Running · ends in 7 daysNational

Off the Map — September

Check in at three Tier-4 destinations before the month is out. These are the places under twenty thousand people a year visit: minor forts, craft villages, rock-cut caves nobody has told you about. Complete it and the Off the Map badge is yours, along with 600 bonus points on top of the 450 the check-ins are already worth.

Your progress

2 of 3 needed

1 more to finish

Check-ins are made in the mobile app — you have to be inside the geofence with the in-app camera. This page tracks progress.

Destinations in this challenge

150 pts

Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitaoli

Morena, Madhya Pradesh

A circular eleventh-century temple of 64 yogini shrines on a hilltop — widely said to be the model for the Indian Parliament building.

2 hrs4.8(96)Moderate

150 pts

Bateshwar Temple Group

Morena, Madhya Pradesh

Around 200 small eighth-century temples rebuilt stone by stone from rubble, in Chambal ravine country, by an archaeologist who negotiated with dacoits to do it.

3 hrs4.9(74)Easy

150 pts

Garhkundar Fort

Niwari, Madhya Pradesh

A hill fort of the Khangar kings that is invisible until you are almost on top of it — and reportedly has an underground level nobody has fully mapped.

3 hrs4.7(58)Moderate

150 pts

Bhimkund

Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh

A natural underground pool of startlingly clear blue water whose depth has never been established, and which is said to rise before major disasters.

2 hrs4.6(88)Easy

150 pts

Dhamnar Rock-Cut Caves

Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh

Fifty-one rock-cut Buddhist caves from the fourth century, plus a Hindu temple carved out of a single hill — and effectively zero visitors.

4 hrs4.7(42)Moderate

150 pts

Patalkot

Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh

A horseshoe valley sunk 350 m into the Satpura plateau, home to Bharia and Gond villages that had almost no outside contact until the 1990s.

10 hrs4.6(130)Challenging

150 pts

Bagh Caves

Dhar, Madhya Pradesh

Fifth-century Buddhist caves with mural painting contemporary with Ajanta — in a village that is also the last home of Bagh block-printing.

5 hrs4.6(64)Easy

150 pts

Ginnorgarh Fort

Sehore, Madhya Pradesh

A Gond hill fort on a sandstone outcrop inside the Ratapani reserve, reached by a two-hour trek, with the plateau of Bhopal laid out below.

7 hrs4.7(110)Challenging