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City of JabalpurJabalpur is located in Madhya Pradesh, a province earlier known as the Central Province. Madhya Pradesh is the Central State of the Indian Territory and Jabalpur becomes the central city of the nation.
There is a bit of difference of opinion on the origin of the name Jabalpur. Some believe the trading community of Jabalpur with links with Middle East Arabs derived the name from the Arabic word Jabal which means hills. The others feel that the name is based on the name of an Indian Saint Jabali Pattanam, who had the distinction of learning the Vedas despite being from the lower caste. The name may have its etymological references to Arabs or Saints, but the city is an inescapable tourist destination in Madhya Pradesh. The city is also known by a typical Hindi name, Sanskardhani, or a veritable urn of culture. The salubrious environs of the virgin hills and the charm of River Narmada was an attraction for the Saints and hermits from all over India. The city was the favorite of Kings and Maharajas looking for relaxation amid hills, lakes and waterfalls. The hills of Jabalpur, with varied mineral content are the preferred destination for geologists and archeologists. Paleontologists, with the finding of a fossilized Dinosaur, come in hordes looking for some more clues on the world before the last Ice Age. The exceptional topography of Jabalpur with hills all around the city gives it a picturesque setting. Some of the Hindi movies have been shot here. The picturesque setting though is a nightmare for town planners and developers. The Central Railways has constructed railway lines winding along these hills, somewhat akin to a horseshoe. A railway journey to the city is a singular experience with beatific old world charm. The town, on the Varanasi-Nagpur NH-7 is well connected with the North and South India. The Jabalpur Airport located about 12 miles from the city has limited facilities. Recently the low priced Deccan Airlines has started flights from Delhi and Bhopal to the city. The authorities realizing the importance of the city on the tourist map have made plans of upgrading the airport. The city has the typical hot and dry temperate of the Great Indian Plateau. Jabalpur is hot during summers with temperatures up to 47 degree Celsius and winters bring it to the freezing point of water. The July to September months bring heavy rains with the onset of the South Western monsoon. The October to March window during the winters is suitable for a visit to the city. The city of about one and half million people has had its share in the freedom struggle of India, with personalities like Lokmanya Tilak, Mahatama Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose conducting rallies in Jabalpur. The city is also home to many reputed educational institutions, contributing a large professional workforce to the developing Indian economy. It is a city with leftist leanings, loathing the capitalist juggernaut with vehemence. It is the breeding grounds for many movements; the famous Narmada Bachao Andolan got resounding support from this city. The city with anathema for capitalism is a fairly inexpensive and highly satisfying tourist destination. {mospagebreak} AttractionsJabalpur, the place crafted in marble, had been the cherished pleasure resort of the 12th Century Gond rulers. The British enamored by the scenic beauty developed it as a major cantonment during their rule over India. The central location of the City of Jabalpur was once instrumental in it being considered for the Capital of the Mughals. The place surrounded by hills grant an inherent protection from being run over by marauding armies. The city of Jabalpur, whether capital city or not has a fascinating rustic splendor and a number of interesting places on a platter for you.
Madan Mahal Fort. Indian rulers had penchant of making forts on top of high hills, the reason could have dominance and the ubiquitous security concerns. This fort was built in the 11th century by the Gond King of Jabalpur. The name derives from the name of the king, Madan Shah. Today it is a ramshackle structure with crumbling walls.
Sangram Sagar and Bajnamath. The city of Jabalpur has been the favorite with the rulers and these constructions date back to the rule of Sangram Shah in the 15th century.
Rani Durgawati Memorial and Museum : The people of Jabalpur revere Rani Durgawati for her valor and sacrifice. She is the local Joan of Arc of the city. The memorial and museum are dedicated to Rani Durgawati who defied the might of Mughals.
Tilwara Ghat : The Ghats or the steps on the Narmada river are considered as holy as those on Ganga. The ashes of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi were immersed from this Ghat into the waters of Narmada and that brought the name of this Ghat into the history books.
