Things to do in Central Madhya Pradesh
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Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya
A kind of tribal safari park, only without the tribes, the open-air, hillside complex Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya is possibly your best chance to get a taste of India’s 450-plus tribes without actually visiting an Adivasi village. Authentic-looking dwellings – built and maintained by Adivasis using traditional tools and materials – dot the hillside. There’s a mythological trail and a more conventional museum on the hilltop.
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Taj-ul-Masjid
Bhopal’s third female ruler, Shah Jahan Begum wanted to create the largest mosque in the world, so in 1877 set about building Taj-ul-Masjid. It was still incomplete at her death in 1901, after funds had been diverted to other projects, and construction did not resume until 1971. Fortress-like terracotta walls surround three gleaming white onion domes and a pair of towering pink minarets with white domes. If you can make the dawn azan (Muslim call to prayer), you won’t regret it.
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Lakshmi Narayan Temple
Lakshmi Narayan Temple has a series of marble panels illustrating the central tenets of the Bhagavad Gita and views across the lakes to the minaret-dotted old city. An adjacent museum contains a small collection of local sculptures dating back to the 6th century. For those who don't make it to Bhimbetka, there's a reconstruction of one of the rock shelters.
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Van Vihar National Park
The best time to visit the 445-hectare safari park is at 16:30, when animals including two white tigers, an albino sloth bear and a lion pace the edges of their cages waiting to be fed. You may want to hire a rickshaw - it's 5km from the entrance to the basic interpretation centre at the end.
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Bharat Bhavan
This cultural centre is a serene place to take in modern Indian art, tribal carvings and paintings, a library and private contemporary art galleries. There is a cafe, and regular evening performances (7pm) of poetry, music and theatre.
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Jama Masjid Mosque
The gold spikes crowning the squat minarets of the Jama Masjid Mosque, built in 1837 by Qudsia Begum, glint serenely above the skull caps and veils swirling through the bazaar below.
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Bird house
Once you have the right file with the fonts loaded, open the first chapter of the book. Open Atlas and find the root destination associated with the book. For the Australia guide this will be 'Australia', for the Botswana & Namibia guide this will be 'Botswana' when working on destinations in Botswana, and 'Namibia' when working on Namibian destinations. Click on the destination name in Atlas to open the destination details page. This page includes all child places beneath this destination (on the right hand side under Children). There is a 'Create new place (as child of 'destination')' link under the 'Children' section. By clicking this link a new page will open where a …
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Southern Gateway
The back-to-back lions supporting the oldest gateway form the state emblem of India and can be seen on every banknote; they're an excellent example of the Greco-Buddhist art of that era. The gateway narrates Ashoka's life as a Buddhist, with scenes of Buddha's birth and another representation of the Great Departure. Also featured is the Chhaddanta Jataka, in which Buddha took the form of a six-tusked elephant. One of his two wives became jealous and had the elephant hunted and killed. The sight of his tusks, sawn off by the hunter, was sufficient for the queen to die of remorse.
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Northern Gateway
Topped by a broken wheel of law, this is the best preserved of the toranas. Scenes include a monkey offering a bowl of honey to Buddha, represented by a bo tree. Another panel depicts the Miracle of Sravasti - one of several miracles represented here - in which Buddha, again in the form of a bo tree, ascends a road into the air. Elephants support the architraves above the columns, while horses with riders and more elephants squeeze in between.
Delicately carved yakshis (maidens) hang nonchalantly on each side.
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Toranas
Four gateways were erected around 35 BC and had all completely fallen down at the time of the stupa's restoration. Scenes carved onto the pillars and their triple architraves are mainly tales from the Jatakas, episodes from Buddha's various lives. At this stage in Buddhist art he was never represented directly - his presence was alluded to through symbols. The lotus stands for his birth, the bodhi tree his enlightenment, the wheel his teachings, and the footprint and throne his presence. The stupa itself also symbolises Buddha.
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Eastern Gateway
The breathtakingly carved figure of a yakshi, hanging from an architrave, is one of Sanchi's best-known images. One of the pillars, supported by elephants, features scenes from Buddha's entry to nirvana. Another shows Buddha's mother Maya's dream of an elephant standing on the moon, which she had when he was conceived. Across the front of the middle architrave is the Great Departure, when Buddha (a riderless horse) renounced the sensual life and set out to find enlightenment.
