Mandu, Madhya Pradesh

Mandu

100 Kms from Indore, M.P

So what happens when a Bombay person whose been living in Delhi, lands up in a city where almost every tea stall serves Poha. Well then one eats Poha for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, and its practically raining Poha!  Well something similar happened in Mandu.

Mandu, situated about 100kms from Indore is a hill station. The best part is it is an overnight train journey from both Bombay & Delhi and of course about 6 hours from good old Ahmedabad. Monsoon is the season to go. 

We drove down from Ratlam to Mandu. Beautiful, lush green fields on either side coupled with the awesome monsoon weather, kind of makes for a perfect holiday. There are hardly any eateries on the way, so one can either eat at Ratlam or wait till they get to either Dhar or Nagda (On the way to Mandu). Luckily for us, our cab driver, took us to this awesome Dhabba, the Jain Tea Stall which is about an hour` s drive from Ratlam. Poha of course was very good; one can also try the freshly made dal kachori and samosas. Bundled with some good tea, It did make for an excellent breakfast! Moreover a breakfast so fresh and hot, just for some 30 bucks per person! 

 

             Jain Tea stall is a must for its chai, poha, dal kachori and the samosa.

A little bit on Mandu. Mandavgad or Mandu is a ruined city in the Malwa region of western Madhya Pradesh state. Also knows as the ‘City of Happiness’, the place has a lot of history attached to it across multiple time periods. Rani Roopmati, Bez Bahadur, Allauddin Khilji, Salim in exile, and kings with harems with about 1500 women in it. Now this is interesting. Imagine you are competing with about 1499 other women out there and if there was one favorite begum, you rather just turn gay or something. 

The good part about Mandu is that, the place has not been completely commercialized. It still has the whole Grameen look, with mud houses and farming a major source of income. The total distance that needs to be covered would be around 10kms, one main market, and one road that goes up and the same goes down: P

There are just about 4 – 5 hotels to stay. Royal Palace, Rani Roopmati, MP Tourism has 2 – Malwa Retreat and the Malwa Resort. The MP Tourism Malwa Resort has the best location, but limited rooms, so book in advance. We stayed at the Royal palace, which was pretty decent; Roopmati however is strictly not recommended. 

Lunch was at the Royal Palace. Indian food prepared in rich gravy. The sev tamatar and the Kadhai paneer particularly were quite good. Overall for a full meal, it costs us about 100 bucks per person. So quite good I say. 

The best part about the holiday was the beautiful weather. Dense fog, low visibility, rains, awesome breeze, it was heaven after the sultry heat of Delhi. In this weather, the ruins of Mandu also looked spectacular. Must see are the Roopmati Pavilion, Jami Masjid and the Jahaz Mahal. Jahaz Mahal was Khilji` s harem with about 1500 women. Hire a guide, it kind of helps to understand the history, quirky stories, and a few things associated with that place, the kind of architectural work done there is phenomenal. One can also spot the unique Baobab tree right behind the Jahaz Mahal. There isn’t much to shop at Mandu. Some online website suggests the Roopayan Art Gallery, but theres nothing spectacular there. Guess, for the first time, 4 women walked out of a garment shop in 3 minutes. 

                                                     The Jahaz Mahal

Coming back to the food, Mandu is largely a Vegetarian place, restaurants prefer to have only veg food. But there is some respite for the non veggies. This is Malwa retreat and Malwa resort (MP Tourism places). Dinner was at Malwa resort. The only place I think which also has a bar attached to the restaurant. The Chicken tandoori was good, less spicy. The chicken biryani however was more like a chicken pulao but quite tasty. The Veg was a disaster. We orderd the Malai kofta and the dal fry with the veg pulao and it was really really bad. Besides the place is a rip off, it was about 1200 for the 5 of us. 

Other eating options are the canteen at Jahaz Mahal (Excellent samosa and Poha), one could also try Hotel Shivani. The only place with strong outdoor publicity throughout Mandu. On our way back from Mandu, we stopped at Dhar, Hotel SriMaya for Lunch. They had a SriMaya special kofta which was decent but was weirdly multicoloured. Beware of the oil content, one can swim in it. Overall good food, excellent Sev Tamatar and dal. The food can get very heavy, so watch what you order. Also excellent pakodas. 

                                          Multicolored Sri Maya Kofta                                          

So that is Mandu in this season. Excellent weather, huge green fields, old forts, and good food. Must have is the Poha with Ratlami sev for breakfast or snacks. Main course should try the dal fry and the sev tamatar. Had it at multiple places, and they don’t go wrong. Also if you not very diet conscious, burge on the samosas, pakodas and dal kachoris. You wont regret it too much.

Thankooo Mihir, Pinku, Ila and Natty for making this an awesome one! Photos courtesy Mihir & Ila. Thankyou guys!