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Culture & Heritage

Chambal region comprising the districts of Sheopur Morena, and Bhind of Madhya Pradesh has rich traditions of art and architecture. The region was ruled by the Gupta and later Guptas followed by the Gurjara-Pratiharas and Kachchhapaghatas in early medieval period who were great patrons of art and architecture. They built temples and issued inscriptions to their credit which have been valuable source for reconstructing the history of the region. The temples at Naresar, Batesar, Sihonia, Dobkund, Padhaoli, Mitaoli, Varahavali, Dang, Kherat and other throw light on their zeal of patronizing the temple art and its maintenance.

The Pahargarh cave paintings are more than 30,000 years old on rocks of the Ashan River. They are 15 km from Fort Pahargarh.The Pahargarh was a zamindari seat of Sikarwar Rajput Clan under Gurjar king of Gauraiya basai state.

The Kachwaha king Kirtiraj had a Shiv temple erected at Sihoniya. This temple is known as the “Kakanmath” and was built without using any adhesive materials. It stand on a spot 2 miles (3 km) away from Sihoniya in the northwest part of the Morena district. It is said that Kakan Math was built by King Kirtiraj to fulfill the will of Queen Kakanwati. It is 115 feet (35 m) high and is built in the Kajurho style.

Sihoniya is a holy place of the Jains. In the east of the village, there are the ruins of the Jain temples of the 11th century A.D. Jain tirthakars statues  are of the 11th century A.D.built by Gurjar Samrat Mihir bhoj.

In kuntalpur there is a very ancient village that is consider as Mahabharata era village and also one story is very famous that a character of Mahabharata karna’s birthplace is in this villga .many ruins present there that look like a castle and many other muddy pots.coins.utensils

Flanked by the beautiful Chambal, Kali and Sind rivers, the historical city of Bhind is known for many legendary monuments. The prime attraction is the Ater Fort, which was built during 1664-1698, by Bhadauria kings Badan Singh, Maha Singh and Bhakat Singh. The grand structure is a great place to reflect on the region’s history and try to imagine how the royals lived back then. The fort has been built inside the ravines of River Chambal and has many distinct parts that are worth a visit. Chief of these is the Khooni Darwaza, which is the first and the main gate of the fort that dates back to the Mughal times. The gate is called thus as in earlier times, criminals were thrown from the battlements above it to fall to certain death. Other attractions include a Ganesha temple, the king’s quarters and the queen’s quarters.

This region is identified by rest of India by its extensive ravines. The ravines created by gully erosion, are heavily under soil loss. The Government of Madhya Pradesh has tried to check this soil erosion and expansion of ravines by the means of watershed development and by aerial-seeding for plants like Prosopis, Acacia, and Jatropha in the ravines.