From their vantage point at the northern extremity of the Kaimur hills, the impressive sandstone battlements of Chunar command a meander in the Ganga before the river curves north to Varanasi 22 km away. Evidence of the earliest occupation of the site dates it to Vikramaditya of Ujjain in 56 BC. Chunar sandstone has been used for centuries, most famously in Ashokan pillars - and is still quarried, leaving the surrounding hills looking ravaged in places.