Motorcycling to Kamad Fort,Alampur ,Indergarh Fort and Datia Chhatris.

Hi there
   on this  nice chilly Sunday morning the plan was  to hit the road, visiting the forgotten fort of kamad,Chhatri of Maharaja Malhar Rao Holkar,Jat fort of Indergarh and Datia Chhatris.

    Route    - Jhansi-Unao Balaji-Kamad fort-Bhander-Ratanpur-Alampur-Indergarh-Datia Jhansi.

   Road Condition    - Excellent,with few challenging patch.Fit for all types of bikes.

  Road side assistance   - Very friendly locals.

  Food               -  We did have lunch in Indergarh.

Kamad Fort

      The journey started with one of the group riders missing the RV,finally after delay of 10 mins we met up,refuelled and resumed our journey.It was pretty warm in the city, just after crossing the rly crossing on Gwalior road we took a sharp right onto Unao Balaji.We just travelled for  05kms , and we had to stop as Mukesh wanted to have his fag,as the weather started getting chilly,after 10 mins we resumed our journey and hell break loose as all of a sudden the fog set in and  it become very chilly and on top of it, we had to raise our visors since droplets started forming on it,one felt that as if one is riding in mountains.

     

      After crossing Unao Balaji village after about 10 kms we entered Kamad Village .The Kamad fort is located in the village.To reach the fort one has to pass through narrow village lanes,there is a very narrow pathway leading to the fort entrance,you can take your bike easily on it.

                 

     The only remaining structure of the fort is the main entrance,a small pillar with inscription ,a shiv temple and a well ,rest whole fort is in ruins.The fort was build by Datia Bundelas as a guard fort .There is not much to see and one can easily skip the fort.

      It was still cold both Mukesh and Sumit wanted to stop for tea and we decided to stop at next big town of Bhander .Since it was sunday morning the town was still getting out of its sunday mood,we halted at the tea stall at the bus depot.After about 20 mins we resumed our journey to Alampur.

                                      

                                                 

          Alampur Chhatri

     After travelling on the Bhander-Ratanpur road,one has to take a left turn from Ratanpur for Alampur.It is about 10 kms from Ratanpur.Just before you enter the village of Alampur you see a prominent sign for The Chhatri.

    Alampur is named after Alam Shah Pavar who was the governor of the province.In 1765-66 there were many sustained campaigns by both Scindias and Holkars to regain supremacy in Northen India. 

                       

     During one of its campaign against Indergarh and Gohad rulers MalharRao was camping at Alampur .During this campaign his health got deteriorated,and with lack of proper care he died on 20th May 1766.A small piece of land was earmarked and a cenotaph was made however due to despise for the Maratha Rule it was destroyed many times by neighbouring rulers,it was only when Ahilya Bai Holkar sought help of Scindias ,not only was she able to build a masterpiece of art but also got a dedicated pargana for Indore state of 37 villages to maintain the Cenotaph.

    Build in Maratha Style it has beautiful intricately carved walls .It is a triple storey structure,the inside are also equally beautifully  carved,however the roof of the passage are beautifully painted but with time paint has worn off.

   

Malharrao Holkar

      An interesting incident happened ,me and Sumit climbed up to the third floor in order to see the structure more closely,all of a sudden a swarm of bees attacked us,while sumit immediately took lying down position and urged me to do the same,but some how i stood up and started waving off the bees,without realising that the more I do it the more they will attack and sting me,it took a quite an effort and about 20 stings to escape to the ground floor,but thank god due to Mukesh he removed all the stings and I was saved the swollen  face ,in spite of the pain I decided to continue with the ride.

     If you want to visit this best kept cenotaph of Alampur, than take the road from Datia-Indergarh-Alampur excellent black top road.The cenotaph is still maintained due to  efforts of private trust of Holkars and state govt,a must visit place if you are visiting Datia.

                                              Indergarh Fort

    Indergarh is located about 20 kms from datia on Datia -Lahar road .The fort is located inside the town.Raja Balwant Singh (Doderiyan Jat clan) in about 1650 A.D founded the Jat State of Indergarh. Raja Balwant Singh was succeeded by his son Indar Singh who further enlarged his patrimony and built a stone fort, still extant, which even now perpetuates his name and memory. The principality of Indergarh remained unimpaired during Aurangzeb's and some of the later Mughals' reigns, but had rather a precarious existence during the ascendancy of the Maratha's in the 18th century A.D.

 Main entrance of the fort

Remnants of old paintings

Sumit,Mukesh and Me

        It is a huge fort but now most of it is encroached,also the many buildings inside are in absolute ruins.Due to its location it has a commending view of the surrounding area.Due to internal fights within the Jat rulers one of them sought the help Scindia to settle the score ,and in return awarded them a small part of kingdom,by 1820 the whole area was under Scindia control.

   

      It was time for lunch and after enquiring from locals we went to this amazing place to have our lunch known as Sonu Panda Dhaba-it is a veg food joint and servers really tasty food,very cheap too,however avoid his dal tadka which was very oily.

Datia Chhatris

      As we were riding back to Jhansi taking the bypass road in Datia we chanced upon this Chhatris right next to the road.We just took the chance and to click few snaps we entered the main gate,and behold we hit upon one of the finest example of datia school of art.

      The Chhatris are dated  from 16th century to 18th century,how ever the effort put in  to maint it does not commensurate with the potential it has to develop into an excellent tourist place. For Photographers this is a gold mine ,a must visit place during visit to datia.

      It was a beautiful day spend, the pain of bee sting was nothing in front of such beautiful exquisite art work long forgotten and struggling to remain.The land of Bundelkhand has number of these kind of hidden treasures some are explored and others are still unexplored,and the joy one derives from exploring these magnificent witness of history is  unfathomable.So lets get out of our creature comfort and explore our beautiful country,so Ride Safe Firm Saddle.