Ep 2 Chitrakoot to Kalinjar fort to Banda to Mahoba | Bharatkoop | Neelkanth Temple | UP Tourism
Hello friends ! Welcome to Visa2Explore I'm your host Harish Bali At moment, we're at Arogya Dham in Chitrakoot Yesterday night, we stayed here From night's stay point of view, I found this place very pleasant How is morning ambiance here.. Look at its surroundings We wanted to start our day at 6:30 AM Because we'll have long day as always But, we got a bit late It's 8:00 AM in the morning Firstly, we're going to Bharatkoop ..which is around 21 kms far from here After visiting Bharatkoop, We'll go to visit Kalinjar Fort Then, we'll proceed to Banda Our night's stay will be in Mahoba This is our tentative plan Now, I give you a little idea about Chitrakoot Whenever you come here, keep window of at least 2 days After coming here, I felt.. ..one or one & half day is less At least, you need 2 days Right I hope last episode you saw on Chitrakoot You must have enjoyed that From here, let's start our journey to Bharatkoop Our car is parked in the front 2 kms before Bharatkoop We saw one Yadav Dhaba We stopped here to have our breakfast Aloo Prantha, Curd I took black pepper along with it I savour curd only with black pepper whether or not, salt is there, but, black pepper is must for me Then, only I enjoy it Moreover, if I get good quality black pepper Then, it's like icing on the cake What a taste ! Its taste ceased the time Potato's stuffing in Aloo Prantha.. It's full-on spicy It's very tasty However, the stuffing isn't visible Stuffing tastes nice They prepared hot prantha And curd is very good Good taste Now..
We'll leave within 20-25 minutes And.. We'll join you after reaching Bharatkoop We've reached Bharatkoop Firstly, have a look at the surroundings Few shops are outside Bharatkoop temple Not many, only around 15-20 shops And from here, we'll get inside the temple After getting inside the temple, first of all, we got .. .. divine glimpse of that well Due to which this place is popular Inside the temple, We saw temple of Bharat Ji We paid our respects At moment, we're at temple's outer precinct We've Mahant Ji with us Could you please give us detailed..
..information about this place? Yes.. As per the orders of King Dasharatha, ..when Lord Rama went to exile And, out of that grief, King Dasharatha died Mata Kaikeyi asked for a boon Bharat should be made the king As Bharat was in his maternal home, when he came from there.. He refused to be the king Then.. After his father's funeral, he went to persuade Rama ..to bring him back And Rama be made the king again And if he didn't come.. I'd make him king at there only Water from all pilgrimage sites King Dasharatha had accumulated..
..as per orders of Guru Vashishat Bharat came here with that holy water ..in Chitrakoot Here in Chitrakoot, King Janaka... in presence of all deities One Maha-Panchayat was organized ..in which it's decided Lord Rama.. ..would go to exile The reason for which he has incarnated on earth, he will fulfill that work. Then, Bharat Ji said..
Hey Lord, this holy water from all.. ...pilgrimage sites Ingredients of coronation ceremony ..that I brought, what I'd do of it Lord Rama said.. Ask sage Attri, he'd advice you on it Sage Attri was most learnt saint at that time When he asked from Attri Sage Then, Sage Attri said.. Holy Sanskrit Verses There's one well near the mountain Pour this holy water into it As Bharat released holy waters into this well Then, it got its name as Bharatkoop Holy Verses It is highly sacred Bharatkoop you're seeing in front It got its name after arrival of Bharat Ji Water of all pilgrimage sites has been..
...added into this well.. From that day, it's called as Bharatkoop Before that, this place was Sidhtal This is ancient idol of Bharat, Mandvi Idol we're seeing at this temple.. Is it ancient? yes This temple of four brothers.. this was made much later It's perhaps 100 years old It means it's recent It's good we came here Well, tourists do come here Sometimes, they don't know.. For the sake of information..
