Eternal India Encyclopedia

ETERNAL INDIA encyclopedia

A GREAT DESTINATION

1235 and rebuilt by the Scindias. Ruins of the old temple can be seen near the Scindia palace. Indore : Industrial town on the banks of the River Saraswati. Principal attraction is the Kanch Mandir (Glass Temple). The walls, floors and ceilings of the temple are made of beads, pre- cious stones and glass. Omkareshwar : 80 km away from Indore. Temple of Omkar stands on an island in river Narmada and Manileshwar (or Amareshwar) on the south bank. Maheshwar : The fort has a statue of Ahalya Bai, widow of Malhar Rao Holkar, who ruled with great ability after his death. 100 miles from Indore. Mandu : 95 kms from Indore. Also called Shadibad or City of Joy. Once capital of the central Indian kingdom of Malwa, it is a ghost town spread over a 12 sq km hilltop. It appears dormant rather than dead and looks beautiful after the rains when numerous waterfalls begin to spout. It has one of the best collections of Afghan architecture in India. Palaces to be seen are the ship-like Khajuraho : This was the capital of the Chandela kings (950 - 1050) who built 85 temples in the Indo - Aryan style. Out of these 32 have survived. They were discovered in 1840 by a party of British hunters and constitute one of the most famous tourist at- tractions of India. Several temples have erotic sculptures. They have been divided into 3 groups and cover 13 kms. The western group has the most famous and interesting temples. The Khaju- raho dance festival is held here every March. Leading classical dancers from all over India perform against the backdrop of the temples. Khajuraho can be reached by air, Delhi - Khajuraho or Agra - Khajuraho. The nearest railheads are Jhansi (175 kms) on Delhi - Bombay line and Satna (120 kms) on Bombay - Allahabad line. Jabalpur : Second largest town in the state, east of Bhopal. 24kms from Jabalpur are the Marble Rocks, white limestone cliffs rising 30 metres above the water of the Narmada River. They are a wonderful sight by moonlight. Pachmarhi : Madhya Pradesh's hill station. Bandhavgarh National Park : Has a wide variety of wildlife. 175 kilometres from Jabalpur. Kanha National Park : One of the finest national parks in India. 166 kms from Jabalpur. Closed from July 1 to October 31. Mandla : Fort built in the 17th century. Jahaz Mahal (ship palace) Hindola Mahal, Champa Boli, Jami Masjid, Hoshang's tomb, Rupmati's pavilion and Nikanth palace. No visitor to Madhya Pradesh should miss seeing Mandu. Bagh caves : 50 kms west of Mandu. These 9 Buddhist caves date from 400-700 A.D. Like the Ajanta caves they are decorated with murals. But only 5 are in good shape, rest in ruins.

Bhujpal. Situated on the shores of twin lakes. The Taj-ul-Masjid, one of India's largest mosques was commenced by Shah Jehan Begum but never completed. Other mosques are Juma Masjid (1837) and Moti Masjid (1860). Bhopal made headlines in De- cember 1984 when the world's biggest industrial disaster caused by poisonous' gas leakage occurred at the Union Carbide plant killing more than 1000. Gwalior : In the north-west of Madhya Pradesh. Only, a few hours from Agra by train or road. Famous for very old (525 A.D.) and very large fort built on sheer rock. Inside the fort there are a number of temples and ruined palaces. Shivpuri : Old summer capital of Gwalior rulers, 117 km south - west of Gwalior. 8 kms from Shivpuri is the Madhav National Park (Sambhar, chital, nilghai and chinkara). Sultanarh Falls is on N.H. 10. Shivpuri Sakhya Sagar Lake is 8 kms from Shivpuri. The Scindias' summer Madhav Vilas Palace and Maharaja Madhav Rao's white marble memorial are worth seeing. Tantia Topi was hanged here by the British for taking part in the 1857 revolt. Chanderi : 127 kms from Shivpuri. Has many ruined palaces, mosques and tombs in Pathan style. Koshak Mahal is a ruined Muslim palace. Famous today for gold brocades and saris. Orchha : Former capital of the Bundela Rajputs. Bir Singh Dev's palace on an island in the Betwa River is worth seeing as also the Chatturibhuj Temple and the Lakshmi Narayan Temple. Sanchi : 68 kms north of Bhopal. Has one of the most striking architectural remains of ancient India, the great stupa built by the Emperor Ashoka in honour of Buddha in the 3rd century B.C. Stupa contains engraved scenes and events from the Buddha's life. Stupa has four entrances. There are also numerous ancient ruins of temples and monasteries on the hill-top. Vidisha : (near Sanchi) The city is known as Besnagar, the railway station as Bhilsa. The Khamb Baba pillar was erected by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador from Taxila (now in Pakistan) who became a convert to Hinduism. The pillar is dedicated to Vishnu. Udayagiri : 7 kms west of Vidisha. The caves here date from the Gupta dynasty (4th - 7th century A.D). One cave has an image of Vishnu in his varaha (boar) incarnation. Raisen : 23 kms south of Sanchi on road to Bhopal;. The hilltop fort (1200 A.D.) has temples, cannons, and three palaces. Udaypur : 90 km north of Sanchi. The Neelkantheswara Temple (1059 AD) is aligned so that the first rays of the morning sun shine on the Shiva lingam in the sanctum. Bhimbetka : 40 km from Bhopal. 700 caves cut out from the rock were discovered in this village in 1957. They date back to the stone age and are some of the earliest record of man in India. The caves have paintings of various animals, scenes of hunting, danc- ers, social life etc. It is said that the Pandavas came here during their exile. Bhim's seat was here. Hence Bhim-betka. Ujjain : 80 km from Indore on the banks of the Sipra River. It was the capital of Chandragupta II (380-414 AD) who ruled from here rather than from the actual capital of Pataliputra. His court was adorned by the nine gems of Hindu literature including the San- skrit poet Kalidasa who described Ujjain as "the town fallen from heaven to bring heaven to earth ". Site of the Kumbh Mela which is held once in 12 years here (last held in 1992). Main attraction is the Mahakala temple destroyed by Sultan Iltutmish of Delhi in

MAHARASHTRA

Bombay : The capital of Maharashtra, it is the commercial and financial capital of India, the most industrialised city of India. It