Kaleidoscoped in this book is a landscape of history, culture and lore. In the bastions and ramparts of the citadels in Bundelkhand, is the thought, letter and song. When Rani Lakshmi Bai rode out of her citadel at Jhansi to engage the British, a legend was born to inspire an entire national movement; Kalinjar fort defied Maumud of Ghazni and daunted Delhis formidable Sultan Sher Shah Suri; and the loftiness and bountiful spread of art and architecture of Datia, Orchha and Deogarh is among the most venerable of the countrys heritage. Time and the elements have taken their toll, but these strongholds-monumental symbols of our past continue to hold the senses.