Constructed by Asa Ahir, Muslim Emperor
Part of Madhya Pradesh, India
Owner: Government of India
Open to the public: Yes
Condition: Ruined
Made by: Lead, Lime-stone and stone.
Nearby city: Indore
Time to Visit: October to March
Asirgarh fort is also known as Asa Ahir Garh because it is made by Emperor Asa Ahir. Its real name was Asa Ahir Garh, later this name is transforms simple as middle letters were released to the name Asa Ahir and it became Ashirgarh. Its height is about 259.1 meter high from the base and from sea level 701 meter high. Here a mosque is built with a lord Shiva temple and inside there is a fort to see. It is actually formed in 3 parts and every part has its specific name. "Asirgarh"is the first part, second part is "Kamargarh" and last third part is called "Malaygarh".
Asirgarh Fort is an Indian fortress (qila) established in the Satpura Range. It is about 20 km far from north of the city of Burhanpur district of central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh. This fort situated on the apex of Satpura Mountain. Fort expands more than 60 acres area. This fort known as ‘Babe Deccan’ that means “key to the Deccan”, which was expressed untouchable, some authors said that after triumphing this fort, ways to catch the southern area become more accessible. So it is known as "Door to South India".
User photo of Asirgarh Fort
Asirgarh Fort seems a Mughal dynasty architecture though fort was built under Asa Ahir’srule , who was a Hindu King . The fort was under his possession till 1399. But in that very year Nasir Khan, who was from faruqui Dynasty urged Asa Ahir to give shelter to his family members, especially ladies, because there was some threat to his family members. When Asa Ahir allowed them to enter in the fort, then by conspiracy Nasir Khan took some trained soldiers in Litters who killed Asa Ahir along with all his family members. Thus the fort came under his hegemony.
In the year 1536 A.D. , the place was being ruled by Adil Shah , who was also known as Raja Ali khan , when Humayun visited Burhanpur after conquering Gujarat . Adil Shah was asked to accept the suzerainty of the Emperor and drop the title of ‘Shah’. After some earlier refusal he accepted the overture. He was unable to face the large forces of Humayun. After Adil Khan, Bahadur Khan who was his son, refused the rule of Akbar and announced full governance on the fort . Unfortunately he was defeated by Akbar and the possession moved towards him. And the fort was captured by Akbar in 1600 A.D.
During its era, the Asirgarh Fort was built by Hindus and ruled by Ahirs, Mughals, Holkars and British.
Folklore depends on the people sayings. So here is a tale of Asirgarh as to why be it considered a Haunted place.
According to local tale, people says that Lord Krishna when gave a curse on Ashwathama that “Ashwathama will bear the load of all people’s misdeed on his shoulders. He will always roam alone like an apparition without getting any affection and sympathy till the end of Kaliyuga. He will have neither any settlement nor any cordiality. He will live alone from the society. Never meet and talk with anyone meaning totally isolated from the world. He will suffer from acute diseases which are incurable. These diseases are painful and forming ulcers that would never heal. Ashwathama was requested to give up his stone (gem) which was on his forehead. Lord Krishna further said that “if you removed this gem then the lesion caused by removal of this stone on his forehead will never rehabilate and will affect you from leprosy, till the end of Kaliyuga”. According to people belief every time Aswathama finds his death time yet he never finishes. When Kaliyuga would be on its end then, Ashwathama is to meet Sri Kalki, this will be the tenth and final avatar of”Lord Vishnu”.
From then it is said that Ashwathama is lingering in the surroundings of the fort for last 5000 years. And he worships Lord Shiva in the fort temple earliest in the morning. What still remains a mystery is that every morning there are fresh flowers and sandal offered to Lord Shiva. It is believed that he is the very first worshipper of that temple every day.
People related to that area told a myth that sometimes Ashwathama is seen in night and lingers around the Asirgarh Fort. And sometimes asks for turmeric and oil to stop the blood of his forehead. He takes bath in the pond which is in the campus of the fort and worships Lord Shiva in the temple of the Fort. And whoever has seen him has gone mad or lost his mental stability.