Within 35-40 minutes from Chitrakoot, you can easily get to this place It's a journey on highway Get divine glimpse of Bharat Ji's temple Along with that, see this well Drink holy water of this well We'll also have this holy water Then, we'll leave We shall go now Our wish is you keep coming here Ok, ji..Jai Shree Ram Jai Shree Ram Few minutes ago, some people told me Ganga Jal doesn't get contaminated..... ..no matter how long you keep that In the same way, this holy water... ..can be kept for long ..this holy water won't get contaminated Very nice Let's leave towards Kalinjar Fort This distance will of 48 kms To reach that fort and..
It'll take us around 1 hour 10 minutes To reach Kalinjar Fort, Last 4 kms distance left Standing atop a hill, I'm showing the view & seeing it myself also See the fort above Seeing it we can figure out this much, It's a large fort We're seeing its outer boundary wall It's visible from some distance here Though, we're figuring out, this fort.. ..is very large in size And is situated atop a hill Let me show you from this side Are you seeing that road in front? We came along that road And all around, ..lies the Vindhyachal Range Notice one more thing This 3-km long road will take us to fort In ancient days, as you needed to reach fort, Ancient days means 50-70 years before People used the stairs to reach fort These old stairs are even intact today Finally we got inside the Kalinjar Fort We took from the main gate.. Rs. 25/per person entry ticket
We walked for about half kilometre Some monuments of fort are visible to us We'll start our fort visit from here It's very surprising.. So large this fort is.. Around every person knows about it.. ..especially in Central Indian region About Kalinjar Fort's history They've rich detailed information about it But, since, we came from Delhi, We don't know much about it We must remember, in Panna, We'd met Mukesh Ji who helped us visit Ranipur Waterfall Few days back, I talked to him on phone, And requested.. Help us if it's possible for you ..in Kalinjar Namaskar Mukesh Ji.. He agreed to shell out some time ..to spend some time with us ..to show us round the fort Otherwise, by profession, he's Excise Inspector in Panna District He keeps interest in tourism He likes visiting forts ..to understand their history Beginning of this story said to belong..
..to "Samudra Manthana" in our Puranas It's said to have connection with that When Lord Shiva consumed poison, , so to pacify the impact of that poison, he came to this place and observed penance here For that reason, since time is deemed poison He conquered the time That's why this place got its name "Kalinjar" Really ! Yes It's said around 800 kings ruled here ..in about different periods However, about this fort, even historians have been unable to.. ..furnish authentic information who exactly got this fort built? Climbing up few steps; as we reached up.. spectacular view is visible from here During monsoon, there is greenery all around it ..which is like an icing on the cake Clouds then get visible in front Green fields are visible at down and the nearby surrounding hills make it a pleasing view to behold The place at which we're right now..
it's called "Chaubey Mahal" Chuabey Ji worked as chef for kings then This palace was made for him As we get closer to its door, It's Bundela Architect designing over it Bundela Architect is a mixture of.. both Hindu & Mughal Architect Outside, it's written, during 18th century, ..this palace was made Yes It points to late construction Now, we'll see impact of Bundela Architect This is Mughal Designing In Mughal architect, you won't find living elements This design was made by Mughals These flowers & petals are inspired.. ..from the Hindu Mythology These impressions have been taken Besides, Kalinjar Fort has also been..
..famous for Tantrics (Occults) You can see one Yantra made above Some numbers are written on it Yes, yes.. Upon that rock It's Tantric Yantra (Occultist's instrument) Now, we've come to Neelkanth Mahadev temple ..situated in Kalinjar Fort It is said about this temple that.. It dates back to Satyuga period It gets directly linked to Samudra Manthan When Lord Shiva drank Halahala poison He came here to observe penance The statues you're seeing in front Yes These are "Navagraha" (9 heavenly bodies) In the last you'll see.. Both Rahu & Ketu have been made During Samudra Manthan, even elixir came out of that churning To distribute that elixir, Lord Vishnu manifested in Mohini form He's administering elixir to deities only At that moment, one demon, Rahu disguised himself among deities And he drank the elixir by this trick Moment, Lord Vishnu learnt about it So, with his Sudarshan Chakra he cut off Rahu's head But owing to drinking of elixir, Rahu had become immortal He didn't die So, his head portion is called "Rahu" His trunk is called "Ketu" This is "Mandapa" It's said to be 7-storied once It got dismantled by earthquake So, only single storey is left now Six more storeys were above it This is one of a kind "Nandi" ji from whose hump "Shivlinga" was made It's rare to see such kind of Nandi ji ..made out of a single rock ..which is a natural rock We'll see such structures as we go down Natural rocks found out here These statues & other designs .. were carved out of these rocks only let's move ahead & explore further If you see this structure, This represents Lord Vishnu His Sudarshan Chakra is visible ..with his Lotus also visible Conch & mace also..
