Indore

Indore (Hindi: इन्दौर Indaur), the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, is on the Malwa Plateau. While growing at a fast pace, it still manages to combine traditional and modern lifestyles. Indoris are well known for their warm and friendly attitude. The city is officially the cleanest in India, a distinction it has earned through the dedicated efforts of its local government.

Understand
Indore is situated at an altitude of 553 m above sea level, on the banks of two small rivulets - the Saraswati and the Khan. They unite at the centre of the city where there is a small 18th-century temple of Sangamnath or Indreshwar. The name Indore is due to this deity. It is the largest city in Madhya Pradesh, with a population of over a million, and a commercial hub. Indore city presents a happy blend of historical past and promises of rapid modernization.

Indore has witnessed the reign of one of the greatest women in Indian history, Rani Ahilyabai Holkar. Malhar Rao Holkar, the father-in-law of Ahilyabai was bestowed Indreshwar or Indrapur (from which the name Indore was derived) by the Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao. Widowed when she was barely out of her teens Rani Ahilyabai took the responsibility of Indore into her own hands and was instrumental in planning and building this city. 14 generations of the Holkar dynasty ruled Indore for 220 years. On 16th June 1948, the Holkar State joined the Indian republic.

Formerly a major trading centre, the city, along with its satellite townships of Pithampur and Dewas, has established itself as a strong industrial base and the most developed city of Madhya Pradesh. The era of liberalisation has seen Indore at the forefront of a number of privatisation initiatives which include the country's first toll road and private telephone network (Airtel). Traditional industries for which the city is famous, such as those in cotton cloth and bangles, are very much alive.

Indore is also known for its great food.

Climate
Due to its location on the southern edge of the Malwa Plateau, Indore makes an excellent tourist destination. Later in the day, there are cool breezes which make the evenings quite pleasant. Poets have deemed Shab-e-Malwa (the night of Malwa) exquisite beyond compare. The city also has many good tourist spots in its vicinity. Mandav is a city of palaces and lakes very close to Indore.

Get in
Indore is well connected by road, rail and air with the Agra-Mumbai highway passing through the city. It is relatively close to Mumbai (593 km) and Delhi (807 km), both of which are connected by daily flights operated by Air India.

By plane


Indore airport provides free Wifi internet connectivity. The airport has a service desk of all major hotels of Indore wherein you can book a room. The airport is 8 km away from the main city. To reach the city centre there are private paid taxis available.

By train
Indore is connected to major Indian cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Howrah, Bhopal, Ujjain, Gwalior, Bhind, Jabalpur, Bilaspur, Khandwa, Lucknow, Varanasi, Patna, Ambala Ct, Jammu, Dehradun and Trivandrum.

Indore has 4 major railway stations: Indore Junction, Rajendra Nagar Railway Station Laxmibai Railway Station and Rau Railway Station.



By road
The national highway NH3 (Bombay-Agra Road) and NH59 (Indore-Ahmedabad Road) passes through Indore.

There are daily bus services from Indore to Mumbai, Jaipur, Gwalior and Bhopal. Some of the bus services are Royal Travels, Hans and City Link Travels. The state-owned transport service is not in good shape to cater current demands and should be avoided.

Get around
There are numerous rental car/travel companies in the city, where can you can get cars according to KM or fixed rate basis. Ask for packages for both the cabs, if you are planning to go around for long time. A/C charges are extra. Auto Rickshaws-Available everywhere.

The city has been major change and development at the moment most of the city is approachable through AICTSL City buses and A major part of the city has been connected through BRTS shuttle bus called iBus, there are cheaper shared transportation (Maruti Vans) that runs throughout the city. The government is planning to start metro train in Indore so that the traffic loads on roads get down to some level as the city faces traffic jams in every corner.

Along with traditional ways to find a taxi one can use apps like Jugnoo, Ola and Uber to book auto rickshaw and taxi. They are reliable and charge fairly. Just make sure to book them well in time if you have a flight, train or bus to catch.

See
Indore has many good places to see ranging from shopping malls, to historical and cultures spots. The city's rich heritage and culture is reflected through the beautifully built palaces and temples.



Do

 * Mughal garden
 * French garden
 * Open air amphi-theatre
 * artistic village area
 * French garden
 * Open air amphi-theatre
 * artistic village area

Buy
Thanks to the rich black soil of the Malwa Plateau, Indore has prospered into being the fourth largest centre of cotton textile industry in India. Indore is also known for its leather toys and Maheshwari & Chanderi are some very interesting ornate sarees and brocades to offer. There is a lot of sari work comes out of Madhya Pradesh, and the Maheshwari sarees have particularly gained in popularity of late. Besides the fabrics, there is a variety of local carving crafts to choose from, and the city is also justly famous for its beautiful bangles. Most of markets in Indore remain closed on Sunday.

