Salkanpur Bijasan Mata, Sehore

The Vindhya-hill Shakti temple of Bijasan Mata at Salkanpur in Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh, 70 kilometres from Bhopal — a hilltop goddess shrine reached by an 800-step climb on the Vindhya range. The goddess Bijasan Mata (Vijaya Sena, 'army of victory') is identified as a form of Vindhyavasini and is particularly associated with warrior and Khatri communities of central India. The temple foundation is traditional 15-century. The annual Navratri festivals (Chaitra and Ashwin) draw over 500,000 pilgrims. The Madhya Pradesh government operates a ropeway from the base to the summit since 2005 for elderly pilgrims. The temple is managed by the Salkanpur Devasthan Trust and the Madhya Pradesh government. The adjacent Vindhya forest reserve preserves the hill's surrounding ecosystem.