Page 258 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

256  CENTR AL INDIA

from the Jai Stambh (“Victory English language. In the
Pillar”) in the centre of town. bazaar is the Rani Durgavati
The Jatashankar Cave Temple, Museum with stone sculptures
dedicated to Shiva, is a short and Gond tribal artifacts. The
excursion, 2 km (1 mile) from the ruined Madan Mahal Fort,
main bus stop. At the Shivratri built by a Gond king in 1116,
festival, a colourful gathering of overlooks the town from
pilgrims and sadhus takes place a hill to the west.
here. En route to it is the Harper’s
Cave, so called because it has a E Rani Durgavati Museum
painting of a man playing an Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sun.
instrument that looks like a harp. Closed Mon & public hols.
P Madan Mahal Fort
o Jabalpur n (0761) 267 7290. Open 8am–
6:30pm daily. &
Jabalpur district. 330 km (205 miles)
Pachmarhi’s Christ Church, built in 1875, E of Bhopal. * 951,500. ~ 14 km Environs
a relic of the Raj (9 miles) W of town centre. £ @ The Marble Rocks, the
i Pachmarhi n MP Tourism, Railway Station, Chausath Yogini Temple and
the Dhuandhar Falls are 22 km
(0761) 267 7690; Kalchuri Residency,
Hoshangabad district. 210 km (130 (0761) 267 8491/92. (14 miles) southwest of Jabalpur.
miles) SE of Bhopal. * 11,400. £
Piparia, 47 km (29 miles) N of Pachmarhi, The gateway to Bandhavgarh p Mandla
then taxi or bus. n Tourist Motel, (see p243) and Kanha (see
Pipariya, (07576) 22 2299. @ n MP pp258–9), two of India’s finest Mandla district. 95 km (59 miles) SE of
Tourism, Amaltas Complex Station, wildlife sanctuaries, Jabalpur Jabalpur. £ @ n MP Tourism, Tourist
(07578) 25 2098. _ Shivratri (Feb/Mar). was from the 12th to 16th Motel, (07642) 26 0599. ( daily.
centuries the capital of a
This delightful hill station, at powerful Gond tribal kingdom, This sleepy town is situated
an altitude of 1,067 m (3,501 ft), whose most famous ruler was a on a loop in the Narmada river,
lies in the verdant hills of the brave and able which provides a
Satpura Range. Its attractions woman, Rani natural moat for the
include waterfalls and pools, Durgavati. In 1817 17th-century Gond
and caves with pre historic art. In the British made it Fort, now in ruins.
1857, Captain James Forsyth of an army cantonment Mandla is a sacred
the Bengal Lancers spotted this and administrative city for Gond tribals,
saucer-shaped plateau, and it centre, to deal with whose warrior
was quickly developed into a the growing menace queen, Durgavati,
sanatorium and army station of gangs of highway committ ed suicide
by the British. bandits known as here in 1564, when
The town retains a genteel, thuggees, who would she was defeated by
Raj-era ambience, and among rob travellers. In Detail from a Gond the Mughal emperor
its colonial relics is the Christ the 1830s, Colonel tribal house Akbar’s army. Temples
Church, built in 1875, with William Sleeman and ghats line
beautiful stained-glass windows. launched his famous campaign the banks of the river, where the
Pachmarhi means “Five against the thuggees, and in a Gonds perform their funeral rites.
Houses”, and the town takes few years had wiped them out. The main bazaar, near the bus
its name from the five ancient The word thug (from thuggee), stand, is interesting to explore
Pandava Caves, set in a garden though, seems to have found with its shops selling tribal
south of the bus stop. From the a permanent place in the silver jewellery and bell metal.
caves, paths lead to the scenic
Apsara Vihar (“Fairy Pool”), the
Bee Fall that tumbles down
for 35 m (115 ft), and the
spectacular Rajat Prapat
Waterfalls, a horsetail waterfall
with a drop of 107 m (351 ft).
The wooded hills around
Pachmarhi, home of the Gond
and Korku tribes, are dotted with
cave shelters, some of them with
paintings dating back 10,000 years.
The most accessible of them is the
Mahadeo Cave, 6 km (4 miles) Mandla’s Narmada river, lined by temples and ghats
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp696–7 and p710

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