By road
Sanchi is ~46-55 km northeast of Bhopal
Central India · Madhya Pradesh
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Lakes, begums and Buddhist stupas · Sanchi is ~46-55 km northeast of Bhopal
Getting there
By rail
Bhopal Junction (BPL), in the city; Sanchi also has a small station of its own
By air
Raja Bhoj Airport, Bhopal, in the city
Best time to visit
October to March — lake breezes and clear stupa skies
Don't miss
Sanchi Stupa (UNESCO)
Taj-ul-Masajid
Upper Lake
Tribal Museum
Bhimbetka
Things to do
Old-city walks
Lake boating
Tribal museum
Sanchi day trip
Where to eat
Sources: open-meteo, wikimedia, Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0
What to pack
Walking shoes, modest wear for shrines, museum time budgeted
A quieter corner
Bhimbetka's prehistoric rock shelters an hour south
About Bhopal
- Lakeside
Where it is
Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, lies on the Malwa plateau in central India, where the land rises towards the Vindhya Range, and is built around two large lakes, the Upper Lake and the Lower Lake.
History
The Upper Lake is credited to the 11th-century Paramara king Bhoja, from whom the city is said to take its name. Modern Bhopal was founded in the early 18th century by Dost Mohammad Khan, a Pashtun soldier of the Mughal army, and became the capital of a princely state. It was made the capital of Madhya Pradesh in 1956, and in 1984 a gas leak at a pesticide plant caused one of the world's worst industrial disasters.
People
Bhopalis speak Hindi and Urdu, often in the city's own Bhopali style, and the old city keeps a Nawabi flavour in its bazaars, zardozi embroidery and beaded batua purses. Food ranges from poha breakfasts to kebabs and gosht korma.
Known for
- The Upper Lake and the Lower Lake
- Taj-ul-Masajid, one of India's largest mosques
- Bharat Bhavan and the Tribal Museum
- Van Vihar National Park
- Bhimbetka rock shelters and Sanchi nearby
Did you know?
Between 1819 and 1926 the princely state of Bhopal was ruled almost continuously by four women, the Begums of Bhopal, who built many of the city's palaces and mosques.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.