Khajuraho
Shantinath, a mixture of old and modern construction, is the main place of worship in the Jain group. It has a collection of components from older temples…
Must-see attractions in Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Archaeological Museum New Building
Khajuraho
The bright, purpose-built, new building of the Archaeological Museum, north of the Western Group temples, opened in 2016. It contains a collection of…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Jagdalpur's old-fashioned-looking museum, 3km west of the centre, has illuminating exhibits on tribal customs and culture, as well as many artefacts…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Ten kilometres south of the Jai Stambh by paved road, a path leading 30m into the damp gloom reveals a lingam with attendant priest. This is the beginning…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Of the scattered pillar remains, the most important is Pillar 10, erected by Ashoka but later broken. Two upper sections of this beautifully proportioned…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
From the river ghats, incense smoke and colourful small boats (₹50 per person or ₹200 for 10 minutes) drift across the water to Baneshwar Temple on a tiny…
Khajuraho
From Raneh Falls you can ride or drive 5km northward to see gharials, critically-endangered and very elegant crocodilians with long, slender snouts that…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
These five ancient rock dwellings are believed to have been carved by Buddhists as early as the 4th century. The foundations of a brick Buddhist stupa…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Looking like it has fallen straight out of a twee little English village, Pachmarhi's beautiful Gothic-revival Protestant church was built back in 1875,…
Khajuraho
About 800m west from the Chausath Yogini Temple, down a track and across a couple of fields (just ask the locals), is the sandstone-and-granite Lalguan…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
This gorgeous red-stone, Indo-Gothic city hall was built in 1904 and originally called King Edward’s Hall. It still looms like a ghost of the Raj, despite…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Sonari (10km southwest of Sanchi) is the most accessible Buddhist site from Sanchi. The site consists of a series of squat stupas that when first…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Accessed by a trail of about 2.5km from the road towards Reechgarh, this ancient rock shelter is notable for its (now sadly faded) rock paintings,…
Karnavati Interpretation Centre
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
This is where tickets for Panna Tiger Reserve 4WD safaris are issued. There's also a small museum with exhibits on the reserve. It's 1km from the park…
Khajuraho
Walking around the Western Group enclosure from the Chitragupta Temple you come to the closed-up Parvati Temple on your right, a small temple originally…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Temple 18 is a chaitya (prayer room or assembly hall) similar in appearance to classical Greek columned buildings. It dates from around the 7th century AD…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Displays a dusty collection of 10th- and 11th-century sculpture from local sites, while upstairs are galleries for stone and copper inscriptions, ancient…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
In 1982 archeologists working in a remote site in the far NE of Madhya Pradesh uncovered a series of ancient stupas at Deur Kothar (near Satna). They also…
Khajuraho
A 2.2m-long statue of Nandi, Shiva’s bull vehicle, faces the Vishvanath Temple dedicated to Shiva. The elephant frieze round the basement of this 12…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Monasteries 45 and 47, standing on the eastern ridge of the monuments site, date from the transition from Buddhism to Hinduism, with strong Hindu elements…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
This 100m-plus fall is a difficult 4km hike from the road that leads to Reechgarh.
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Monastery 51 sits a short way downhill west of the Great Stupa, beside a tank. Outside its west gate is the Great Bowl, carved from a boulder, into which…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
It's worth wandering up to the north end of town to the Delhi Gate, which was the main entrance to Mandu. You can walk up on top of it and along a short…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Also known as Suicide Point, Handi Khoh is a viewpoint on the lip of 100m-deep, densely forested canyon, with Chauragarh visible in the distance.
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Accessible by road 3.3km west of the Jai Stambh, this is a strange natural amphitheatre, reached through a cavelike passage between rocks.
Khajuraho
The small, white Hanuman Temple contains a 2.5m-tall orangepainted statue of the Hindu monkey god. It's most interesting for the pedestal inscription from…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
These former stables now house a small Archaeological Museum with artefacts found at Mandu, including 11th- and 12th-century sculptures and 15th-century…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Between the Great Stupa and Stupa 3 is the small Stupa 5, unusual in that it once contained a statue of Buddha, now displayed in the Archaeological Museum.
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
The gold spikes crowning the squat minarets of the Jama Masjid Mosque, built in the 1830s by Qudsia Begum, glint serenely above the skull caps and veils…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Like its larger neighbour Temple 18, the Gupta-period Temple 17 bears a resemblance to classical Greek buildings. The columns on its porch are topped by…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Interesting exhibits detailing the history and legends of Bandhavgarh, plus some superb tiger photos on the 1st floor. It's behind the safari ticket…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
A clifftop viewpoint with Chauragarh in sight across the jungle-filled valleys. It's 5km south of the Jai Stambh, 300m off the Mahadeo road.
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Behind Monastery 51, partway down the hill towards Stupa 2, is the Great Bowl, carved from a huge boulder, into which food and offerings were placed for…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
The fort's modern, gold-topped gurdwara is dedicated to Sikh Guru Hargobind Singh, who was imprisoned in Man Singh Palace from 1617 to 1619.
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
This was the dwelling of a powerful merchant chieftain whose 'shop', on the main road outside the Royal Enclave, is even more impressive.
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
This cave temple is in a beautiful gorge 1km along a road that’s signed just north of the town limits. The small Shiva shrine is hidden under a huge…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
The pretty waterfall and pools at Bee Falls can almost be reached by bike (you have to walk the last quarter-kilometre or so).
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
The fifth and final gate on the eastern path up to Gwalior Fort is the Hathi Gate, built in 1516, with its two tall towers. Through here you enter the…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Pillar 35 (northwest of the Great Stupa) dates from the 5th century AD. Its capital, with a figure of the Bodhisattva Vajrapani, is in the Archaeological…
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Unlike many of Mandu's step-wells, this one is open to the sky. With care you can walk down the steps to the water level and get a closer look at the fish.