His name is Mohammed Zahir. He is caretaker of Shiva temple of Asirgarh Fort, Burhanpur Dist., #MadhyaPradesh. pic.twitter.com/xf1VgWza3V
— Dipankar. (@deep_anchor) August 14, 2015
Who was Ashwathama?
Ashwathama was the son of Guru Dronacharya, and he had a boon that he would stay immortal. As his father was in favour of Kauravas, he was also a warrior from that side. Shri Krishna knew thoroughly that until Dronacharya drops his weapons, it was impossible to kill him. That’s why they made Yudhishthir say that Ashwathama was killed. By this way, Dronacharya was killed and to take avenge Ashwathama killed all the five sons of Pandavas and tried to kill Abhimanyu’s son Pareekshit, in his mother’s womb . Because of that Lord Krishna cursed him to wonder all the time and took the gem of his forehead. Since then he is still wondering in that area.
Video on Asirgarh Fort by IBN7 – Pichle 5000 Saal Se Asirgarh Ka Kile Mein Bhatak Raha Hai Aswaththama?
NOTE: Fort is about 14 miles far from Burhanpur so take taxi or any other vehicles from here.
At the starting of the journey you have to reach Indore then you can reach Burhanpur, because this is well joined city of Madhya Pradesh and 183 km far from Indore. You may take any of following modes of transport to reach the destination Burhanpur from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore;
By Air:
Burhanpur is a small city in south-west Madhya Pradesh. To reach the Asirgarh Fort, Indore is the closest airport city for air travel. But Burhanpur is not approachable by air travel. So this journey of Asirgarh Kila ends at Indore. From where 210 km road distance can be covered by State Transport Bus or Taxi or occupied tourist vehicles.This airport has awesome flight connectivity with other main airports of India like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Nagpur etc.
By Train:
To reach the Asirgarh Fort, there are many express and superfast trains from central railways route like Delhi, Mumbai and Allahabad.
By Road:
Roadways are very well connected from Indore. Numerous road transporter commute their buses from Indore to Burhanpur.
How to reach Asirgarh Fort from Delhi:
By train:
Burhanpur’s distance from Delhi is 820 kilometers or510 miles.From Delhi, there are 6 direct trains available from New Delhi to Burhanpur. Al these trains are Karnataka Express, ManglaLakshdweepExpress,Asr Ned Express, Punjab Mail, Jhelum Express etc. The time taken by train to reach Burhanpur from New Delhi is 14h 53min. and the fare given for this journey is 426 bucks only.
By Bus:
The way to reach Burhanpur quickly from New Delhi takes 8h 41min, so visitors can take buses from New Delhi to Indore and after that they can takeState transport bus from Indore to Burhanpur. And total bus fare is 4812 rupees only.
By Flight:
By flight tourist cannot go directly from Delhi to Burhanpur because there is no direct connectivity to reach Burhanpur (Asirgarh fort) by flight. So if you want to go by flight then you have to go there till Indore and after that you have to move from there by bus.
How to reach Asirgarh Fort from Mumbai:
By Train:
Burhanpur’s distance from Mumbai is Rail Distance 440 km and via road distance 506 km. From here, there are 19 trains from Mumbai to Burhanpur. All trains are Kolkata Mail, Punjab Mail, Kumayani Express, MangalaLdweep, Mahanagari Express etc. The time taken by train to reach Burhanpur from Mumbai is 6h 28m. Kolkata Mail from Mumbai to Burhanpur takes 6h 28min.
By Bus:
No direct bus from Mumbai to Burhanpur. Bhusawal is the nearst roadways from Mumbai so visitors can take Gitanjali Express form Mumbai to Bhusawal. After that visitors should take State Transport Bus (from Bhusawal to Burhanpur). The time taken by this road route is approx. 10hours 26minutes. And bus fare is 357 rupees.
By Flight:
By flight tourist cannot go directly from Mumbai to Burhanpur because there is no direct connectivity to reach Burhanpur (Asirgarh fort) by flight. So if you want to go by flight then you have to go there till Indore and after that you have to move from there by bus.