that have got impaired now These gods & goddesses are shown.. ..paying respects to them Natural rocks found here, these designs were carved into them Are they the part of the mountain? Yes, they're the part of the mountain This entire mountain is a museum per se Archaeological museum Worshiping to Lord Shiv Linga, two ladies have been shown Below them, it's also been written.. These all sculptures date to Chandelas period Statue of Lord Ganesha is also established here It's Ganesha Ji It's Parvati Ji It's Shiv Linga It represents their entire family The Nandi which we saw of Shiv Linga Same Nandi Ji is also here Yes Can you decipher what's written here? It's lipi (script) of those times Language spoken was different then So, we can't read it, but..
..this script is said to be of those times Since, this place is also linked to occultists, Maybe it was "Beej Mantra" Just look at this lipi (script) "Brahmi Lipi" It must be around 1000-1200 years old Yes, it's "Brahmi Lipi" It's been written in Sanskrit If we can read anything in this Shree Kirti Vasudevaya has been written This is what we can make out It's possible that king of that time.. Shree Kirti Vasudevaya might have built this small cave. It's a later script All details might be mentioned in it Because, Lipi seems to be Devanagari But, what it is written.. We're not able to read it now Statue of Lord Narasimha has been shown here He is the avatar of Lord Vishnu ji He's killing Hiranyakashyap in his lap Kaal Bhairav is shown next to it Then, shown Bhairavi next to it Then shown Chamunda ji In this way, many gods & goddesses ..have been beautifully & marvellously ..depicted in their statue forms You're saying inside the Shiv Linga ..lies 1011 Shiv Linga Yes, in one single Shiv Linga ..lies 1011 Shiv Linga It's significance is that.. Worshipping to this one Shiv Linga ..imparts boon of worshipping 1011 Shiv Linga together If we see main Shiv Linga in front Look at its carving & designing Behold the beauty of the face He's Kaal Bhairav Relatively smaller statue to it is of.. Kaal Bhairavi ji How wonderful the expressions are How carvings have been done..
..into the face of the mountain How tall is the statue made To lend expressions to the face.. How they'd have climbed up that time Most important point is.. when such kind of statues are made.. there's no margin of error Because you're not using another rock You've only natural rock before you You've to carve design into it only If it got wrong, All your labour would go waste For long, I've been thinking, I never saw such type of statue This is what we've been saying by now..
It's entirely different It is the Mandapa of the temple Generally, in the old temples, ..before the Garbh Griha Mandapas were made For the purpose to observe.. ..Yagya, ritualistic dances et al. For that purpose, here.. 7-storey tall Mandapa was made With 6 more storeys above it That symbolised 7 people But, those 6-storeys dismantled in.. an earthquake with only one storey left These statues which are visible..
They are of Yakshas Since they're bearing weight They're also called "Bharshadak" After that, if we look at the door, Just above the door, the floral design you're seeing.. ..is actually a door It is said, it was opened with mantras Since occultists are very rare.. It remained opened as such A treasure is said to be kept behind it It is "mukharvind" (face) idol Lord Neelkanth Maharaj Ji He is also Shambu He got his Neelkanth name after.. ..when he consumed the poison After Samudra Manthan, he consumed poison..
He wandered around 14 loks (worlds), then he settled at this place Earlier, it was Goddess Kali's place Goddess forsook this place for Shiva Thereon, Lord Shiva settled here And sweat continuously drips down his neck This is Kaal Bhairav You get his divine sight.. ..inside the cave only. After Lord Shiva darshan, tll you.. ..don't get divine glimpse of Kaal Bhairav.. Divine sight is considered incomplete Pandit ji, I'm thinking..
