INTRODUCTION

Read about tourism in Madhya Pradesh state. Here state government control the tourism activities, plannings etc through Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Corporation whose head-office is at state capital city Bhopal. With different regional offices in cities like Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Khajuraho. Similarly they main marketing offices in different states to promote state tourism and establish better communication channel with other state visitors. They have marketing offices in cities like New Delhi, Nagpur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur,  Hyderabad etc.  In addition to this, they main a chain of standard to deluxe category hotels and resorts at prominent tourist destinations and almost at prime locations so that a consistency in accommodation facility can be maintained and also promote tourism at newly introduced destination by introducing good accommodation facility. Thus in this way, state tourism authorities are doing very well for development of tourism in Madhya Pradesh by building the tourism infrastructure.

TOURISM

Madhya Pradesh, as its name implies, lies in the heart of India, whose topography ranges from plateau with the Vindhya & the Satpura mountain ranges, the plains in the east, meandering rivers, rocky hills & ravines to lush green forests. State offers all important pillars of Indian tourism like pilgrim tourism, wildlife tourism, heritage tourism, buddhism, adventure sports etc.

The state boasts of a wide variety of attractions to suit all tourist tastes, from ancient temples to national parks & sanctuaries, stupas, forts & palaces, a host of cultural & tourist festivals to splendid venues for international conference & conventions of global standards. The best known tourism products of Madhya Pradesh in global & national tourism market are its heritage & archeological sites, wildlife territories, pilgrimage centres, leisure & business centres & the rich classical, folk & tribal culture. The principal destinations are Khajuraho, Kanha, Sanchi, Mandu, Gwalior – Shivpuri, Pachmarhi, Bandhavgarh, Satpura National Park, Pench, Amarkantak, Ujjain, Omkareshwar, Bhedaghat, Orchha & Chitrakoot & the dynamic business centres of Bhopal & Indore.

Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (MPSTDC), a state government organization is the nodal agency responsible for development & promotion to attract tourists to this very heart of India.

FAIRS & FESTIVALS

The province of Madhya Pradesh is the milieu of fairs and festivals, which also becomes its style mantra. In other words, culture of Madhya Pradesh is nurtured due to exquisite festival celebrations. Apart from celebrating all other Indian festivals like Holi, Dusshera, the tribal festivals and fairs are also observed in full vigor and merrymaking. Revelry, drinks and alien amusement like cock fighting, dancing label these tribal festivals in Madhya Pradesh. `Kalidas Samaroh`, `Tansen Samaroh` and a dance fete in Khajuraho are celebrated, in great fiesta, with vast number of avid participants. Religious festivals too are observed with veneration. In West Nimar and Jabua regions of Mandhyanchal , a colorful festival called Bhagoria Haat is feted by the Bhils and Bhilalas tribes. It is a mass `swayamvara`, is held in vividness before Holi festival in the month of March

LANGUAGE

Hindi, the official language of Madhya Pradesh is the most widely spoken language. It is the predominant language of the official work. It is not very difficult for locals even in remote corners to understand Hindi. It is widely spoken by sizeable numbers engaged in the hospitality & service industry.

One would see words of English & Hindi both used on signages, milestones, shop & office signboards. The language Marathi is also widespread. Malwi, Bundeli, bagheli, Nimari are the commonly spoken regional languages. The dilects like, Gondi, Bhilli is the most common spoken language among the tribal community of gond & Bhils respectively. Chhatisgarh is spoken by majority in the east & southeast region of the Madhya Pradesh.

CLIMATE

Madhya Pradesh has a subtropical climate. Like most of north India it has a hot dry summer(April-June) followed by monsoon rains (July-September) and a cool and relatively dry winter. The average rainfall is about 1,370 mm (53.9 in). It decreases from east to west. The south-eastern districts have the heaviest rainfall, some places receiving as much as 2,150 mm (84.6 in), while the western and north-western districts receive 1,000 mm (39.4 in) or less.

HOW TO REACH

By Air: Madhya Pradesh State is well linked through flight from major tourist destinations and cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Vishakhapattnam, Bangalore, Srinagar, Ahmedabad etc. Major airports in Madhya Pradesh state are located in Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Khajuraho. Now with the introduction of air-taxi service in Madhya Pradesh, all these airports are well inter-connected which ensures swift easy movement withing state.
 

DISTANCE CHART		LOCATION MAP
From	Distance (in Kms)
Indore to Vadodara	340
Indore to Ahmedabad	390
Gwalior to New Delhi	320
Gwalior to Agra	120
Jabalpur to Nagpur	300
Kanha National Park to Raipur	240
Pench National Park to Tadoba National Park	280
Khajuraho to Varanasi	430
Panna National park to Lucknow	360

By Train: Madhya Pradesh State is well connected by Indian railways network. Most of the major railway tracks passes through this state due to its central location. All important cities and tourist destinations are linked with direct trains to Madhya Pradesh like: Jaipur, Agra, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Ranthambore, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Puri, Haridwar, Varanasi etc. Their are number of railway junctions inside Madhya Pradesh like Itarsi, Katni, Bina, Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Chhindwara, Dewas, Khandwa etc. Recently luxury tourist train called "Maharaja Express" has been started which passes through Madhya Pradesh station like Gwalior, Khajuraho and Umaria (Bandhavgarh).

By Train: Madhya Pradesh State border touches 5 state: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh & Maharashtra. All these states are well linked from cities and towns of Madhya Pradesh by road. Some major National Highways like NH-7, NH-12A, NH-25, NH-26, NH-27, NH-69, NH-3, NH-92, NH-12 etc. passes through this state. Major tourist destinations close to Madhya Pradesh, linked by Road are: Agra, Jaipur, Varanasi, Tadoba National Park, Ranthambore, Raipur, Vishakhapattnam, Ajanta, Ellora, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Mount Abu, Chambal Sanctuary, Lucknow etc.

BEST TIME TO VISIT

Being a important tourism region, Madhya Pradesh state is visited by tourist through out the year. Broadly we can divide Madhya Pradesh tourism in 3 parts. Heritage tourism is active in Northern part of state which is more rocky and destinations comes under this region are Gwalior, Shivpuri, Orchha, Khajuraho, Panna, Chanderi, Datia etc. All these destination offers major palaces, forts, temples, cenotaphs of state. Best time to visit this region varies as per travel preferences of any tourist. Some destinations have best time in summers where as some claims winters as best time to visit. Here we can find destinations for monsoon also, when overall tourism fall, due to climatic challenges.

ACCOMMODATION

One can have good accommodation facility through out Madhya Pradesh state weather you are in Jungles, heritage sites, pilgrim sites or in a hill station. It is the Madhya Pradesh State where all 04 luxury safari lodges of Taj Group is located with world class facilities. You can find 5-star category hotels or resorts at destinations like Gwalior, Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Khajuraho, Kanha national park, Pench national park, Bandhavgarh etc. Similarly some more projects are in pipeline to introduce good accommodation facilities at new destinations like Kuno national park etc.