Madhya Pradesh Road Trip
Having gone to southern most point of NH44 for a road trip, it was time to go up North and planned for a Madhya Pradesh road trip. Had spoken to a few friends about the plan and 2 of them were ready. So did some research and planned a route along the NH44 which would cover 3 UNESCO World Heritage sites, 2 Jyothirlingas(out of 12) and 2 Adi Shakti Peethas(out of 18).
6 day Itinerary for Madhya Pradesh:
Day 1. Hyderabad to Bhedaghat
Day 2. Bhedaghat to Khajuraho
Day 3. Khajuraho to Udayagiri Caves to Sanchi Stupa to Bhojpur Temple
Day 4. Bhojpur to Bhimbetka Rock Formation to Ujjain to Indore
Day 5. Indore to Maheshwar to Omkareshwar to Amravati
Day 6. Amravati to Mahurgad to Hyderabad
Day 1: Started at 6.15am from Hyderabad(Hitech City area) and had breakfast at Aadhya Grand near Ramayampet around 8 am. Continued drive on NH44 and reached Nagpur around 1.30 pm. Had Lunch at Club NH7(Dhabha) near Nagpur. Reached our first destination Bhedaghat at 6pm after a total drive of 800 kms for the day and Night stay at Hotel Marble City. Had dinner at the restaurant of this hotel.
Day 2: Started at 6 am from the hotel room by walk and went to the mesmerizing Dhuandhar Water falls which was just 1 km away. There was a small trek down the shops to the waterfalls from main road. The view was fantastic in the backdrop of sunrise. On the way back, visited the Chausat Yogini temple and from there went to the Boat ride in Bhedaghat Marble rocks formation. Being early in the morning around 7.30 am, the boats were waiting for us(Heard it is the other way later in the day). They charge Rs.800/- for a personal 5 seater boat which we engaged. The person riding the boat also acted as our guide and narration was quite impressive. Took the boat through the rocks which were of different colours. He said, if we wanted to see the white marble rocks and more beautiful views, it would cost an additional Rs.500/- to which we said yes and it was really worth it. He informed that there were quite a few Bollywood movies shot here and recent ones being Ashoka(Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor starrer) and Mohanjadaro(Hrithik Roshan starrer). This boat ride is closed from June 15th to October 15th every year as the rocks are submerged under water.
Having completed Bhedaghat tour, came back to the hotel, had breakfast and started at 10 am to Khajuraho, one of the UNESCO World heritage sites. Reached at 2.45pm and were thinking of which set of temples to visit first. Luckily got a guide at the entrance itself and as suggested by him, went to Eastern group of temples first as they are spread across. He charged 500/- for the same. Then went to Western group of temples which were together in the same compound. We need to buy tickets online here for the whole group of temples. The temples were grand and rich in architecture. Went in and engaged another guide here. Then went to Matangeshwar temple next to it which had a huge Shiva Linga. Bought a Bamboo silk saree in the shops next to the temple. Then went to Hotel Khajuraho Inn for night stay.
Day 3: Started around 8.15am from the hotel and had breakfast at a Dhaba in the outskirts of Khajuraho. Reached Udayagiri caves near Bhopal around 2.30 pm and covered in 45 mins. These caves were built around 5th century during the Gupta period. Two prominent caves were the big sculpture of Varaha Swamy in standing pose and a big one of reclining Vishnu. From there, went to Sanchi Stupa, which is one of the UNESCO World heritage sites around 4pm. This was built in 3rd century BC by Emperor Ashoka and was still grand. This is considered as one of the major Buddhist sites and you can see the boards in Sinhalese too. There was some beautification work going on for the upcoming G20 meetings in India.
From there, left to Bhojpur and reached the temple by 5.45 pm, just before the closing time which is 6pm. The temple was huge and it is unfinished. It had a massive Shiva Linga around 18ft tall. Booked a room at Hotel Shiva Shakti nearby the temple, had dinner and stayed there for the night. The room was spacious and hotel was newly built but is away from the village, so a bit secluded. There was a water problem but the staff arranged some buckets of water.
Day 4: Started around 8.00 am after having breakfast at the hotel restaurant to Bhimbetka Rock formations, which is also one of the UNESCO World heritage sites. The drive was good through green fields and this is 3-4 kms from the highway road was not that good. Reached around 9 am and engaged a guide who explained about the different carvings/paintings on the rocks. There are a lot of rock formations and carvings/paintings from Neolithic age dating a few 1000 of years.
Wrapped up the visit in 1 hour and started to the Tropic of Cancer line(near Bhopal) which passes through Madhya Pradesh along with other states in India. From there, went to Ujjain Mahakal Temple and reached around 3pm. Tried for special darshan tickets but the counter was closed. So went in the regular line and it took around 2 hours for the Darshan. The Shiva linga was big and is one of the 12 Jyothirlingas in India. Then went to the Harsiddhi Mandir of Ujjain Mahakali which was relatively free and had Darshan in 3 mins as there was no rush at all. This is one of the 18 Adi Shakthi Peethas.
From here, went to the Kal Bhairav temple where you could see the devotees offering alcohol as Prasad to the deity. Very rare to find such temples in India. From there went to Indore where I met my long last friend, had dinner at the famous Chhappan Dukaan Gali which had different variety of street food stalls and my friend made sure we tasted quite a variety. Stayed at Hotel Grand Stay for the night.
Day 5: Started around 8.00 am after having breakfast at a street food stall near the hotel and reached Maheshwar around 10 am. The fort where Rani Ahilyabai Holkar used to live had her big statue and there were 2 temples(Kashi Viswanath Mandir and Ahilyeshwar Mandir) very close by on the banks of river Narmada. Bought a Maheshwari silk saree and started to Omkareshwar. Reached around 1pm and engaged a Pandit who guided us for the Darshan. Took a special Darshan ticket of Rs.250/- and darshan was done in 30 mins. Had lunch at a restaurant near the temple and started to Amravati for night stay on the way to our next destination which was Renuka Devi temple in Mahurgad, in Naded district of Maharashtra. This road was very bad as it had a ghat section and also forest area. Had dinner at a nice Dhaba on the way to Amravati.
Day 6: Started around 8.00 am, had breakfast at Southern Spice restaurant and visited Ambadevi temple. Reached Renuka Devi temple at Mahurgad around 11.15 am. There were around 170 steps to reach the temple and there are palkis available for those who cannot climb the steps. There was a queue and took around 45 mins for the Darshan. After this, went to Parashuram mandir in the same complex. From there, went to Datta Mandir on a different hill nearby and started journey back home. Had a break in Kinwat for lunch and a Dhaba near Kamareddy for dinner. Reached home by around 9.30 pm after a wonderful trip which will be cherished for life.
Overall a great road trip covering 2956 kms in 6 days. You may check my other Road trips here.
