Madhya Pradesh - The Central Provinces is at the heart of India. It is the geographical heartland of the country, but it is no longer as large in area.It is called so because of its location in the centre of the country and it offers diverse experience in art, culture, nature, religion and history. after years of lobbying by members of Madhya Pradesh's Assembly, the new state of Chattisgarh came into existence in November 2000, with the city of Raipur as its capital. The state is bordered by the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orrisa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The natural beauty of the state is equally varied, with plateaus and streaked with the Vindhya and Satpura mountian ranges and it is intersected by meandering rivers and dotted with hills and villages. Traversing the southern age of the great Vindhyan ranges runs the Narmada, the site of one of the largest dam development programs in the world. Most of Madhya Pradesh is a high plateau and in summer it can be very dry and hot. Yet it remains largely unindustrialized and little visited, one-third of the state is forested offering an exciting panorama of wildlife.It has the highest percentage of the forest in India. In the National Park of Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Shivpuri and many others, one can spot the elusive tiger, bison and a wide variety of deer and antelope in sylvan surroundings. The hills give rise to the main river systems - the Narmada and the Tapti, which run from east to west and the Chambal, Sone, Betwa, Mahanandi and the Indrawati from west to east.
It contains many of the tribal groups least touched by modernization, most of India's remaining genuine forest and some its densley populated countryside. The magnificent paintings made in rock shelters at Bhimbetka, for example, illustrate the continuity of settllement for over half a million years. Although the modern state of Madhya Pradesh came into being in 1956, its cultural heritage is ancient and chequered. Virtually all phases of Indian history have left their mark on Madhya Pradesh, historically known as Malwa. The state envelopes all with the sense of a great past, as it bears the testimony of virtually all phases of Indian history. Innumarable monuments, exquisitely carved temples, stupas, forts and palaces are reminders of glorious days gone by. Buddhism left a still visible mark in the glories of Sanchi's two thousand year old stupas, while the magnificent palaces of Orchha or temples of Khajuraho testify to the power of Rajput dynasties for over a thousand years. Of empires and kngdoms, poets and musicians, saints and philiosophers. Of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam. India's immortal poet dramatist Kalidasa and thegreat musician of the Mughal court, Tansen, belonged to this region. There are still many pre-Aryan Gond and Bhil Adivasis (tribal people) in the state, but Madhya Pradesh is overwhelmingly Indo-Aryan.
Customs and beliefs in each area have added colour to the fairs and festivals.Dussehra in Bastar, shivaratri in Khajuraho, Bhojpur, Pachmarhi, and Ujjain, Ramnavmi in Orchha, Bhagoriya in Jhabua and the annual festival of dances at Khajuraho are events for the tourists to remember. a host of other cultural and tourism festivals bring alive the rich,classical, folk and tribal culture of the state in all its splendour. This is the magic of many splendoured land, Madhya Pradesh. Come and enjoy the hospitality that comes from the heart!!
