Only three days after returning from our Gujarat trip, we were off again to make the most of a long weekend for the Holi festival. The Holi festival celebrates the start of spring and typically involves lots of water and brightly coloured powder being thrown everywhere, as shown in the pictures below.
This time, we travelled to Madhya Pradesh on a loop including the historic town of Dhar, the ancient ruined city of Mandu, the peaceful riverside town of Maheshwar and finally Indore city, from where we flew back to Mumbai.
We hired a car and driver for the three day trip which worked well although we were rather curious about his complete absence of luggage...he was looking rather disheveled by day 3. Further, he spoke no English although we've got used to this by now, and know enough Hindi and appropriate miming to communicate.
On the first day of our trip, Holi itself, our first stop was Mandu (at the insistence of our driver, we wanted to go to Dhar!) before driving back north to the outskirts of Dhar where we stayed in a lovely converted 19th century (small) palace.
This time, we travelled to Madhya Pradesh on a loop including the historic town of Dhar, the ancient ruined city of Mandu, the peaceful riverside town of Maheshwar and finally Indore city, from where we flew back to Mumbai.
We hired a car and driver for the three day trip which worked well although we were rather curious about his complete absence of luggage...he was looking rather disheveled by day 3. Further, he spoke no English although we've got used to this by now, and know enough Hindi and appropriate miming to communicate.
On the first day of our trip, Holi itself, our first stop was Mandu (at the insistence of our driver, we wanted to go to Dhar!) before driving back north to the outskirts of Dhar where we stayed in a lovely converted 19th century (small) palace.
The Shop of Gada Shah, who obviously did quite well for himself
Small boys find some shade on Holi
One of many stepwells from the weekend. Phil was in stepwell heaven.
Beautiful Islamic arches
Holi children having fun
The Jama Masjid
Hoshang's tomb
The Jahaz Mahal, designed to look like a ship. The king who built this palace, Ghiyas-ud-din is said to have had a harem of 15,000 maidens.
View from the roof of the ship palace
The Hindola Mahal (Swing Palace!)
Yet more impressive architecture in the Royal Enclave
On the short drive to one of the main sites in Mandu, some enterprising / cheeky locals had blocked the road with logs and would only let us past for a 10 rupee fee!
Rupmati's Palace
One of the very smart rooms in our palace suite, all for an amazing £40 a night.
The palace hotel outside Dhar comes highly recommended by me
On Day 2 of our trip, we had a brief tour of Dhar (complete with impressive fort and yet another stepwell) before driving south to Maheshwar.
Dhar fort - an impressive structure which hasn't made it into our India guidebook yet.
Another stepwell
A sleepy dog caught in the Holi cross-fire.
View from outside the inner fort wall.
A very large and impressive three with a shop built into it for good measure.
Maheshwar Fort which includes a luxurious palace (now fancy hotel) built by Queen Ahilyabai in the late 18th century.
Beautifully preserved stonework inside the fort.
Refreshment at Laddoo's Cafe in the fort. I was far too hot by this point!
Maheshwar is famous for its weaving and fabric. People are hard at work everywhere.
The ghat at sunset. It had the beauty and spirituality of Varanasi but without the craziness.
We commissioned a friendly old man to take us onto the river in his boat at sunset.
The gorgeous sunset viewed from our boat on the river...
...and with the sun almost gone.
On our final day, we drove back north to Indore to explore the sites there. These were a little limited and somewhat crumbling but did give us a feel for the former glory of the city.
Queen Victoria standing proud in the grounds of the Lal Bagh Palace.
The Lal Bagh Palace, built between 1886 and 1921 and regarded as one of the finest buildings left by the Holkar dynasty. Sadly, it's in desperate need of care and attention but is government-owned and hence very unlikely to get this.
Rajwada, a seven story palace currently undergoing restoration.
Rajwada seen from the park in front of the building.
Gandhi Hall, the old Gothic town hall built in 1904.
The excessively crumbling Central Museum. The sculptures are ok but I wouldn't recommend making a special trip to see the rest.
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