Bedaghat. This is a small place on the Narmada River, about 12 miles from Jabalpur and is famous for the sparkling water soaked marble rocks. The Narmada River passes through these hundreds of feet high marble rocks. The serene sparkling beauty of marble and the silvery water of the river against the morning sun is the just breathtaking.
Dhuandhar Falls. The Hindi word Dhuandhar or roaring signifies the splendor of the place. The Narmada plunges down the high marble hills creating misty or smoky water falls. The gargantuan amount of water falling from such heights generates a roar which can be heard miles away and succinctly named the Roaring Falls. This ancient city like any other Indian city has numerous temples but a few which have been constructed on top of the hills and present a magnificent view of the Narmada are Chausat Yogini Temple, Tripuri Sundari Temple and Vishnu Barha Temple. The Chausat Yogini Mandir a Goddess Durga temple was constructed in the 10th century. The exquisite stone carvings of the era are a testimony to the high craftsmanship of the people of Jabalpur.
The city of Jabalpur is ideally located for visiting the two nature parks, the Kanha and Bhandavgarh National Parks. A drive of just about 2 to 3 hours from Jabalpur would get you into the lap of a perfectly wild and raw nature. {mospagebreak} NatureThe city in the Great Indian Plateau, Jabalpur, with marble hills and Narmada River as the backdrop has the galore of virgin nature. A visit to the city does not end with the marble rocks; it does not end at the numerous forts and temples on the hills; it actually is the beginning of a great journey into the wild that the State of Madhya Pradesh can offer. The city of Jabalpur with its central location is the place to begin a journey that you will cherish all your life.
The city is within two to four hours of journey to many Sanctuaries and National Parks. A planned journey to the North East of Jabalpur will take you to Fossil and Bandhavgarh National Parks. A couple of hours more and you reach Panpatha, Son Ghariyal, Sanjay Dubri and Bagdara Sanctuaries. The Kanha National Park is to the South of the city and if you have plans of doing a full circuit of the State, then you must include Pench and Kanha National Parks in your itinerary.
Fossil National Park. The park is located just about 50 miles from Jabalpur. It has been established by the Government of Madhya Pradesh for displaying and preserving the fossilized remains of many a pre-historic species found in various excavations in the State. The park is spread only over a few hundred square meters of area. The size really does not matter as the student of paleontology has a lot to gain from the collection available under one roof.
Bandhavgarh National Park. The park is the Tiger reserve located about 90 miles from Jabalpur is just about an hour’s drive from Fossil national park. Spread over more than 160 square miles of virgin natural terrain of the Satpura Ranges, this park has a wide variety of flora and fauna. The park is home to the Indian tiger, panther, sloth bear, variety of antelopes and birds. If you are lucky then you may see the white tiger, though only few in numbers but conspicuous in the largely green surroundings.
The park has a host of plant species primarily the deciduous variety. The huge bamboo groves, old Sal trees and grasslands in their pristine magnificence are a paradise for nature photography enthusiasts. The fauna in their natural habitat is a great attraction for ornithologist and wild life enthusiasts.
The park offers quite a few staying on options too. The Tiger Den Resorts, Mewar Camp Bandhavgarh and Chruhat Kothi Bandhavgarh offer the best of the modern comforts in natural surroundings. The accommodation is by and large in modern tents with all the amenities. The resorts also arrange Elephant Safari for that thrilling medieval royal experience. Jeeps and Land rovers are also available for a quick tour of the park.
The park has lot more for the nature lovers; the best would be sipping a glass of wine sitting on a pedestal atop a tree and watching the frolicking antelopes and stalking them the leopards and tigers.