Way to get inside the cave is tight 1000 years back, when statue of.. ..Kaal Bhairav was made inside it During Chandela dynasty's reign How had those people then made it? ..in such a tight way Sir, it's very surprising fact Sir, it's natural gift of the God Firstly, it's all by this mountain's grace His shape had been carved .. into mountain's face See, assuming what position... ..they might have made it It's tough ! That Lord's image had been sculpted It's tough indeed! Very beautiful It's Mrigdhara Earlier, one statue of deer was here ..from its mouth would emerge stream of water That's why it's called Mrigdhara In the mean time, someone dismantled the statue Though, deer's impressions are still inside Hmm And, since this area once was a jungle It's said, herd of deer would come here For that reason, Basically, it's Lord Shiva's temple Stream of water is usually poured.. ..over the Shiv Linga As just we saw Neelkanth Mahadev Lord Shiva's Linga was established here ..which is not here now But, this 1500 year old structure.. ..is still in existence here It's still intact to a great extent Absolutely Now, we're at Rang Mahal in Kalinjar Fort Ok Because it's made during Bundela reigns So, it's Bundela architect which is a..
..combination of Muslim-Hindu architecture It got its name Rang Mahal, because.. Rang stands for "Natya" (Dance) Also we call Rang-Manch Here, King for entertaining his guests.. ..or himself ..would organize dances & plays Proper stage has been built inside Rest of the items we'll see inside Information is also written outside It's said, there's a fountain in the middle ..which used to work 10-15 years ago But one time it broke while cleaning Ever since, it's been kept in museum Dances & plays got organized around it At that time, king, his family & guests. ..would sit in this portion And in the other surrounding portions, his subject & courtiers would sit & see This front stone structure you're seeing Which one? This one above Ok, this one (Mashal) Torches were mounted on them These holes were made to mount torches ..which you're seeing.. At night, torches were mounted on them ..to illuminate entire surrounding area Now, our scene is.. ..it's 3:15 PM now It'll take us one and a half hours to reach Banda Mukesh Ji has some work so.. ..he won't go to Banda with us He's returning to Panna We'll go to Banda all by ourselves ..and will visit a fort in Banda There's also one temple Our tonight's stay will likely be in Mahoba Is road leading to Banda good? Yes, it's good Where is Bundelkhand's Expressway? It is from Mahoba to Jhansi We've heard it's very smooth Yes, all Expressways are smooth From Mahoba to Jhansi As we go to Jhansi, we'll try to take..
..Expressway to feel travelling on it How is the Expressway? Thank you so much Mukesh Ji Thank you It's big thing you gave time to us Moments ago we got to meet in Banda.. ..then with Kashyap Ji You work as a builder Kashyap is a social worker See, normally, what I think.. ..to make 1 video of my whole journey Around 25-30 minutes Because video's long length becomes..
..a non-starter for viewers to watch We've already shot Kalinjar Fort at length ..keeping that in mind, I was thinking.. ..we'd make a small video of it The fort we would visit Kashyap Ji, firstly, tell us fort's name Bhuragarh Fort Now.. History vis-a-vis Bhuragarh Fort is so long.. In last 5 minutes, he told me, if we made half hour long documentary even then you'd realize still much information got left Keeping that aspect in my mind, I thought to do one thing Information related to Bhuragarh ..we'll post on our 2nd channel Harish Bali Travels It will be better Ok While visiting this fort, we'll record..
..for Harish Bali Travels channel And, thereafter, other activities.. ..which we'll do in Banda ..and wherever we go; for that.. We'll join you again in this same video To taste Banda's famous "Sohan Halwa" We're at Katra Mohalla ..visiting one very old shop here Bode Ram Halwai & Sons As I reached here, I told them.. We've come here to eat Sohan Halwa So, they cut Sohan Halwa into small pieces ..before serving it to us It is bit hard to bite Once you've bitten it Your mouth will greatly be filled with ghee To prepare it, Usually, other sweets are made of milk Basic ingredient of Sohan Halwa ..is wheat Wheat flour is prepared So, tell me one thing.. Does it contain wheat of any particular type? Yes, it's called "Kathiya Wheat" ...without fertilizer and water Awesome Ghee sticks to person's teeth It's a little different feeling because.. Other sweets don't have this aspect So, this...