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Pillars
Of the scattered remains of pillars, the most important is Pillar 10, erected by Ashoka and later broken by a local landowner. Two upper sections of this beautifully proportioned and executed shaft lie side by side under a shelter 20m away; the capital (pillar's top, usually sculpted) is in the museum. Pillar 25, dating from the Sunga period (2nd century BC) and the 5th-century AD Pillar 35 are not as fine as the earlier pillar.
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Satpura National Park
A ticket for Satpura National Park must be bought at the ticket office outside Bison Lodge. It includes entry to Bison Lodge Museum, Bee Falls, Duchess Falls, Reechgarh, Astachal, Ramykund and Rajat Prapat (including Panchuli Kund and Apsara Vihar). Other sights are free. Most decent-length treks, and all wildlife safaris, will also require a park ticket.
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Western Gateway
Potbellied dwarfs support the architraves of this gateway, which has some of the site's most interesting scenes. The top architrave shows Buddha in seven different incarnations, manifested three times as a stupa and four times as a tree. The rear of one pillar shows Buddha resisting the Temptation of Mara, while demons flee and angels cheer. The Chhaddanta Jataka features again.
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Temple 18
Temple 18 is a chaitya (prayer room or assembly hall) remarkably similar in style to classical Greek-columned buildings. It dates from around the 7th century AD, but traces of earlier wooden buildings have been discovered beneath it. Nearby is the small Temple 17, also Greek-like. The large Temple 40, slightly southeast, in part dates back to the Ashokan period.
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New Inn
Clean and colourful split-level restaurant with a well-priced menu served by staff in waistcoats and bow ties. There are good breakfast choices, including filter coffee (Rs. 10), but it’s the delicious main courses that hit the spot. If you like a bit of spice, don’t leave this place without trying the mattar paneer (unfermented cheese and pea curry).
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Islamnagar Palaces
The fortified city of Islamnagar, 11km north of Bhopal was the first capital of Bhopal state, founded as Jagdishpur by the Rajputs before Dost Mohammed Khan occupied and renamed it in the early 18th century. The still-standing walls enclose two villages and remains including two palaces, Chaman Mahal and Rani Mahal.
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Monasteries 45 and 47
The earliest monasteries were made of wood and are long gone. The usual plan is of a central courtyard surrounded by monastic cells. Monasteries 45 and 47, standing on the eastern ridge, date from the transition from Buddhism to Hinduism, with strong Hindu elements in their design. The former has two exceptional sitting Buddhas.
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Manohar
There’s only chhole (masala chickpeas, served with puri, a flat savoury dough that puffs up when deep fried) to go with your tea or coffee in the morning, but mains – pizza, Chinese, South Indian – are served from mid-day onward. Has an impressive range of Indian confectionary at a side counter.
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Indian Coffee House
Not as salubrious as the New Market branch, but nonetheless a top spot for a breakfast of filter coffee and scrambled eggs. The usual South Indian favourites – dosa, idli and vada (doughnut-shaped deep-fried lentil savoury) – are all here too, as are the waiters with the white fan-tailed hats.
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Bhopal-On-Wheels
Bhopal-On-Wheels is a guided tour on a toy-train lookalike open bus, departing from Palash Residency and winding through the hills and the old city. Stops include Lakshmi Narayan Temple, MP Tourism Boat Club and Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya. Minimum five passengers.
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Archaeological Museum
This museum has a small collection of sculptures. The centrepiece is the lion capital from the Ashoka Pillar 10. Other highlights include a yakshi hanging from a mango tree, and beautifully serene Buddha figures in red sandstone – some of the earliest found anywhere.
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Archaeological Museum
This first-class archaeological museum includes some wonderful temple sculptures as well as 87 Jain bronzes unearthed by a surprised farmer in western Madhya Pradesh. Keep an eye out for the tiny, but remarkably animated, metal carpet seller in the Royal Collections Gallery.
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District Museum
Past the town, and over the railway line, is the dusty District Museum, which houses some beautiful sculptures recovered from local sites, the most impressive of which is a 3m-high, 2nd-century-BC stone statue of Kuber Yaksha, treasurer of the Gods, on display as you enter.
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Jewellery Market
The labyrinthine alleys, weaving towards the Jama Masjid, stock delicate gold and silver jewellery, fancifully woven saris, hand-embroidered appliqué skirts and jari (glittering embroidery, often including shards of mirror or glass) shoulder bags, a speciality of Bhopal.
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