The Kanha and Pench National Parks to the South of the city have similar milieu and services. The parks in the State are open during the January to June period only. The best time to visit would be Jan to mid April; the months of May and June are terribly hot for any Western traveler to venture in the wild with little backup. So get set and gear up for an exploratory trip to the Wild West or probably the Center of India. {mospagebreak} EducationSanskardhani, urn of culture, the city of Jabalpur has more than one hundred and fifty educational institutions. The city has more than 70 Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools, 30 odd Engineering and Medical Institutes and three Universities. A city of a million people certainly has more than it can chew. The colleges here are the favorite educational destination from all over India. Another facet is the ease of admission and the so called payment seats, where in the money power will gain you entry to a professional college. The professional colleges in Jabalpur churn out more than one thousand trained engineers and medical staff each year. The rapidly progressing Indian economy and new global ventures do present a lot of job opportunities but to the deserving few only. The rest add up as statistics to the growing numbers of highly educated unemployed youth in the country. Rani Durgavati University is the most illustrious of the three; the other two being Jawaharlal University of Agriculture and the M P Bhoj Open University. Rani Durgavati University was established in the year 1956 and named Jabalpur University. The University has a large campus spread over just a little less than a hundred acres of the highly expensive Jabalpur prime property. The Campus houses the Admin Block, Physical Education department and separate faculty buildings which include the arts, mathematics, physics, chemistry and bio-technology disciplines. The University has a highly developed computer lab, a library and separate hostels for male and female students. The amenities for the teaching staff and the students include a health center with modern gym equipment, sports facilities like the swimming pool, courts for various racquet games, canteens, residential quarters and a fully operative market complex. The University has been sited in the most primitive tribal belt of the state to spread the light of education and help eradicate illiteracy in this region. The university has been successful in the mission can be gauged by the fact that it is the affiliated University of more than a hundred colleges and imparted higher education to a hundred thousand students over the forty years of its existence. The Jawaharlal University of Agriculture was established in the fifties to develop scientific know how to help the farming community of the agrarian state. The University has various courses in the field of Agriculture technology, seed research and bio-technology. The students get hands down training on the farming methods and even get a small piece of land to cultivate a crop. The M P Bhoj Open University has brought the higher learning to the doorsteps of the students who can not attend a regular day college. The University has setup elaborate infrastructure all over the state to provide the course materials and conduct mandatory class room sessions. The main focus of the University is on teaching of IT related courses as it is one of the fastest growing fields. The numerous professional colleges in Jabalpur have courses on Ayurvedic Medicine, Yoga, and almost all technological, arts and commerce related subjects. The Public Schools like St Xavier’s, St Aloysius, St Mary’s and St Thomas have a long teaching history in the city. The State Government has setup primary schools for compulsory free education and the Central Government brought the Kendriya Vidyalas. The Sanskari City has an envious assortment of educational establishments. {mospagebreak} CultureJabalpur district with River Narmada bringing in fresh water from the Vindyachal Ranges has developed into an agrarian economy. The land of the Narmada basin with its fertile alluvial soil gives good yields of sorghum, wheat, rice and millets in the villages around Jabalpur. The State of Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer of Soybeans and the district of Jabalpur occupies a place of pride in agriculture production.
The people are simple and hardworking. The presence of the sacred Narmada and the rule of Gond and Maratha dynasties has made Jabalpur a primarily Hindu dominated area. The Mughal rule brought in a sizable Muslim population and created religion based pockets in the city. The city has seen the worst form of Hindu Muslim riots in the 60s. The rise in the population of the city especially village folk migrating to the city are settling in slums on the outskirts of Jabalpur. The estimates are that by the year 2015, the population of the city will double to a whopping two million people.
The economy of the city is dependent on the few cottage and defense related industries. The cottage industries are the bidi or the small Indian cigarette making, garment industry, poultry and light engineering. Jabalpur is known by the huge defense manufacturing setup. It has Ordnance Factories, Gun and Explosives Factory, the Defense Vehicle Factory and the Defense Metal Foundry. These were established in the early part of the nineteenth century by the British. The factories are supplying most of the equipment to the Indian Armed Forces. The industry also employs the largest workforce in the city of Jabalpur.
