Cities- Indore, The cultural capital of Madhya Pradesh

I was on my second adventure, touring Madhya Pradesh -solo as usual. My first destination was Indore. I took an overnight train from Vadodara and reached Indore early morning. January cold was unbearable.

Indore is one of the major cities in Madhya Pradesh and tourists visit this place as a base for other tourist attractions (Mandu, Maheshwar and Bagh Caves) and Pilgrimage centers (Ujjain and Omkareshwar).

I stayed at hotel  paying Rs.1,050+tax per night which is expensive for the room standard, especially the carpet and furniture. But, food was really good and also expensive. Autorikshaw are expensive too. You don't have to ride in the autorikshaw, even if you touch the vehicle you may have to pay Rs.10!!! In Indore, one can do more shopping than sightseeing. Beautiful Maheshwari sarees are speciality of the area. For sightseeing, there isn't much. The popular attractions are Rajwada and Lal Baug Palace. Rest are temples and jain mandir etc like any other city. I took city buses to go around. They are cheap and the conductors are very helping in nature.

Rajawada, a seven storied structure stands high in the middle of busy streets of the city. It was the palace of Holkars. There is a large courtyard surrounded by galleried halls and a Ganesha shrine. Upstairs is another large hall with chandeliers. At the entry, an official helped me with some history and architecture. It seems the architecture is mix of Mughal, French and Maratha styles. The structure was damaged due to fire in 1984. Most of it is restored. The palace has entry fees, camera fees extra. There is a temple adjacent to the palace which was worship place of Holkars. This temple was completely destroyed in the fire and is built afresh. Made of stone and wood, the building is cool inside even in the hot afternoon, has shrines for the favorite deity of Holkars and few other beautiful Hindu idols. 

Lal Baug Palace is one of the stylish buildings in Indore. It is a museum now. It stands amid a dry garden whose gates are replica of gates of Buckingham Palace (info from the guide). They were brought from England. The palace is lavishly decorated with marble and italian style wall paintings. There are many rooms displaying grand westernized living style of the rulers. The palace has entrance fees and photography is not allowed inside. 

Apart from these, I visited Kanch Mandir (a jain mandir) where every inch on interior walls is decorated with inlayed mirrors. And, also a Bade Ganeshji mandir where a huge Ganesha idol is worshiped. In both of these places photography is not allowed :( There is also a Central Museum which you may want to see.

I walked around in the busy bustling markets clicking interesting pictures. All shopkeepers invited me to their shops to see-and-then-buy-stuff. Instead, I bought Angoor (green grapes) from a street side vendor. I ended my trip trying to figure out how to reach my next destination Ujjain.

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Backpacking India.

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