With around two million inhabitants, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh’s capital, sprawls out from the eastern shores of a huge artificial lake, its packed old city surrounded by modern concrete suburbs and green hills. The nineteenth-century mosques emphasise its enduring Muslim legacy, while the hectic bazaars of the walled old city are worth a visit. Elsewhere, a couple of good archeological museums house hoards of ancient sculpture and the lakeside Bharat Bhavan ranks among India’s premier centres for performing and visual arts. Despite this, Bhopal is still known for the 1984 gas disaster, which casts a long shadow over the city.
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Once you’ve squeezed through the strip of land that divides the Upper and (smaller) Lower lakes, sweeping avenues, civic buildings and gardens give way to the more heavily congested old city. This area includes the Jama Masjid and the bazaar, centred on Chowk, a dense grid of streets between the Moti Masjid and Hamidia Road.
The art galleries and museums are on side roads off New Market, or along the hilly southern edge of the Upper Lake. The Museum of Man on the city’s outskirts is the country’s most comprehensive exhibition of adivasi houses, culture and technology; the nearby Tribal Museum focuses on MP's adivasi groups.
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The Tajul Masajid of Bhopal © Shutterstock
Each of the narrow streets radiating from the central square specialises in a different type of merchandise. For sale are Chanderi silk saris, bass drums and clarinets, tussar silk, silver jewellery and Bhopal’s famous beaded purses. At the heart of the market loom the rich red-sandstone walls and stumpy minarets of the Jama Masjid, built in 1837 by Kudsia Begum.
Erected in 1860 by Kudsia’s daughter, Sikander Begum, the “Pearl Mosque” is a diminutive and much less imposing version of Shah Jahan’s Jama Masjid in Old Delhi. It’s notable more for its slender, gold-topped minarets and sandstone cupolas than its size. Lining the opposite, northern side of the square near the ceremonial archway is a more eccentric nineteenth-century pile.
A fusion of Italian, Gothic and Islamic influences, the Shaukat Mahal was originally designed by a French architect. Unfortunately, both it and the elegant Sadar Manzil (“Hall of Public Audience”) just west on Sultania Road are now government offices and closed to visitors.
Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque), Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India © Shutterstock
Work on the building commenced under Sultan Jehan Begum (1868–1901), the eighth ruler of Bhopal. After the death of her domineering husband, the widowed queen embarked on a spending spree that left the city with a postal system, new schools and a railway, but which all but impoverished the state – and the Tajul Masajid was never actually completed.
The museum is in a detached mansion beside Birla Mandir, the garish modern Hindu Lakshmi Narayan temple that stands high on Arera Hill overlooking the Lower Lake. Aside from the museum itself, the temple gardens, which overlook the city, are a fine place to watch the sunset.
The exhibition is divided between Vishnu, the mother goddess, and Shiva. The Vishnu section contains some interesting representations of the god’s diverse and frequently bizarre reincarnations, while in the Devi gallery next door, a cadaverous Chamunda (the goddess Durga in her most terrifying aspect) stands incongruously amid a row of voluptuous maidens and fertility figures. The Shiva room, by contrast, is altogether more subdued.
RoughGuides tip: don't miss the replicas of the 3500-year-old Harappan artefacts encased under the stairs.
Rather incongruously placed amid the latter, look out for an eighteenth-century gilt-framed landscape by the Daniells – the uncle-nephew duo employed as a part of the Company school of painting during the Raj.
Bharat Bhavan has a gallery devoted exclusively to adivasi art, in search of which talent scouts spent months roaming remote regions. Among their more famous discoveries was the Gond painter Jangarh Singh Shyam. Many of his works are on display here, along with a colourful assemblage of masks, terracotta, wood carvings and ritual paraphernalia.
Overlooking New Market on one side and the majestic sweep of Upper Lake on the other, the 200-acre hilltop site includes a reconstructed Keralan coastal village. There is also a winding trail where each tribal group from the state has contributed an interpretation of its own creation myth.
A large exhibition hall draws on all the daily and ritual elements of the adivasi lifestyle, and dotted among the forest scrub are botanical trails, a research centre and a permanent open-air display of traditional adivasi buildings.
It houses well-curated displays, traditional crafts, artworks and replica homes of the seven main tribal groups in the state. The museum also stages regular music and cultural performances.
Birla Mandir in Bhopal is a religious hub for Hindu devotees including collection of stone sculptures © Shutterstock
Shoestring options are thin on the ground and even the dingiest dives will try to slap extra taxes and “service charges”, though if you object strongly they may waive them.
Browse the best hotels in Bhopal.
The larger hotels near the Shamla Hills serve uniform multi-cuisine menus. The canteens opposite the bus stand do thalis and subzi, rice and dhal for next to nothing.
Taj-Ul Masajid, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India © Shutterstock
Most of Bhopal’s places of interest are so far apart that the best way of getting around is by autorickshaw. Taxis can be organised through your hotel, or MP Tourism, either at one of their offices or by phoning their transport department direct
From April to June, daytime temperatures frequently exceed 40°C, but if you can stand the heat, this is the best time to catch glimpses of tigers in the national parks.
The increasingly meagre rains finally sweep in from the southeast in late June or early July until September making the roads even more difficult than usual, though it’s a good opportunity to see the waterfalls in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh at their impressive full flow.
Find out more about the best time to visit India.
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However, in the mornings you can also use the more convenient Hamidia Rd bus stand which has services to/from Indore, Pachmarhi and Sanchi. It’s a 10min walk southwest of the railway station.
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written by Andy Turner
updated 5.07.2023