Some places to pick Maheshwari sarees and handicrafts:


 * Mrignayni Showroom: Behind Gujarati Girl's college, it is an MP government's exclusive handicraft store.
 * MT Cloth Market: for clothing specially in wholesale
 * Sitlamata Bazar: for retail clothings and sarees
 * Treasure Island: The biggest shopping mall where you get each and every thing in effective price.
 * Treasure Island: The biggest shopping mall where you get each and every thing in effective price.

Jewellery
The biggest market for the jewellery is the Sarafa Market. Other stores include


 * DDamas- Jhanjhir wala chauraha
 * DP Jewellers from Ratlam-Y.N Road
 * Interstar-Diamond Jewellery- Near 56 shop
 * Jaipur Jewellers-M.G Road
 * Punjab Jewellers- M.G Road
 * Rajat Gems- Gold, Diamonds, Silver Articles - City Center, M.G. Road
 * Tanishq-M.G Road
 * TBZ(Tribhuvan Das Bhimji)-M.G Road

Eat
The usual breakfast consists of kachories, samosas and pohas, and then there are sweets such as jalebies, imarties, gulab jamuns, malpuas, kaju katli and rabdi. One must also not miss baked (bina tala) samosas/patties, bana hua style, all over the city, mostly available at Saanchi Milk Parlours.



Drink

 * Blue Ice-At Orbit Mall
 * Chasers-At Centrall Mall
 * The Drink-At T.I Mall
 * Hotel Kanchan Tilak
 * Hotel Radisson
 * Lava Tittos Bhawarkua Indore
 * Level 3-At Mangal City Mall
 * Nakhrali Dhani
 * On The Rocks Velocity Indore
 * Quorum-At Sayaji Hotel
 * Sarovar Portico
 * Sheesha Sky Lounge C-21 Mall Indore
 *  The Sports Bar-T.I Mall
 * Yeshwant Club
 *  The Sports Bar-T.I Mall
 * Yeshwant Club
 * Yeshwant Club

Sleep
The good hotels in Indore are:

These have good restaurants also and your stay will be comfortable.

Stay safe
Indore is a safe place to stay. Like other big cities, it does not have safety issues generally even at late hours. You can find the roads full of people even at 11PM.

It is also safe for women. Though some parts of the cities are isolated after 8pm so you will have to make sure you don't go alone in these areas as safety maybe an issue.

General safety measures need to be used. But in areas like MG Road, Palasia, Y.N. Road it is crowded and safe till 11pm.

Go next
It's a beautiful valley surrounded by clouds during monsoon. All the waterfalls of Indore are active during the monsoon, so if you're planning a visit to Indore for them, come between July and September.
 * Bhairav Kund - Another interesting place near Gidya Khoh Watefall and Kal Bhairav Temple, there is a large pool/kund of water choral
 * Dewas, around 35 km from Indore on national highway 3 (NH3).
 * Gidya Khoh - this waterfall is a beautiful combination of man and nature, situated on the Indore-Nemawar road and 9 km away from Double Chowki
 * Kajligarh (15 km) - see Fort Kajligarh
 * Maheshwar (90 km) - Fort of Rani Ahilya Bai Holkar. Also beautiful temples.
 * Mandav - Around 100 km from Indore is a good weekend getaway. See Jahaz Mahal, Rani Roopmati Mahal, Baj Bahadur Mahal
 * Omkareshwar (90 km on the Khandwa road) - One of the 12 Jyotirling
 * Patalpani near Dr. Ambedkar Nagar and Kalakund (35 km by train)
 * Tinchha Falls (15 km) - on Simrol-Udainagar Road
 * Muhadi Falls (nearly 4 km from Tinchha Falls) a bit hard to reach,
 * Janapav Hills (40 km from Indore on Agra Bombay Highway NH-3) Believed to be birth place of lord Parshuram and birth place of 7 rivers including the Chambal river of which the famous Kshipra river of Ujjain is a tributary where the Kumbh Mela also called as Simha-Asth is held every 12th year.
 * Sitalamata Falls (40 km by road from Indore on Agra Bombay Highway NH-3 towards Mumbai at Manpur) A nature lover's paradise, the twin falls at Manpur are feast to the Eye
 * Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga (60 km) - One of the 12 Jyotirlings (famous Hindu temple)
 * Hanuwantiya - Water activities and weekend destination beside the grand Indira Sagar Lake.