Hindi is the first language of the state and spoken and understood in the city. The Moghuls brought Urdu and the influence of Maratha rulers has given Marathi to the multilingual culture of Jabalpur. The city folk do communicate in English but the jingoist villagers prefer to use their mother tongue Hindi or Marathi. The state of Madhya Pradesh is home to many Hindu movements like the Rashtriya Swamyesewak Sangh or RSS, a voluntary organization for inculcating true Hindu values in the youth. The farming culture has given rise to crime and villagers can be seen with double barrel guns, a status symbol in Madhya Pradesh.
Festivals and Dance Forms. The people are religious and celebrate most of the festivals of India in their singular boisterous style. The tribes of Madhya Pradesh have added color to the festivities with a number of dance forms. The typically Gond dance Karma associated with fertility is performed in the month of August. The nomadic tribes like Kanjars and Banjaras perform Matki, Phulpati and Girida dances. The Matki dance is performed in the marriages. The women dance with an earthen pitcher balanced on their heads. The dances are generally accompanied by the staccato sound of a shrill drum called Dolaki. The Kanjar tribe can be seen performing acrobatics on the road sides and the famous ring trick where the acrobat wriggles his body through a ring measuring less than a feet and a half. {mospagebreak} HistoryThe ancient city of Tripuri, the Jabalpur of today, was mentioned in the great epic Mahabharata. The original inhabitants of Jabalpur were the nomadic Bhil and Gond tribes. These tribal communities were not highly structured as the North Indian Rajputs, or the Western Marathas. They were groups of farming communities in the fertile Narmada basin. The naïve tribes were gradually driven to the forests by the ordered Armies of the Marathas and then the Mughals. The British decimated the might of the tribal people by passing the Forest Act, which gave them absolute control over all the forests. The earliest known states, the State of Avanti; which controlled the territory of modern day Jabalpur and the Eastern part of Madhya Pradesh, dates back to third century BC. Avanti had regular change of guards and various dynasties; the Sungas, Guptas, Harshas ruled the state. The Kalchuri dynasty in the latter part of eighth century AD made Jabalpur as their capital. The Gonds having imbibed the art of war wrested control in the 13th Century. The Gondwana Kingdom thrived in the region till late 16th Century. The Gonds were lovers of art and worshippers of the Janani or the mother creator. The power to procreate is truly divine and their unsullied culture recognized sex as an ultimate worship. They built the exotic temples and palaces with erotic sculptures and the exquisite fine carvings all over the Gond Kingdom. The beauty of the temples and palaces in Jabalpur is an apt statement of their craftsmanship. The Mughal rulers expanding their rule to the South India viewed the region as the major bottleneck and attacked it time and again. The legend of Durgawati, the Gond Queen and local Joan of Arc, was born when she killed herself after been defeated by the Mughal Emperor Akbar. The rugged terrain was not the forte of Mughals and soon the specialists in guerilla warfare, Marathas gained control. The saga of change was not to stop here and the British defeated the Marathas in early 18th century. The elusive Pindari tribes of the region, the Thugs, were notorious for their looting and treacherous killings of traders and merchants. The British were instrumental in wiping out this menace. The Collector of Jabalpur, Colonel William H Sleeman was the man behind eradicating the Thugee menace. On the way to Pench National Park, the village of Kokha, once a bastion of the Thugee cult; saw hanging and trampling by elephants of hundreds of Thugs. The location of the city within the Indian hinterland led to the development of Jabalpur as the major supplier of arms and equipment, and establishment of the ordnance factories. The city was part and parcel of the freedom struggle with bigwigs like Mahatma Gandhi, Lokmanya Tilak and Subhash Chandra Bose holding major conferences in the city. The city has maintained its fickle character even after independence and witnessed Hindu Muslim riots, Hindu revivalist movements and even today considered as the stronghold of the BJP and RSS, the Hindu Revivalist political parties of India. Trackback(0)
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