Orchha is small fort city located just about 18 kilometres off Jhansi, in Madhya Pradesh. It was the second capital city of Bundelas and flourished in early 17th century, and its past splendour can still be seen today.

Wherever you are in Orchha, you will see the beautiful skyline of cenotaphs of burnt clay colour. The main two palaces are the Raja Mahal and the Jehangir Mahal. The first was built by the Bundela king Madhukar Shah, and is a simple palace with exquisite paintings in the bedrooms depicting the deities Krishna and Rama.

The Jehangir Mahal is instead a majestic palace that, according to the legend, was built for Mughal king Jehangir, who visited Orchha for a day and stayed in this 236 roomed palace along with his troops. It took 22 years to build this palace where the guests stayed only for a day. The Jehangir Mahal has been built in Indo-Islamic style: while the domes are round in shape like Islamic buildings, on top of them there are Hindus symbols such as peacocks and lotuses. The walls, painted with blue and green, show motifs from both religion and witness the coexistence of the two faiths at the time of Bundelas. From the top floor of this three storied building of singular beauty the view of the town of Orchha is fantastic, with the river Betwa flowing along one side.
 
Standing on a small hill, the Lakshmi temple is very interestingly built in the shape of an owl, the Goddess’ vehicle, with a beak at the top of the entrance. This temple has the most amazing scratch paintings of Orchha, done with vegetable color, depicting scenes from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, but also from the lives of local kings and scenes from India’s first freedom struggle in 1857, indicating that the temple paintings were updated regularly by the local kings.

While Lakshmi temple is interesting for its art, the most important for the town is surely the rich Raja Ram temple. People of Orchha believe that the town is ruled by Lord Rama; they do not treat him as a God, but as the king of Orchha, and fondly call him Raja Ram or King Rama. It is believed that during the day Lord Rama lives in Orchha and in the evening he goes and sleeps in Ayodhaya. There is a unique museum, called Saaket, that showcases scenes from the Ramayan depicted in different forms of paintings, Madhubani of Bihar, Chitrakathi of Maharashtra, Kalamkari and Cheriyal Pattam of Andhra, Patua of West Bengal and Patta of Orissa.

Orchha has everything that a traveler looks for: history, mythology, architecture, culture, and nature. It is also one of those few places which can be explored completely on foot, and once you reach Orchha you do not need any local transport. Orchha literally means "hidden", and this town seems to be living its name.