Cities of Madhya Pradesh

Sanchi
Sanchi is 46 km north east of Bhopal,on a hill rises from the plain. It's topped by some of the oldest and most interesting Buddhist structures in India. It was the great Emperor Ashoka, Buddhism's most famous convert, who built the first stupas here in the 3rd century BC, and a great number of stupas and other religious structures were added over the succeeding centuries.

Places of Interest:
Archaeological Museum, Great Stupa, Pillars, Temples, Monasteries.

Vidisha
Vidisha was important in Ashoka's time. Then it was known as Besnagar and was the largest town in the area. The ruins of the 2nd century BC Brahmanical shrine here show traces of lime mortar-the earliest use of cement in India.

Places of Interest
Udaigiri Caves, Udayapur

Pachmarhi
Madhya Pradesh's peaceful hill station stands at an altitude of 1067m, Nesteled in the Satpura Ranges National Park 210 Km south-east of Bhopal. There are fine views over the surrounding red sandstone hills, pools and waterfalls to bathe in, ancient cave paintings and some interesting walks through the sal forests.







Jabalpur
Almost due south of Khajuraho and east of Bhopa, the large city of Jabalpur is principally famous today for the gorge on the Narmada River known as the Marble rocks. It's also the departure point for a visit to the national parks of Kanha (160 km) and Bandhavgarh (197 km).

Kanha National Park
Kanha, 160 km south-east of Jabalpur, is one of India's largest national parks, covering 1945 sq km including a 'core zone' of 940 sq km. The setting for Kipling's Jungle Book, it's a beautiful area of sal forest and lightly wooded grassland with many rivers and streams. It is also part of Project Tiger. Over the past 30 years has seen a steady increase in the numbers of tigers and leopards, as well as sambar, chital (spotted deer), Barasingha (swamp deer) and gaur (Indian bison). Kanha is completely closed from 1 july to 31 October, owing to the monsoons.

Bandhavgarh National Park
This national park is 197 km north-east of Jabalpur in the Vindhyan mountain range.

It's much smaller than Kanha but claims to have the highest density tiger population in India with between 46 and 52 tigers. There are also 27 leopards.
The park area is 448 sq km, of which 105 sq km is the 'core area'. Bandhavgarh's setting is impressive. The core area of the park has a fragile ecology, but it supports a variety of wildlife such as nilgai, wild boar, jackals, gaur, sambar and porcupines as well as many species of birds.