In the Kalahandi District in the state Orissa, at the outer region of the Asurgarh, Asurgarh fort is situated. There is a myth or belief that the demon called Gosinha Daitya was residing in this fort in the past times. So the name of the fort derived from this legend. The name Asurgarh derived from the two words combination that is 'asur' which means demon and 'garh' which means house.

Now at the present time, there were only ruins of this fort, but originally this fort was in rectangular shape. Now at the present time on each side of the fort, there is an entrance. There is a shrine present that is a symbol of Goddess Ganga at the east part of the gate. As similar to that, the north, south and west region also have a shrines that are symbol of Budhraja, Vaishnavi, and Kala pahad deities. The shrine of Goddess Dokari is present inside the fort. There is elevated ground in the central part of the fort as this is present in the ancient times at the time of palace foundation.

From the 35 km away from the district headquarter Bhawanipatna, this fort is located. This is also famous for having number of famous temples.

History

Asurgarh is most common one ancient metropolis from the time period of 500 BC to 500 AD near to Narla in the Kalahandi. In the years around 2000 at the time of stone and copper-bronze age, the Asurgarh was a habitat of cultured, urbanized and better civilized people at that time and it is one of the oldest metropolis. Other than this, there is another metropolis near the Bhubaneswar named Sisupalgarh. During the time of 500 to 100 BC, this Asurgarh represents as a commercial hub of political culture namely Atavikas and Taitilaka Janapada.

The Chedi of Kalinga and Kusana were empire of the northwest region and they had a socio-cultural relationship with the Kalahandi at the century of first and third AD. This land is elected as a Mahavana in the stupas of Amaravati.

The Kalinga was shortened into a mini principalities and also lost its glory in 335 AD. With the company of the Deccan campaign, Samudragupta who is a Gupta emperor make a attack on the Kantara and Kosala and also defeat the king Vyagraraja of the Kantara and overcome his kingdom. He make an introduction of Tiger like Gold Coin in the empire of Gupta to bring about daring fight of Vyagraraja memory.

From Kalahandi to Koraput, the Sanskritization was initiated in the 5th century AD in Orissa. Due to the effect of Sanskritization, Kalahandi became the frame of Stambeswari belief in the 5th century AD. These are the ancestors of the cult of Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra. The temple of Goddess Stambeswari is the first temple made of bricks in the East India at the Asurgarh in the period of 500 AD.

Architecture

The structure of this fort is manufactured with a rubble, brick and earth that is surrounding by a mammoth like wall and it is having 4 gates and is rectangular in its shape. The East, North, and South sides of the fort was girdled by the deep moat. The area of the land of fort was about 24.29 hectares. At a distance about 3 km from the land of fort, there is a river Utei, which is a Tel tributary and towards the western part of the fort, there is a river Sandol that meets the river Utei toward the North side. There was a water reservoir in about 200 acres of land in this fort. This reservoir is called as Asursagar. The water of this reservoir has a draining system through the two gates of the fort. A small tank named Radhasagar was also dug in the southwest region of the fort. On the north and south part of the fort, there is occupancy region of the people around the fort. There is a mud wall that superimposed the occupancy area in the 100 hectares radius and this mud wall has only gate in the mid region.

How to Reach

By Air

A number of cities in India had its connection to the city through the airport nearly situated at Raipur. One reach the Kalahandi via Nuapada or Dharamgarh from Raipur. Another nearest airport were at Bhubaneswar about 450 km and other one is Vishakhapatnam at 300 km far.

By Rail

Kalahandi has its connection with Kesinga through the railway line. The major cities that linked through this city via rail line are Ranchi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Raipur, Vsakhapatnam, and Ahemadabad etc.

By Road

Through road, there is a 201 and 217 National Highway to the Kalahandi. Some bus servies are also available that are luxurious to the cities of Rourkela, Visakhapatnam, Raipur, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar from the city of Kalahandi.

Nearby Places to Visit

Ampani Hills

Ampani Hills is most popular place to visit in the district of Kalahandi. Tourist in this place also enjoyed trekking. There are rare flora and fauna species in the mid hills of the Haladigundi Valley. There are several animals like spotted dear, black panthers, and sambar were spotted in the sanctuary of Ambapani near the Behera Reservoir

Amathaguda

On the sides of the river Tel, Amathaguda fort is situated. At the present time, there are only ruins of the fort and there was an old bridge that is present along the new bridge. But in year 1977 due to huge floods, many portion of the new bridge was flow away.

Gudahandi Hills

At the northeast region of the Ampani, about 17.6 km away, Gundahandi hills were situated. There are three hills that are famous for its ancient caves having ancient paintings and together these hills make a Gudahandi Hill. By the joining of northern and southern hills, there is formation of valley. There are some natural caves that were formed of red slate stones in the region of hills. Except the one hill in the north region, all other hills were of same size. In the south side, the cave entrance is painted with red and black coloration. The pictures on these caves were related to the civilization of the Indus Valley.

Weather and Best Time to Visit

Summer (March to June, winters (October to February), and monsoon (July to September) are the three main seasons. There is a tropical climate in the Orissa at the south region of the tropic of cancer. There is a maximum temperature of about 40-46° C in the various districts of west of Sambalpur, Sundergarh, Kalahandi, Baragarh, and Mayurbhanj, but the winters are quite cool in these areas. The climate is quite humid and so sticky in the coastal regions. The low temperature in the season of summer ranges between 12-14° C and maximumtemperature ranges between 35-40° C. in the areas of Koraput and Phulbani, the temperature drops at about 3-4° C in some areas.

Through the experience of monsoon during the months of July to September in the south west region, the average rainfall measures about 150 cm. The rivers got flooded at the time of July month as this month is the wettest one. Also in the months of October to November, there is also minimum range of rainfall and the months of January and February are generally got dry.

The best time to visit the Asurgarh is from October to March.

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