How to reach Asirgarh Fort from Bangalore:
By Train:
From Bangalore, there is only 1 direct train from Bangalore to Burhanpur. This train is Karnataka Express (12627). The time taken by this train is 21h 58min. to reach Burhanpur from Bangalore. The easiest way to reach Burhanpur from Bangalore would be same as above. The fastest way to reach Burhanpur from Bangalore is to take a flight to Indore after that take taxi from Indore to Burhanpur. The fare of taxi would be approx 491 bucks only
By bus:
No direct bus from Bangalore to Burhanpur. So, firstly visitors have to take bus from Bangalore to Nagpur then Akola and at last visitors should take State Transport Bus from Akola to Burhanpur. The time taken by this road route is approx. 15hours 13minutes. And bus fare is 5108 bucks only.
By Flight:
By flight tourist cannot go directly from Bangalore to Burhanpur because there is no direct connectivity to reach Burhanpur (Asirgarh fort) by flight. So if you want to go by flight then you have to go there till Indore and after that you have to move from there by bus. To reach Indore flight takes 9h 11min. the fare spend by visitor for the flight that is 7216 bucks only.
From a blog:
Most interesting part of this blog is that Ashwathama is claimed to be seen by many people. Some of the instances are as follows:
A Vaidya (Ayurvedic Doctor) in Madhya Pradesh had a tough patient with a septic forehead. After several applications of a fail-proof potion, the wound was still fresh and kept bleeding. Amazed at this, the doctor wittingly said: “Your wound seems ageless and cureless. I wonder, are you Ashwathama..hahaha”. At the third ‘ha’, he turned around to apply the next doze and found that the seat was empty. The patient just disappeared into air, sealing Vaidya’s wit with reality. This was reported in the Kalyan Magazine as well but who knows if it’s a truth or not!!Legend says that in an Indian village near Burhanpur, there is an old fort called Asirgarh (in Madhya Pradesh), ancient tomb in India where Ashwathama supposedly offers flowers to a Shivaling each morning. This came very briefly on some news channels too.
Some Yogis like Pilot Baba mentioned their encounter and conversation with Ashwathama, who was living among tribes at Himalayan Foothills.
I believe in Hindu Mythology, and so I believe in the tale above and for the same reason, one day, I will visit the fort of Asirgarh too. If anyone knows of something else, please share.
By SandeepVerma:
I visited the place Asirgarh…found there a shiv temple but no proof of Aswathama visiting this place & offering pooja. Ashish who is caretaker there & working since 11 years has no incidence such. Later talked to some people who explained that these are stories with no live proof.
By Bristh:
Aswathhama is said to be 12 feet tall. As in the DwaparYuga , when Mahabharata was written and the incidents took place, half the world was full of evil powers. So, at that time people lived longer and had tremendous height. I have never visited Madhya Pradesh but I am really interested to know about mythology. I have also heard of a legend where Aswathama is said to visit a temple in Madhya Pradesh on Diwali night every year and some instances also gives us hints of a 6000 years old man who is 12 feet tall who has witnessed all the bloodshed of the world. But I personally think that nobody will be able to see them ever. As, maybe if they are immortal, they want peace. Even if they exist, they will never come in front of today’s people. But I believe that Aswathama is alive today and he Hanuman and character that are immortal are the only witnesses of the bloodshed and the history of the world.
Nahargarh fort is the first of three forts built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II. The fort is situated in Sawai Madhopur, in Rajasthan. It is located at the edge of Araballi, one of the largest mountains in the world. The fort offers a panoramic view of entire Pink City of Rajasthan. History says that the fort was named after the prince Nahar. It is said that during the construction of this palace his spirit troubled the area.
Here’s the list of 25 most haunted places in India
India is considered as a land of mysteries where several types of paranormal and blood curdling activities have occurred from time to time. Several questions arise in our mind and mostly these questions have no answers. In our childhood we listened to lots of stories related to spiritual and ghostly power by friends and relatives. If you want to visit haunted places in India so pack your bags and start visiting. You might need more than one month to travel. Now, we are highlighting the haunted places of Mumbai: Most Haunted Places in Mumbai: Have you ever thought that Mumbai, the city of dreams, trends and capital of business can also give you nightmares? This city has some haunted places. Below you will find a small list of the mysterious places of Mumbai:
