Bhopal is the capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and a city of historic importance with modern urban planning. Earlier it was the capital of the Bhopal State and is one of the greenest cities in India. The Bhopal disaster of the Union Carbide India Limited on 2^nd December 1984 had increased its international importance. Not only that thousands of people lost their lives but also led to many chronic health problems that even now children are born with serious defects.

History of Bhopal

Bhopal was founded by the King Bhoja of Paramara dynasty who ruled over the place from 1000 CE to 1055 CE. The city was said to be named after him originally as Bhojpal. Some people say that it is named after the king Bhupala. It is also said that that the city was established by Badal Singh in 1475 A. D. It was a small village in 18^th century and Dost Mohammad Khan established the modern city of Bhopal. He annexed the nearby territories and established the state of Bhopal and became its Nawab. He founded Islamnagar near the city and after his death in 1728 it came under the control of Nizam ul Mulk.

The Bhopal state came under the protection of British in 1818 and from 1819 to 1926 four women called Begums ruled over the place namely Qudsia Begum, Sikander Begum, Shahjehan Begum and Sultan Jahan Begum. Hamidullah Khan the son of Sultan Jahan Begum came to power then. During the rule of Begums many facilities like waterworks, railways and postal system were introduced.

After the independence of India, the Nawab of Bhopal wanted to remain a separate entity and this continued till March 1948 and after the agitations in December 1948 Bhopal was merged with the Indian Union on 30^th April 1949. When the states were reorganized in 1956, Bhopal was merged into the state of Madhya Pradesh and was made as its capital.

Geography and Climate

The city is situated at an elevation of 427 meters above sea level. It is the northern part of the Vindhya Mountains in the Malwa plateau. The total area of Bhopal district is 2772 square kilometers and the area of the city is 697.24 km. There are 2 towns and 542 villages within its limit. It enjoys a humid subtropical climate with hot summers and dry winters. The average temperature is 30 degree Celsius. The temperature rises to as much as 40 degree Celsius in summer season with milder evenings. It receives its rainfall from June to September. The average rainfall is 992 mm. The south west wind flows at a speed of 14 miles per hour and this place has a humidity level of 71%.

There are many natural and artificial lakes in this city that it is called as City of Lakes. The two important lakes are Upper Lake and Lower Lake and they are together called as Bhoj Wetland. They are also called as Bada Talab and Chota Talab. The Upper Lake was built by the King Bhoj and it drains into the Kolar River. Near the Upper Lake Van Vihar National Park is situated.

Some of the areas of the city are T. T. Nagar, Mayur Garden, Habibganj, Malviya Nagar, Maharana Pratap Nagar, Govindpura, Kabirpura, Railway Colony, Arif Nagar, Bhanpur, Dronachal, Sai Baba Residency, Eco Green City, etc.

People and Culture

According to 2001 census, the population of Bhopal is 18, 43,510 with a male population of 9, 71,649 and female population of 8, 70,861 and male female ratio of 1000:896. In 2011 the population of the city is 1, 795, 648 with a density of 2575 people per square kilometer. 56% of the people are Hindus, 40% of the people are Muslims and 3% of the people belong to other religion like Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism, Dawoodi Bohra.

Though Hindi and Urdu are the main languages spoken here, other languages like English, Marathi, Sindhi and Marwari are also widely spoken. The local language is called as Bhopali. Various dialects of Hindi are spoken here like Malwi dialect, Bundelkhandi dialect and Chattisgarhi dialect.

The city is famous for its parda and zarda. Parda is a veil worn by the women and zarda beeda is a kind of tobacco product chewed by the people. Eating paan is a culture here. The betel nut is chewed with betel leaf, kattha and chuna. There are varieties of paans prepared here.

The foods of Bhopal are less spicy and unique in their tastes. Some of the non-vegetarian dishes famous here are Bhopali Gosht Korma, Murgh Hara Masala Rice, Murghi Nizami, Paneer Razela, etc. Food items made from keema or minced meat and spicy achar gost and rogan josh are famous here. They are eaten with a variety of pulavs.

