The celebrated hill fort of Kalinjar is situated at Tarahti on the road to Nagod about 56 km. south of Banda. The name Tarahti is derived from tare signifying below and refers to the village’s situation at the foot of the hill.

The hill on which the fort is built is situated at the south-eastern edge of the plains of Bundelkhand. It has an elevation of 374.90  m. above the sea and of some 213.36 m. above that of the surrounding country. From the adjacent range of the Vindhyas it is isolated by a chasm about 1,150 m. wide. To the east lies the smaller hill of Kalinjari with an elevation approximately equal to that of Kalinjar. The sides rise rather steeply from the plain. The lower part the hill consists of syenite in vast polyhedral masses fitting into each other, and can be surmounted; but the upper part, consisting of sandstone arranged in horizontal strata presents externally a nearly perpendicular face of 50 m. to 60 m. in height, which is almost everywhere impracticable of ascent.