Manav Sanghralaya at Bhopal

We visited the 'Manav Sanghralaya' - a museum that had miniature villages and replicas of various tribes (current and ancient) and gave us a glimpse into the lifestyle of these tribes. This is what Sacred Groves of India has to say about this place:

Located on a 200-acre campus in Bhopal, the outdoor museum replicates plots of sacred groves from different parts of India, including the orans of Rajasthan and the devarakadus of Karnakata. The museum also celebrates the communities, festivals and rituals associated with each grove. Additionally, the museum has organized a traveling exhibition to build greater ties with local communities and organizations throughout the country, as well as a Sacred Grove Festival.

The pictures below were taken at this museum:






A desert village - but of course it is amidst green surrounding of Bhopal.








Note: Blogger seems to have slowed down and I am unable to post pics. Will upload more later.

More of Sanchi

Here are some pictures that show the ruins in and around the main stupa - some deliberately destroyed while others by time.









Inside the main Stupa
















A view from within the Stupa.













The Sanchi Stupa built by the Great Asoka














Another Stupa near to the main Stupa above.














The remnants from a destroyed monastery.















The ruins of a temple for The Buddha.

Sanchi - To be in every tourist's must-see

We visited Sanchi - a historical site some 40 kms from Bhopal. I had read about Sanchi from my history texts - that it was the site where the Great Emperor Asoka built the Stupa and a place that thrived as a center of Buddhist learning during his reign. Little did I realize then that I would actually be visiting this place. To say that the monuments were breathtaking would be the understatement of the year. I was thrilled, moved and left with no choice of words to describe what I felt when I saw, touched and felt the monuments that were built sometime between 250 BC and 2 AD. The oldest monument, the Sanchi Stupa, built by Asoka is timed to be around 250 BC. There were other monuments nearby that were built subsequently - even a small temple that is a sign of the wonderful architecture of those times.

Sadly, many of these monuments have been damaged. The sculptures at the entrance have been destroyed by invaders much later during the 10 and 11 century AD. They have deliberately chopped the heads of Buddha and his disciples. It is said that they also destroyed many other temples and monasteries that had been built around this place. What you see in the picture on the left is one of those where The Buddha seems to have escaped the fury of the invaders.

But then, this place is also known for some remarkable architecture and sculpture work all dating back to the period of Asoka up and until the 2nd century AD. The pictures here are proof of the meticulous marvelous work that the artisans have put in for their emperor.

Sanchi is a beautiful and serene location and had attracted pilgrims from across the world and still does. There were people from Srilanka and South-East Asia who were thrilled to visit Sanchi which they consider as one of the holiest Buddhist sites in the world. It is said that Asoka's son, Mahendran, and daughter Sanghamitra, began their journey of spreading Buddha's philosophy from here. Sanchi was chosen as the seat of Buddhist learning by Asoka because of its proximity to Vidisha where Asoka's wife hailed from.

The picture below shows the ruins of one of the monasteries where people may have lived during those times. There is a small pool like pond (most probably artificially constructed) right next to the monastery which I assume was where the monks took their bath.

I had goose bumps when I saw these sites - to think that people lived at the very same place 2200 years ago and that I was walking on the same ground that was probably tread by the Great Asoka.

Wannabe Manirathnam?

I tried some gimmicks with my digital camera - and this one came out reasonably well. Anyone might think that this photograph is by a wannabe Manirathnam!! :)

Bhopal, oh, Bhopal

It is almost after 12 years that I have crossed the Vindhya mountains to go to the other part of the country. It was a nostalgic trip, at least to me and Tanuja, when we saw the various places on the way - Balharshah, Nagpur, Itarsi and finally Bhopal. The narmada river had lots of water, but my memory says that 12 years back, it used to run almost to the brim at this time of year.

But then, the biggest surprise was Bhopal. I had only passed by this town while on my way to Kanpur, and my expectations from this city was it to be just like any other city like Kanpur, Patna, etc. Little did I expect that this small town, which is also the capital of Madhya Pradesh, is actually a lovely, sleepy and beautiful town with many lakes and lots of greenery. The city has many lakes - the Shapura lake is the one in the picture to the right. This lake was right next to my uncle's house where we stayed during this trip. The lake was very well maintained - I did not notice any pollution although I believe the water may not be potable - with parks and beautiful trees lining the banks of this lake. Come evening time and this lake buzzes with activity - people park their cars nearby or just walk to the lake and spend time walking and chatting. The vendors have a great time selling bhel puri, kachori and aloo tikki. The same vendors sell Poha and Jalabi if you go by the lake early in the morning and, boy, the Poha was absolutely delicious.

There was yet another lake - in fact The Lake in Bhopal called the Bada Thaalaab - this was a huge lake, almost 3 times the size of Hussain Sagar in Hyderabad and the water from this lake is supplied to the city. The authorities were being very careful not to get the lake polluted. We went by this lake in the evening and spotted dozens of swans - and these swans like to eat popcorn. You can see one of them enjoying the corn that I fed him.

The clip below shows a few more of these swans having fun near the water. They were so used to being around with people that they did not mind us getting near them, feeding them corn or even touching them. This was the first time my son was getting so close to birds and he was so excited that he insisted that he would feed corn as well. This bird actually snatched the corn right out of his fingers and he squealed with laughter and joy.

The city of Bhopal is a city for government employees. Wherever you go, you see one government building or the other and every place is named after a government quarters' building number - Number 9, Number 10, etc and the markets at these places are also referred to with this number. The only other markets which had distinct names were the 'New Market' (how distinct it this?) and the MP Market (or the Maharana Pratap Market). Bhopal is also a sleepy town - we had nowhere to go on a Monday when most markets were closed. And the next day being Gandhi Jayanthi (Oct. 2), most shops were closed on this day too. I was a bit surprised to see how comfortable people were in closing down their businesses. It is hard to see a shop closed two days in a row, in Hyderabad for example.

The Bhopal Trip Pictures At A Glance

You can see a slide show of the pictures from the Bhopal trip here. For a more detailed account on the various places that we visited, please read later posts on the blog.