The festivals like Eid Ul Fitr, Eid Ul Alha, Diwali, Vijayadasami, Dusera, Ganesh Puja, Durga Puja, etc are celebrated here. During Diwali worship of goddess Lakshmi and bursting of firecrackers are done and during Eid the special sweet sewaiya is prepared and the sweets are exchanged among Hindus and Muslims. During Vijayadasami at the end of Navratri, the effigy of Ravan are burnt in many places of the city.

Some of the newspapers and magazines published here are The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Pioneer, Youth Engine, Dainik Bhaskar, Dainik Jagran, Patrika, BPN Times, Raj Express, Nai Dunia, Nava Bharat, Raj Express, People’s Samachar, etc.

Aishbagh hockey stadium is located here. The sports city with an international cricket stadium, indoor and outdoor tennis court, facilities for basketball, volleyball, badminton, swimming, etc is under construction. Tatya Tope Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium with facilities for playing football, tennis, squash, volleyball, basket ball, skating, etc is situated within the city.

Important Events

The Bhopal disaster that took place on 3^rd December 1984 turned the attention of the world towards this city. The leakage of 32 tons of toxic methyl isocyanate gas from the Union Carbide Corporation pesticide plant took a toll of more than 5000 people and more died due to the related diseases. This factory was established in 1969 and on the day of the accident, water entered the chemical storage tank and reacted with the chemical increasing its temperature to 200 degree Celsius leading to gas leakage.

Bhopal Ijtema takes place every year here at Ghasipura which is located at 11 km from the main city and the Jamaats from various parts of the world gather here for 3 days and millions of people assemble here to talk about peace and humanity. Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya is located here and conducts exhibitions to depict the story of human beings in time and space. They initiate education and salvage activities.

Economical and Educational Details About Bhopal

There are about six major areas and 75 suburbs in the city with two major divisions as Old City and New City. Among them the industrial area is called as Govindpura and this place has more than 1044 small and medium scale industries. The largest industry here is Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited.

Another important commercial area where many business houses and banks and retail stores are located is Maharana Pratap Nagar. There are markets and shopping centers in Old City, New Market and Bittan Market areas. Bairagarh in north western part of the city is the market for textiles. The state and central government offices are located in the New City area while the major electrical goods, cotton, chemical and jewelry industries are located in the Old City. The sporting tools, match industry, wax industry, handicrafts, motorbikes and automobile industry and handicrafts are also located here.

The software and hardware technology park is under process done by the Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd and many multinational companies such as Genpact, TCS, Taurus Microsystems and Fujitsu are going to start their offices in the Technology Park.

Some of the industries located in Bhopal are Anant Spinning Mills, Avanti Steel Industries, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Bhopal Switchgears Pvt Ltd, Central India Flour Mills, Copper Strips Pvt Ltd, Escorts JCB Limited, J. K. Batteries, New Bhopal Textile Mills, Permali Wallace Limited, Straw Products Limited, etc.

The schools of Bhopal are either affiliated to the Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education or Central Board of Secondary Education or ICSE Board or NIOS. The Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidhyalaya was established in 1998. There are 217 engineering colleges 95 pharmacy colleges, 4 architecture colleges and 88 MCA collages affiliated to this. Apart from them there are 90 other engineering schools in the city. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research and School of Planning and Architecture were established in 2008. Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology was established in 1960.

Other colleges and universities located here are Indian Institute of Forest Management, Barkatullah University, People’s Medical College, Lakshmi Narain Medical College, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal School of Social Sciences, Institute for Excellence in Higher Education, Rajiv Gandhi College, Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University, Sikkim Manipal University of Distance Education, Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism, SNGGPG College, Regional Institute of Education, etc.

Internal Infrastructure of Bhopal

The shopping malls in Bhopal are Platinum Plaza, Metro Plaza, DB Mall, C-21 Mall, Aura Mall, Aashima Lake City Mall, Viva College, Crown Mall, Aakriti Multiplex Mall, Max Mega Mall, Prabhatam Grand Mall, Sevan Dials Mall, Kanha Multiplex Mall, People’s Multiplex Mall, Omaxe Mall, Vishal Mega Mart, Big Cinemas Mall Cum Multiplex, etc.

