Chaiturgarh , a tiny hill-station

Chaiturgarh is a little known place in the Indian tourist circuit and mostly famous among the locals as a religious place. It is 77 Km from Bilaspur (via Pali) , 74 Km from Korba(NTPC-Colony) and 20 Km from Pali (Teh.Katghora,Dist.-Korba) . Chaiturgarh is an ancient hill-fort surrounded by thick forests and it has a temple of Maa Mahishasur mardini. The fort was built in the 8th century by Shankerdeva of Hayhaya dynasty. The fort has three main entrances which are named as Menaka dwar (North-east of the temple), Humkara dwar(south-east of the temple), and Simha dwar. (on the main approach road to the temple).The hilltop temple is surrounded by thick forests and a walk through these forests is a memorable experience for a nature lover. These cool shady forests surrounded with lush green valleys and majestic views of the countryside below  , makes it my favourite hill-station for one-day tour.

  

The grassy forest track is full of beautiful wild flowers and butterflies fly everywhere. The cool pleasant winds and the soothing fragrance of the forest makes the forest-walk a memorable experience.

The forest track runs along the periphery of the fort and has numerous view points offering magnificent views of the valleys , forests and the villages below.

  

The hilltop is a plain area of about 5 sq.Km and has five water ponds. Three of these ponds have water all round the year . The hilltop area can be classified in three areas viz : 
1. the temple area , 
2. the Shankar gufa to the north-east of the temple  and 
3. the  forest-walk area encompassing the south-east area of the temple . 

Presently the temple area is the main tourist place and the temple compound includes a Yagna mandap, a statue of Bal Hanuman and the priest house. On the right-side of the temple at a higher elevation is a beautiful lake.

The temple of Maa Mahishasur mardini

The lake near the temple

Simha dwar , while approaching the main temple

The main approach road to the 

hill top is full of greenery

On the left side of the temple , a walk of about 60 feet will lead to the Forest dept. Guest House.A view point near this Guest House offers excellent views of the surrounding areas.Near this Guest House is a shed housing a Hanuman statue. During ancient times the King's palace and the court was situated here. On the left of this Hanuman statue (rear-side of the Forest Guest House) is a mud track which bifurcates in two directions. The left track leads to Shanker Gufa (cave , 4 Km) and the right track leads to a forest-walk path (approx. 6 Km) which passes along the periphery of the fort and offers about 12-13 view points along its way. All view-points and small bridges along this path are constructed and maintained by the forest department.

From this bifurcation point follow the right-track to walk in the forest. This grassy mud track leads into the thick forest through the shady trees and  all along the way numerous butterflies can be seen. The forest track is dotted with beautiful wild flowers and the forest fragrance adds to the delight of the tourist.No drinking water or any shop is available along this 6 Km (approx.) walking track.Till now I visited this place four times and I have never encountered any wild animal in this area. One can observe nature at its best and the view-points along the track offer great views of the surrounding forests and hills.The music of the birds and the winds ruffling through the leaves makes the tourist spell bound.

Beautiful wild flowers along the way

 



After walking for about 25 min. one reaches a ruined structure on the left hand side.This is the Hunkara dwar (gate) , one of the three entrance gates to the hill fort of Chaiturgarh . From this gate a jungle track descends down in the deep forest.It seems that this jungle track is no more in use. Nearby this gate is a view point offering excellent views.

The ruins of Hunkara dwar 

View from a point near Hunkara dwar

Breathtaking views from the fort

There are around 12-13 view points along the forest track

The track slowly returns to the temple from the right-side.Before the temple, there is a beautiful lake and further walk leads to a old Helipad.This completes the forest-walk round of 6 Km(approx.).With normal walking speed and few minutes at each view-point, it takes around 2 hours to complete the forest walk.

The lake on the south-west of the temple

 

Sinha dwar , seen while approaching the temple

From the bifurcation point (mentioned above) , walking on the left leads to Shanker gufa on the north-east side of the temple .The path passes adjacent to the Forest Guest House. Near the Forest Guest House is view-point offering excellent views of the surrounding areas.

A view from the point near Forest Guest House

A distant view of the ridge leading to the Menaka dwar

 

View from the Forest GH view point

The way to Shankar Gufa proceeds further and leads through thick forests along a small mud track which passes over rock patches at some places. 

The forest track leading to Shankar Gufa

A rocky patch descending on the way to Shanker Gufa

Jungle lizard

Beautiful pebbles on the way 

Beautiful rocks on the way to Shankar gufa

        

This mud-track ends at the  ancient ruins of Menaka dwar .From here one can get commanding views of the forests all around.

The ruins of Menaka dwar

A view from Menaka dwar

A sun set from the Menaka dwar

From Menaka dwar one has to descend steeply in the northern-side through the jungle steps constructed in thick forests. After about half an hour of descend , a small water-tank is available to quench the thirst of the tourists.The water here is potable and has a very good taste.This water tank is available all around the year . Shankar gufa is approximately a walk of 20-steps from this water tank. 

The Shankar gufa seems to be a naturally formed rock-cave and the interiors has one tunnel to its right-side.This tunnel runs about 30 feet and ends in a very small cave.One has to crawl through this tunnel to reach the small internal cave. Both the caves (external and internal) house a Shivling and some locals stay there as Pujaris and custodian of the caves.The mystical caves surrounded by serene forests and lush green valleys adds a special effect to the tourist experience of Shankar Gufa.

The main entrance of the cave

Tunnel to the right side of the cave

 

The Pujaris at Shankar Gufa

A memorable sunset at Chaiturgarh

For a stay at Chaiturgarh fort , rooms of Forest Dept. Guest House are available at reasonable prices.Booking for rooms can be done from Forest Dept. Office at Pali . These rooms are not in regular use and electric supply may be unreliable. Drinking water in the rooms may not be available in the summers. During other seasons, water available is raw water drawn from the lakes. No other accommodation facility is available nearby. No restaurants are available on the hilltop, however 2-3 small restaurants are available at the foothills. The eatables available at these restaurants are simple local dishes like bhajiya(pakora) , wada (urad dal) and tea. Veg.thali may be available on request.

    Vehicle parking (4-wheeler) at the foothills is Rs.30/- (as on Oct 2018). Vehicles can be taken on the hill top at an additional charges of Rs.150/-.

Plastic pollution has already started in this place and considerable environment awareness is required on the part of tourists.

All photos by Sahil Nimsarkar

Chaiturgarh Schematic map (not to scale)