Indore - Ahilya Bai Holker's City

I had the pleasure of visiting the city of Indore in the month of March during Holi. It's a live example of a B class city turning a new leaf replete with concrete structures that compete with any of India's top metros. Apart from being an interesting city it is also my sasural (in-laws place).

We reached on the day of Holi and i was quite surprised to see the fervor and spirit lacking among the locals. I assumed it was the water scarcity that made the good citizens decide against playing holi this year. But the reason was something ealse as i realised 5 days later.

We made a visit to the famous Rajwada of Indore from where the famous queen Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar ruled the Malwa region. The area around the rajwada immediately reminded me of the old markets in Hyderabad and Lucknow; which i have become so used to visiting in both cities. The marketplace was bustling with noise and street vendors lining the roads urging every passer by to take a look at their wares. It was also a place where the street food stalls crop up once the regular shops close for the day and goes on way past midnight. The variety and flavours of the food available is simply amazing. It is heaven for people with a good (read big) appetite.

Among its most famous locations, Indore also has a big temple of lord Ganesha. The temple situated in Khajrana was a 10 minute drive from home. I had a nice time enjoying the cool breeze on my face riding pillion on a bike - it had been a while since i rode on a bike. The temple closes down for just a couple of hours in the night stalling the otherwise continuous beeline of devotees. It was quite an experience getting into the inner sanctum sanctorum and performing the pooja. Even better was distributing more than 50kg of laddus.


Five more days passed and i finally figured out why i did not see many people playing holi in Indore - it was because they celebrate Rang Panchami. It comes 5 days after Holi and is celebrated with more fervour and gaiety. We were supposed to return to Delhi the same evening but could not escape getting drenched in colour. I had mixed feelings - happy for being able to celebrate Holi and angst as i had to return home and the colours would not wear off quickly - its quite evident from my face.

Thus ended my first trip to my in-laws and to the land of history and food.