Bhopal
Capital Of Madhya Pradesh; The City Of Lakes · Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
The capital of Madhya Pradesh, built around two large lakes, and for a century ruled by a line of women, the Begums of Bhopal, who governed the princely state from 1819 to 1926. The Upper Lake, created in the eleventh century, gives the city its calm centre and its sunsets. The old city has the Taj-ul-Masajid, one of the largest mosques in India, and busy bazaars. Bhopal has some of the best museums in the country: the Tribal Museum, a vast and imaginative display of the cultures of Madhya Pradesh's Adivasi peoples, the open-air Museum of Mankind on the lake shore, and the Bharat Bhavan arts centre. It is also the city of the 1984 gas disaster, when a leak from the Union Carbide pesticide plant killed thousands; the site still stands, and a small museum tells the survivors' story. For most visitors Bhopal is the base for three remarkable sites nearby: Sanchi and its Buddhist stupas, the prehistoric rock shelters of Bhimbetka, both World Heritage Sites, and the unfinished giant Shiva temple of Bhojpur.
Upper Lake, Shamla Hills, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, 462001, India
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the Tribal Museum, the Museum of Mankind and Bharat Bhavan keep daytime hours, roughly late morning to early evening, and are commonly closed on Mondays and some national holidays. The Taj-ul-Masajid is open to visitors outside prayer times, and Friday midday prayers are best avoided. Van Vihar keeps its own hours and weekly closing day. The Upper Lake promenade is open all day. Traps: planning the museum day on a Monday, and arriving at the mosque during prayers. Confirm all times before planning.