Some of the hospitals in Bhopal are Ayurvedic and Unani Hospital, Ayurvedic Hospital, Hamidia Hospital, Jawahar Lal Nehru Cancer Hospital, Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Center, J P Hospital, Kasturba Hospital, Katju Hospital, Sultania Lady Hospital, T B Hospital, Ajwani Eye Hospital, Astha Hospital Ortho Trauma Center, Batra Hospital, Lifeline Hospital, Ghooi’s Hospital, R K Hospital and Research Center, People’s Hi Tech Hospital, Vardan Hospital, etc.

There are many nationalized and private banks in Bhopal and some of them are Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, Bank of Rajasthan, Canara Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, Dena Bank, ICICI Bank, UTI Bank, HDFC Bank, Sadguru Nagrik Sahkari Bank, Jharneshwar Nagrik Sahkari Bank, Bhopal Nagrik Sahkari Bank, Ashtha Mahila Nagrik Sahkari Bank, etc.

Some of the hotels in Bhopal are Jehan Numa Palace, Noor Us Sabah Hotel, Lake View Ashoka, Hotel Savera Inn, Amer Palace, The Residency, Nisarga, Hotel Arch Manor, Hotel Mayur, Hotel Shrimaya, Hotel Surya, Ranjit’s Lake View, etc.

Some of the religious places in Bhopal are Lakshmi Narayan Temple, Dakshin Kali temple, Gufa Mandir, Manua Bhan Ki Tekri, Moti Masjid, Taj Ul Masjid, Dhai Seedi Ki Masjid, etc. Lakshmi Narayan Temple is devoted to Vishnu and Laxmi and is also called as Birla Mandir. Gufa Mandir was established by Sant Narayan Dasji Maharaj and has a Shiv Temple and Hanuman Temple. Manua Bhan Ki Tekri is a Jain pilgrimage center.

Details About Bhopal Transport

The Raja Bhoj Airport is located in Bairagarh and is now an international airport. One can reach the airport through Bairagarh or Panchvati or Gandhi Nagar or VIP road. The railways of the city comes under the West Central Railway Zone and has many railway stations within the city limits namely Bhopal Junction Railway Station, Habibganj Railway Station, Misrod Railway Staion, Mandideep Railway Station, Sukhsewanagar Station, Bairagarh Station and Nishatpura Railway Station.

NH 12 and NH 86 passes through the city and the interstate bus station is located in Habibganj area. There are 8 major bus stands in the city namely ISBT Terminal, Naadra Bus Stand, Jawahar Bus Stand, Halalpura Bus Stand, Bharat Talkies Stand, Jyaneshwari Bus Stand, Piplani Bus Stand and Ayodhya Nagar Bus Stand.

Places of Interest in Bhopal

Gohar Mahal: Built by Gohar Begum in 1820 and situated in the banks of the Upper Lake.

Bharat Bhawan: Has a museum of arts and an art gallery with a repertory and library.

Van Vihar: This is a safari park spreading over 445 hectares.

Upper and Lower Lakes: An over bridge divides them and there is a boat club.

Government Archaeological Museum: Has collection of paintings and sculptures.

Laxmi Narayan Temple and Museum: Located on the Arera Hills and has a collection of sculptures.

Regional Science Center: Has science gallery and planetarium.

Shaukat Mahal: A Gothic mansion with western and Islamic style of architecture.

Moti Masjid: It was built by Sikander Jahan Begum.

Other attractions are Kalika Mandir, New Market, Aquarium Building, Ravindra Bhavan, Bharat Bhavan, Manav Sangralay, Chatori Gali, Kerwa Dam, Lal Parade Ground, Manuabhan Ki Tekri, etc.

Article Posted By : Sumazla  On January 05, 2012lView All Articles

Suhaina Mazhar is a freelance content writer and blogger with five years experience in content writing. http://sumazla.blogspot.com is her blog.

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