MP trip: Bhopal – Sanchi

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27th October 2009
Continued from Ujjain.
Three hours journey on train from Ujjain brought us to Bhopal. We had made Bhopal as the center point to visit the nearby places.

The hotel we stayed was Palash Residency (From MPTDC). It was a very good hotel with a restaurant open for 24 hours. It even had South Indian menu. My daughter was very happy to see her favorite dosa!!

Since the places that we wanted to visit were in different directions, we booked a taxi for the entire day to visit the places around Bhopal. The first place we visited was Sanchi.

Sanchi is about 45 km from Bhopal and would take about 75 minutes on a taxi. Alternatively, one can take a train from Bhopal and get down at Vidisha, which is about 10 km from Sanchi. There are buses and autos from Vidhisa to Sanchi. Sanchi was a major Buddhist center that has several monuments built during 3rd century BC. Lot of monuments was vandalized during the course of time. With the decline of Buddhism in India, Sanchi became a forgotten place. It was rediscovered by a British Officer in 1818 and many of the monuments were restored back.

The Sanchi monuments are situated on a hillock. ASI is doing a very good job in maintaining the monuments.

The famous Sanchi stupa. (Also called as Stupa 1)Eastern gateway of the Stupa.
A Buddhist monastery. A big bowl which was used to keep food for monks!!

Stupa 2 was slightly away from the main monuments.

Stupa 3 which is next to stupa 1.


Though the monuments are situated in a small area but it takes quite a while to see all of them.

We also visited the museum at the base of the hill which contains several sculptures of Buddhist period.

To be continued…

4 Responses

  1. Sukanya C

    Hi Aaravind, I have just one day – Sunday for a quick trip to Sanchi or Bhimbetka from bhopal. Tell me … is one day enough? And can i get a good guide or do I have to resort to a good guide book. Any pointer would be of enormous help.

  2. Aravind GJ

    Sukanya,
    One day is enough for Sanchi and Bhimbetka, though it would be bit hectic.

    Guides are available at Sanchi monument complex.

    For Bhimbetka, it is better to stop at MPTDC hotel(3 km before Bhimbetka) for guides.

  3. sushantap

    Bhopal is known for its two beautiful manmade lakes that are named only as Upper Lake and Lower Lake. The huge Upper Lake was built by Raja Bhoj as it cured him of an incurable skin disease while the Lower Lake was built during the Mughal era. You can enjoy boating and other water activities on these serene lakes with your family. Hotel Surya is one of the best Bhopal hotels and is located in the heart of the city, very close to the railway station. Its easy accessibility makes it quite popular among travelers and tourists alike. You can find more such quality Bhopal hotels at hotelpushpak.com that has a good collection.

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