Locations :
Best Time to Visit : October to March
Once an important trading and commercial hub of ancient India, Vidisha is a small town in Madhya Pradesh sandwiched between Betwa and Bes rivers. The town is surrounded by Ashoknagar, Sagar, Raisen, Bhopal and Guna to its northeast, east, south, southwest and northwest respectively. The town was governed by price Ashoka as a governor, his future wife Devi, daughter of a merchant was also brought up here in this town and it is this very town where the two wed. For the reason of its being an important business centre the area was flourishing from 5th, 6th century BC to 5th, 6th century AD and was governed by Mauryas, Shungas, Nagas, Satavahanas and Guptas.
-
Udaygiri Caves: Udaygiri caves are archaeological Hindu and Jain temple shrines from Gupta Period believed to have been dug in the hill side sometime around 5th century. The site is agroup of 20 caves out of which 19 are Hindu caved dedicated to Hindu trinity Gods Lord Vishu and Lord Shiva and the remaining one is a Jain shrine. The highlight of the shrine is a one Lord Vishnu idol where he is shown in his ‘Varaha Avatar’ [incarnation] protecting the earth, another notable idols and sculptures include Shivalinga, idols of deity Ganesh with Godmother, inscriptions and decrees dating from the time of Chandragupta II and Kumargupta. Also according to some chroniclers the famous iron pillar at Delhi is actually from Udaygiri Caves site.
-
Heliodorous Pillar: This pillar is a monolith stone column erected in 110 BC by Greek Ambassador Heliodorous. Heliodorous dedicated this column to Lord Vasadeva or Vishnu, it is said that the ambassador was among the earliest converts to Hinduism. The pillar is surmounted with an eagle which is a companion of both lord Vishnu as well as Greek God Zeus. So perhaps the motive and decision to build the column was religious or political or both. Locals however now use this column for exorcism to cast away the evil spirits or devil from those stigmatized as possessed.
-
Lohangi Pir: This is a rock cut tomb of the sufi saint Shaikh Jalal Chishti locally nick named Lohangi Pir. Persian inscriptions one from 1460 and another 1583 could be seen on the tomb. There is a stone structure resembling an inverted lotus from 3rd century BCE. A little ahead of tomb lies an ancient temple dedicated to goddess Annapurna
-
Bija Mandal: Bija Mandal or Vijaya Mandal in an 11th century structure dedicated to goddess Vijaya. Some of the pillars belonging to the temple now converted to a mosque date as long back as 7th century. Inscriptions of King Naravarman have been found on the pillars and some pillars are hewn with the scenes from life of lord Krishna. The temple was desecrated and destroyed many times by Muslim invaders including Shamsuddeen Iltutmish, Allaudin Khilji, Bahadur Shah of Gujarat and finally Aurangzeb demolished parts of temple and build a mosque instead, now called Bijamandal mosque.
-
Desk Bazaar
-
Bhopal Bazaar
-
Gharsansar S Market
-
Jaishree Handlooms
Places of Worship:
-
Giridhari Temple
-
Gadarmal Temple
-
Sola Khambi Temple
-
Maladevi Temple
-
Dashavtar Temple
-
Bajramath Temple
-
Shalbhanjika
Places of Entertainment:
-
Local Movie Theaters
-
Shehnai Garden
-
Dudhavari
-
G&G
-
By Air – The nearest airport to Vidisha is Bhopal’s Raja Bhoj International Airport just 57 kilometers away
-
By Railway – Trains are available to and from every major city at Vidisha railway station
-
By Road – Vidisha is very well connected to rest of the country via NH86
(+91) 8743000333
(+91) 8527562562
