Tikamgarh Orchha Bundela Stone Temple Architecture

Orchha in Tikamgarh district (technically Niwari district since 2018) is a Bundela Rajput capital on the Betwa river with a cluster of 17th-century palace and temple monuments — the Ram Raja Temple (where Rama is worshipped as a king and receives a military salute daily), Chaturbhuj Temple, and Jahangir Mahal — that are among central India's finest examples of Bundela architecture blending Rajput and Mughal styles. Orchha's stone carvers from the Silawat community worked on the palace construction and continued the tradition of sandstone sculpture that is now practised as a craft for tourist sale. The Betwa river at Orchha flows through a rocky gorge supporting the Indian vulture (Gyps indicus) colony at Orchha Wildlife Sanctuary — one of the last viable vulture colonies in central India.