Introduction

Madhya Pradesh state in Central India is a historical region. Its history goes back to the time of Ashoka, the great Mauryan ruler. Major portion of Central India was part of the Gupta Empire (300-550 AD). In the first half of the seventh century it was part of domains of famous emperor Harsha. The close of tenth century was a period of confusion when region is divided into various rulers like Chandela rulers in North Madhya Pradesh, later Bundela dynasty ruled over North Madhya Pradesh at the same time Gond tribal rulers were ruling in South of Madhya Pradesh which was dense forested region of Satpura and Vindhya hills. but with early eleventh century the muslims entered into Central India. First Mahmud of Ghazni attacked here and later Mohammad Gori entered here with Sultanate of Delhi. It also formed part of Mughal empire and later Marathas ruled supreme in Central India, but after that it came into the influence of British India. Some great women rulers like Rani Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore, Gond queen Rani Kamla devi & Rani Durgawati have carved a niche for them in history.

When India became independent in 1947, the British Indian province of Central Provinces and Berar formed Madhya Pradesh. Till year 2000, Madhya Pradesh remain the largest state of India, in terms of land area. Later some new states were created in India and in same series, Chattisgarh is carved from Madhya Pradesh state. But is has no impact on heritage tourism of state. Madhya Pradesh tourism is still prominent known for heritage and wildlife tourism.

Heritage Zone

Madhya Pradesh is having a chain of heritage tourism destinations which begins from easterm Madhya Pradesh and goes to northern part of the state. This region is geographically called Bundelkhand region which is more rocky and arid. Due to this here we can find many stone mining sites and thus due to presence of these stones, construction work was easy and as a result, we can find chain of heritage tourism destinations. In this region we can find places like Rews, Bandhavgarh, Panna, Khajuraho, Orchha etc. After northern Madhya Pradesh, this chain moves along with Chambal river and goes from northern to western region i.e. from Bundelkhand to Malwa region. In this part we can find some magnificent destinations like Gwalior, Shivpuri, Chanderi, Bhopal, Sanchi, Maheshwar, Mandu, Burhanpur etc. Heritage sites of Madhya Pradesh are contribution of various ruling dynasties like Chandela dynasty developed Khajuraho region, Bundela dynasty developed Orchha - Datia region, Scindia dynasty developed the Gwalior and its surrounding areas where as Parmara rulers developed the region from Mandu to Bhopal. Similarly Baghel dynasty developed the Rewa region. In southern Madhya Pradesh, heritage sites are result of the work done by Kalchuri rulers and Gond dynasty Thus development of heritage sites is not the work of any one ruling dynasty by collective contribution of various ruling dynasties who ruled over different regions of Madhya Pradesh region. Even in 17th to 19th century, British India rulers also contributed in adding heritage and rock art sites of Central India. They actually restored the heritage sites, old temples and discovered many rock painting and sculpture art sites thus we should must give credit to them for there magnificent work. Present Sanchi, Khajuraho, Yogini temples are gift of those British India officers who worked on restoration of these sites and present view is result of there hard work.

Popular Cultural Destinations

If you are planning for art and cultural tour of Madhya Pradesh and just want to select those destinations who have their identity due to art and culture then you must have list of such destinations. Here we have tried to prepare table of such destinations so that you can have direct information as per your particular requirement and thus you can quickly draw your plan.

Map View

Here we are presenting the interactive map of Madhya Pradesh location. It is a tourist map of Central India region in which you will not only find Madhya Pradesh tourism destination but also notice the names of some popular places, surrounding to this state. This map will be very helpful in planning the trave route for any tour package as it shows which destination is close to which destination and on which direction. By reading this map, we can make a sequence of destinations to cover in our tour. Still if you have some questions in our mind, please contact us by email or whatsapp.

Best time to visit

Madhya Pradesh tourism offers such tourism destinations that can be visited throughout the year. All heritage and pilgrimage tourist attractions of state are accessible by tourists in any of the day at any season. Only wildlife destinations remains closed in rainy season. Popular tourist destinations like Gwalior, Orchha, Khajuraho, Bhopal, Sanchi, Chanderi, Bhimbetka, Mandu, Maheshwar, Ujjain etc. are open for visitors in all the days. Still October to April time suits best for tourists to visit these tourist attractions as during this time most of the other seasonal destinations like national parks, tiger reserves are also open for visitors, most of the festivals occur during this time and climatic conditions are also favorable for tours. Best time to visit Madhya Pradesh varies as per your interest. Suppose if you are heritage site lover then period from August to April is considered as the best time to visit heritage sites. In post monsoon season, due to green surrounding, heritage site looks picturesque and photogenic. If you are interested in pilgrimage sites then period of August to March end is the best time to explore these sites. Lord Shiva temples remain crowded during monsoon season, especially on Monday's. If you are wildlife photographer and interested in tiger photography, birds photography then your best time to visit Madhya Pradesh will be from February to June.