, with mercenaries and Maratha auxiliaries entering the fray. And then the British arrived. In February 1809, the British captured the fort after an artillery bombardment and that was the last battle fought here. From here on, ‘loyalty’ to the British decided who controlled Ajaigarh. The mighty fort sank into the oblivion that it lies in today.

The fort may have faded from history but remained a place of pilgrimage. Legend has it that the hill on which the fort stands was once called Kedar Parvat and a sage called Ajaipala made it his abode, hence the name. The focal point of the fort was and remains the Ajaipala Talao, now covered by water hyacinth. There was once a statue made of black stone here, an icon which is considered the embodiment of Ajaipala himself.

Another story holds that a British officer who visited the place threw this icon into the water and fell violently ill. On the banks of the talao is a structure that came up in the medieval era, possibly replacing a temple that once stood here. A tomb is nearby. Locals still come to the talao, picking up a stone from the sacred space around it. In doing so, they are following an age-old belief that keeping a stone from this space at home will ward off the evil eye. Just as Ajaigarh helped ward off many evil eyes from falling on Khajuraho.

The author is a heritage explorer by inclination with a penchant for seeking obscure sites. A brand consultant by profession, he tweets @HiddenHeritage. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.