Narwar Fort

Narwar Fort crowns a hill about 500 feet high on a sheer Vindhya scarp at Narwar in Shivpuri district, and its walls take in some 8 square kilometres. Local tradition and medieval inscriptions say the town, once Nalapura, was founded by Raja Nala of the Mahabharata, and the fort is said to have been built or rebuilt by the Kachwahas in the 10th century. Pratiharas, Tomaras, the Malwa Sultanate, the Mughals and finally the Scindias followed. In folklore Nala's wife Damayanti guarded the treasury door by magic as Pasardevi, a turtle goddess, a tale still honoured at the gate.

The walls trace an outline likened to a duck, and cross-walls split the interior into quarters such as Majh Mahal, Madar Hata, Dulha Kot and Gurjar Ahata. Within are the Hawa Paur Mahal, Phulwa Mahal, Kacheri Mahal and the Chhip Mahal, which reuses carved pillars taken from an 11th-century Hindu temple. Rajput flat ceilings, fluted columns and arches survive, and the interiors were once painted and set with glass beads.