Kalanjar Fort (History, Art and Architecture)

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About the Book In the present book an effort has been made to capture all the structures inside the Kalanjar fort along with history and art. The material for the book has been collected directly through the field survey and from many sources i.e. standard books, district Gazetteer of Banda and many other reference books.

The introduction gives a general meaning of fort and their classification through time and space. The second and third chapters deal with the natural settings of Kalanjar fort and history of the region respectively. The key content of the book has been given in chapter four which include the statistical data of the architectural edifices, general distribution of the structures, their description in systematic manner as well as salient features. Besides, some of the structures have been brought to light by way of dating them. In this chapter a brick structure has also been highlighted which needs to be investigated scientifically from the excavation point of view. Thus, the earliest date from the Kalanjar fort may be obtained. Fifth chapter deals with sculptural art in brief. Presenting a summary the last chapter concludes the book.

About the Author M.C. Joshi born in 1972 at Dehradun (UA) is presently serving as Assistant Archaeologist in the Archaeological Survey of India, e Survey Project (NR), Bhopal. After completing his Masters (1993) 8E 1994) degrees from M.B. P.G. College Haldwani, Kumoun University Nainital (UA) he obtained from the Institute of, Archaeological Survey of Slew Delhi in the year 1996. In 1999 he joined Archaeological of India, Kolkata Circle and there for five years till his to Lucknow Circle of the ASI ear 2004. Since 2009, he has mg in TSP (NR), Bhopal.

During his carrier he participated various excavations include Dholavira (Gujarat), Paithan (Maharashtra) Raja Nal Ka Tila (Sonbhadra, UP), Rajpat Mound, Gossanimari, Koch Bihar (W.B.), Dum Dum Mound, Kolkata (W.B.) Baisgazi Wall, Malda (WB.). In 2007 he participated in a of G.P. S. and Plan Surveying ted by I.I.T. Kanpur. In the Year, Archaeological Survey of India nominated him as one of the team members from India to take part an international Conference at Vigyan Bhavan Conducted by ICOM-CC. He scholar and about a dozen of Art, Architecture and Archaeology are in his credit. These days he is seriously engaged in the study of temple art & architecture and e of the team members of the survey Project (NR), Bhopal recently completed a project on Architectural Survey of Kachchha-paghata Temples.

Foreword Kalanjar fort has been a subject matter to the scholars for a long time and several attempts have been made in this regards since Cunningham's time. Micro Study of all the segments of this fort is in great demand. I take this opportunity in writing foreword to this book entitled as "Kalanjar Fort : History, Art & Architecture" by Dr. M.C. Joshi of the Archaeological Survey of India who has made a serious attempt in studying and interpreting the architectural marvels of Kalanjar fort along with sculptural art. This book is a refined version of his Ph.D. work under me from 2006-11. I must congratulate him to bringing out his meticulous research work in to a book form which I personally feel would certainly be informatory to everyone. The book pertaining six chapters covers the various components of architectural edifices include temples, water reservoirs & tanks, palaces, mosques and mathas along with their description and probable date. It must be mentioned that the present study in the field of sculptural art and epigraphical data inside the fort would produce some more and new information on Kalanjar fort. I hope, this book would fulfill the expectations of the scholars as well as common man.

Preface I have been enthralled towards the mountains and hills since my childhood. I have closely observed the difficult conditions of high altitude as I have been brought in the lap of middle Himalayas in Uttarakhand. I feel proud to be part of the Archaeological Survey of India as I got an opportunity to do the romance with various archaeological sites, monuments, fort & fortifications such as Elephanta caves, Daultabad fort. Kalanjar fort is one such place in which I really felt the fragrance of my childhood days. During my five years tenure of Lucknow Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India I did have chance to visit Kalanjar fort. In the beginning, I did not take the objects of the Kalanjar fort very seriously. But, when I paid frequent visit to great temple of Neelkanth, Koti-tirth tank, rock-cut temples and various palaces struck me to deal with them. Fortunately, the then Superintending Archaeologist Shri I.D. Dwivedi encouraged me to document all the edifices of the Kalanjar fort and he allowed me to pursue my Ph.D. work for which I am highly indebted. Although, the present day situation to access the fort is a bit comfortable yet still, Kalanjar fort is not very easy even in the day time. The thought of dacoits still haunted the person inside the fort. We must appreciate those early scholars who were daring enough to visit Kalanjar fort and prepared valuable accounts. Among them, Mr. Pogson, Frederick Charles Maisey and A. Cunningham collected notes and provided precious records on Kalanjar fort. Mention may be made that the fort is composed of various architectural styles, inscriptions, rock-cut reservoirs, rock paintings and a rich collection of sculptures of Saiva-cult. Obviously, it is a tough task to deal with each aspect. The available records are in segments and do not provide explicit information on each dimension of the fort. These accounts present the glimpse of the buildings, tanks, sculptures inside of the fort which are not sufficient enough to understand. There are more than 100 inscriptions engraved on the walls, buildings, tanks in and outside of the fort.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages