Bhopal Travel Information, Best Season to Visit Bhopal, how to reach Bhopal

With well over a million inhabitants, Bhopal , the capital of Madhya Pradesh, has a skyline of minarets jutting from tightly packed streets and sprawling from the eastern shores of a huge artificial lake. Yet to the west there are verdant hills hiding nouveau-riche suburbs and the most expensive hotels. Below them on Upper Lake, little fishing boats bob along the shore, while middle-class families get down to some serious pedalo action.
In addition to the 19th century mosques that bear witness to Bhopal's enduring Muslim legacy, the packed bazaars of the walled old city are well worth a visit. Elsewhere, excellent archeological museums house large hoards of ancient sculpture. Bharat Bhavan, on the lakeside, is one of India's premier centres for performing arts, with an unrivalled collection of contemporary painting, sculpture and adivasi (tribal) art, while the Museum of Man is an excellent open-air exhibition of adivasi houses, culture and technology which aims to challenge stereotypes of the country's many indigenous groups.

Area	284.9 square kilometers
Language	Hindi, Urdu and English
STD code	0755
Altitude	523 metres
Temperature	Summer Max : 41.1 C., Minimum : 26 C Winter Max : 26 C., Minimum : 10 C

Bhopal's name is said to derive from the 11th century Raja Bhoj, who was instructed by his court gurus to atone for the murder of his mother by linking up the nine rivers flowing through his kingdom. A dam, or pal, was built across one of them, and the ruler established a new capital around the two resultant lakes - Bhojapal. By the end of the 17th century, Dost Mohammed Khan, an oppurtunistic ex-soldier of fortune and erstwhile general of Aurangzeb, had occupied the now deserted site to carve out his own kingdom from the chaos left in the wake of the Moghul empire. The Muslim dynasty he established eventually became one of India's leading royal families. Under the Raj, its members were among the select few to merit the accolade of a 19 gun salute from the British- a consequence of the help given to General Goddard in his march against the Marathas in 1778. In the 19th century, Bhopal was presided over largely by women rulers. Holding court from behind the wicker screen of purdah, successive begums revamped the city with noble civic works, including the three sandstone mosques which still dominate the skyline.

Air : Bhopal airport is 12 km from the Old City.

Rail : Bhopal is an important railway station as it is on the main Delhi-Madras route. The station is near Hamidia Road. The Shatabdi Express connects Bhopal to Delhi. It is also well linked to Mumbai, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jhansi and Ujjain by train.

Though Bhopal can be visited throughout the year, it is advisable to avoid the summer season.