Till the time, it remains in your mouth it'll give you taste Yes, I'm getting that taste Now, it's got stuck to my teeth It'll come off I'm loving it otherwise We savoured Sohan Halwa a lot It's good that I came here From here now we're going to.. "Bambeshwar Temple" Which is 10-15 minutes from here Then, we'll go to Mahoba How far is Mahoba from here? 1 hour One and a half hour Is the road good? yes, absolutely Great ! We'll re-join you after a while After reaching Bambeshwar Temple ..we got holy glimpse of Lord Shiva Not only do Banda residents repose faith in it.. There're lot of devotees outside UP ..who visit this temple on regular basis We've come here for the first time What's the main reason behind..
..devotees immense faith in this place? To get that answer, I requested Pujari ji ..to tell us about his place This place is older than Ramayana era From penance of Maharishi Bambev, this Shiv Linga manifested at this place This place is by his name This place is known by his name And city's name is Banda Ok, city's name is Banda This is world's first Linga In all 12 Jyotirlingas, we'll get to see.. ""Nandi Ji" "Nandi ji" isn't here All your wishes will be granted here Cave was so low Devotees would crawl down in lying position Every year, this cave sees its upwards.. ..expansion to the size of a millet Kal Sarp pooja is done only..
...in two places across India One is in Trimbakeshwar Jyotirling Nashik And 2nd place is this one We've also heard At night, when there's no one around When the temple closes.. that time snakes comes in the temple They've particular time between 12:00-4:00 AM They come here any time I've personally got holy glimpse of their 7 forms In 7 forms? Yes, I saw them in 7 forms In form of monkey, child, ..cheetah, bear, leopard ..in the form of sage You'll get such holy glimpses within cave only You won't them outside the cave If you get to see somewhere outside Then there'll be no one around They'll make you realize that moment.. they and you are present only Sometimes, it also happens, if 10 people are there in crowd, only one out of them would see it Rest of 9 people won't see it Many times such thing happens During Naag Panchami, They're seen around 20 times Really ? We learnt only 5 out of 10 people saw it Nobody has even been hurt Many news channels have also come here Since we live in scientific times now Most of us want to know scientifically.. ..why it is happening So, what they did Nobody dared stopping here at night So, they planted a camera in the cave So, you were along.. No, they didn't tell us They secretly planted the camera We closed it after doing aarti They didn't tell us They secretly hid camera in flowers When I was about to close the temple.. I asked them to get them checked As they proceeded, I stopped them They said they won't do anything They asked for the key As they'd heard about it Upon their earnest petition, I handed over key to them To enable them to get live evidence whether or not, snakes come here I told them to witness it in person I left and they sat down As they noticed the movement in their camera Their camera had fallen off By the time, Naag Devta got captured Means, Naag Ji was seen in the camera Those videos are available on YouTube About which Pandit ji is talking about ..by the name of Mahadev Mani Mahal As per the anecdotes shared by you, , after hearing them We can surely say, something is there To put forth it in few words, One Delhi-based family came, their car broke down As they learnt, it'd take some hours for repairing Meanwhile, they visited this temple They're running some business After paying respects at this temple, their business grew by leaps & bounds Now, that family visits this temple every month Ok Greatly divine ! Thank you for your time Tell us about the temple timings Opens at 4:00 AM; closes at 11:00 PM Ok Aarti is performed at 11:00 PM Then, it'll get closed Thank you for your time From here, we're going to Mahoba It'll take us almost 1 hour to reach there It's already 8:30 PM We'll reach at around 9:30-9:45 PM We're ending our today's episode here I hope you've enjoyed our whole day's journey We'll meet you soon again Thanks for your time !
2023-06-26 13:05
