INTRODUCTION

Read about Dhar tourism  which is part of Madhya Pradesh tourism. Here we have described about its great history and important places to visit. in Dhar. It lies at Malwa region of western Madhya Pradesh in Central India. During British India period, it was a princely state thus its heritage buildings are still in good condition and thus worth to visit during tour of this region. Dhar is just 65 kms from Indore city thus easily accessible by all means of transport. It is basically a heritage tourism site in Malwa region where we can visit to fort, palace, cenotaphs, mosque, tombs, statues etc. Its name is derived from Hindi language word "Dhara" which means Blade. Now a days, it is called Dhar which simply means Sharpness linked with sword or blade.

DHAR HISTORY

First reference of Dhar comes in an inscription from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh state. As per that inscription, it was part of Maukhari dynasty which was a post Gupta dynasty of India having control over vast area of north India, including Malwa region. This was 6th century reference. Actual prominence achieved by Dhar was  it  came under the rule of Parmara rulers of Malwa. It was king Vairisimha (920-45 CE) who transferred his capital from Ujjain to Dhar. During Parmara rulers, Dhar attained prominence in India and became center of learninga and culture. Under the ruling of Parmara King Bhoja (1000-1055), Dhar was at its peak thus its flourishing economy, wealth attracted teh attention of political enemies. Its rival Chalukyas of Kalyana, attacked under the leadershop of king Somesvara. In this attack, they captured the city and burned it. Such wars made the local ruling powers weak and ineffective. Taking advantage of situation, Alauddin Khilji, Sultan of Delhi, sent his army to conquer this kingdom and managed to win easily. Thus Dhar was annexed to Delhi and this trend continued for long time. After Delhi Sultanate, Dilawar Khan of Dhar declared himself independent and became Sultan of Malwa. After Dilawar Khan, his son Hoshang Shah ()1406-35 took the charge and consolidated his position by shifting the capital from Dhar to Mandu and gave its new name as Shadiabad which means "City of joy". Hoshang Shah was killed by Mahmud Khilji-I. From here Khilji dynasty was formed. They continued to rule over Mandu till 1531 AD when Bahadur Shah, the sultan of Gujarat attacked and took over the control over Mandu. He continued the control till 1537 AD. Those were the golden days of Mandu which continues till rule of Baz Bahadur. In 1537AD, Qadir Shal, an ex-officer of Khilji dynasty took over the control and ruled till 1542 AD. In this year Sher Shah Suri attacked and conquered Malwa region and appointed Shujaat Khan as its governor. His son Baz Bahadur, declared himself independent in 1555 AD and continued to rule as independent Sultan of Malwa till 1561 AD when Mughal forces under leadership of Adham Khan attacked and won Malwa. Although Baz Bahadur regained control for very short period and again defeated by Mughals. In this way whole Malwa region, including Dhar, lost its lusture. Although Marathas took over the control over the region in 1730 AD and gave stability to the region. By the end of 18th century till first half of 19th century, it remained under British rule by controlled by descendents control either byScindias of Gwalior or Holkar of Indore. It became princely state from 1818 and continued till independence of India. 

CLIMATE

Dhar lies in north-west of Madhya Pradesh state in Central India. This region received average rainfall in monsoon season (July to September) but vegetation is not so dense. Here we can experience well definded three main seasons i.e. winters, summers and monsoon. Winter season can be experience in period from November to February in which temperature reached 3 deg.cel. in night hours. Similarly summers can be experienced from April to mid of July month in which heat wave flows throughout the region and in peak summer days temperature raised to 47 deg. cel. This region lies in Malwa plateau thus majority of region is plain with some hills and thus winters and summers can be experienced very well. 

HOW TO REACH

By Road:

By Train:

Dhar cannot be reached directly by train. Its nearest railway station is at Indore in Madhya Pradesh. It is the biggest city of this region thus majority of tourist arrives at Indore railway station and do further journey by cab or bus, as per their choice. Indore railway station is very well connected from all major cities and tourist destinations like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Ujjain, Bhopal, Agra, Gwalior, Jabalpur etc.

By Flight:

Indore is the nearest airport for reaching Dhar by flight option. Airport is approx. 80kms from Dhar city. Journey from Indore airport to Dhar is possible by tourist cab, which is easily available at Indore airport or can be pre-booked from cab service providers.

BEST TIME TO VISIT

Dhar is a heritage tourism destination thus it is open throughout the year. It is accessible in all seasons i.e. winters, summers and monsoon. Still majority of tourists visit this place with the end of monsoon till beginning of summers. Thus we can say that best time to visit Dhar is from October to March month. Here tourism continues throughout the year. Visiting Dhar in monsoon is of different flavor due to greenery in this region.

ACCOMMODATION

Here in Dhar, limited accommodation options are available. Here in luxury category, best option is Zira Bagh Palace. It is a heritage hotel for comfortable accommodation. In addition to this, some budget category of hotels are available. Due to small city, here accommodation options are very limited. Many tourists visits Dhar as excursion tour thus they prefer to stay in nearby popular tourist destinations like Mandu, Indore etc.

NEXT TO MADHYA PRADESH

Dhar lies in Indore tourist circuit thus all the tourist destinations, surrounding to Indore are easily accessible from Dhar. Some of the names are Mandu, Omkareshwar, Maheshwar, Indore, Ujjain, Burhanpur etc.