PLACES TO VISIT: Nearby Places

Near By Sight Seeing

·  Omkareshwar Mandhata is located on the bank of Narmada River, approx. 75 Kms. from Khandwa on Indore - Khandwa Highway. This is a holy place for Hindu and Jain Sects. Mamaleshwar, one among the 12 Jyotirlingas of Hindu sect and Siddhawar Kut of Jain sect are located at this place. Millions of the pilgrims of both sects & foreigners visit the place every year. Other sites are the caves of Adi Guru Shankaracharya (The great ancient saint of Advait philosophy of Hindu sect.) are located at this place. The name "Omkareshwar" is due to the shape of the island.

·  NarmadaNagar near Punasa has a key location in Indira Sagar Project of Narmada Valley Development Authority, on the bank of River Narmada. The place is about 61 kms from the District H.Q. Khandwa. Huge water reservoir, upcoming forest area and natural beauty has made this place beautiful, it has the honour of having the largest artificial lake of Asia.

·   Maheshwar was a glorious city at the dawn of Indian civilization when it was Mahishmati, capital of king Kartivarjun. This temple town on the banks of the river Narmada finds mention in the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Revived to its ancient position of importance by the Holkar queen Rani Ahilyabai of Indore. Maheshwar's temples and mighty fort-complex stand in quiet beauty, mirrored in the river below. It is about 110 kms from Khandwa. Today, Maheshwar is also known for its distinctive  handwoven sarees called Maheshwari.

 

                 Excursions:

1.  Mandleshwar: This town is situated on the banks of river Narmada, at a distance of about 5 km from Maheshwar. The town was founded by Mandana Mishra, and has a stone fort constructed by Mohammedan rulers. It also has a fine flight of 123 steps leading down to the river and expanding below into a wide ghat. Tukoji Rao Holkar II built a palace here. It was also the headquarters of the Nimar Agency and Cantonment under the British from 1819 to 1864. The town is an important retail marketing and trade centre. 
2.   Oon: 18 km from Khargone, Oon was a flourishing place 1000 years ago. About a dozen temples, both Hindu and Jain lie clustering here and represent an architecture patronised by the Parmara kings of Malwa. The carvings on the temples are quite similar to those in Khajuraho. An important place for Jain pilgrimage.
3.  Bawangaja: 10 km from Barwani, tehsil headquarters of Khargone distt., the Bawangaja temples are 170 km from Indore. The 72ft high Jain statue here has been hewn in the rock. It belongs to the early 15th century. Bawangaja is an important Jain pilgrim centre. 

·  Burhanpur 69 kms from Khandwa, the later - medieval fort and palace at Burhanpur were built by Meer Adil Shah Farooqi. The fort was known for its exquisite Persian bath-houses with coloured tiles and glass work. They are a fine example of Iranian architecture.

·  Asirgarh 49 kms from Khandwa, the impregnable fort at Asirgarh served as a barrier to invaders from the North from entering Gujarat, Deccan and Marathwada. The fort was built by Usa and Ahir and is situated atop a hill with a palace. Visit the 10th century Shiva Temple nearby.

·        Mandu(190 kms from Khandwa) Perched along the Vindhya ranges at an altitude of 2,000 feet, Mandu, with its natural defenses, was originally the fort capital of the Parmar rulers of Malwa. Towards the end of the 13th century, it came under the sway of the Sultans of Malwa, the first of whom named it Shadiabad - 'city of joy'. And indeed the pervading spirit of Mandu was of gaiety; and its rulers built exquisite palaces like the Jahaz and Hindola Mahals, ornamental canals, baths and pavilions, as graceful and refined as those times of peace and plenty.

          

·    Modern Ujjain (185 kms from Khandwa) is situated on the banks of the river Shipra, regarded since times immemorial as sacred. The belief in the sacredness of Shipra, has its origins in the ancient Hindu mythological tale of churning of the Ocean by the Gods and the Demons, with Vasuki, the serpent as the rope. The ocean bed first yielded fourteen gems, then Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth, and finally the coveted vessel of Nectar. Then began the wild scramble for immortality with the demons chasing the Gods across the skies, and in the process, a few drops were spilt, and fell at Hardwar, Nasik, Prayag, and Ujjayini. Hence the sanctity of the waters of the Shipra.

·  Pachmarhi (300 kms from Khandwa) is Madhya Pradesh's most verdant jewel, a place where nature has found exquisite expression in myriad enchanting ways.Green shades embrace the mountains, and everywhere is heard the gentle murmur of flowing water. Bridle paths lead into tranquil forest glades, groves of wild bamboo and jamun, dense sal forests and delicate bamboo thickets.Complementing the magnificence of nature are the works of man; Pachmarhi is also an archaeological treasure-house. In cave shelters in the Mahadeo Hills is an astonishing richness in rock paintings. Most of these have been placed in the period 500-800 AD, but the earliest paintings are an estimated 10,000 years old.

PLACES TO VISIT: Local

Local Sight Seeing

·  Dada Dhuniwale Darbar is located in South - Western part of the town about 3 kms from railway/bus station. This is a centre of faith and worship. The Samadhi places of great Avadhoot Hindu saints Swami Keshwanandaji Maharaj and Swami Hariharanandji Maharaj, respectfully called as "Bade Dadaji" and "Chhote Dadaji" respectively. A fair is held on Guru Purnima at this place and thousands of the devotees attend the fair from all over the nation.

·  Maa Turja Bhavani temple is located beside the Dadaji Darbar and dedicated to Hindu Goddess Maa Turja Bhavani. Many myths are circulated in the masses regarding the temple. It is said that during the wandering period, Lord Rama, visited the place and worshipped the Shakti for nine days at this place. A nine day fair in Navratri period is held here every year. Thousands of devotees visit the place especially in this period, daily prayers also being attended by hundreds of devotees.

·  Devi Nav Chandi Dham is newer place for the devotees of Shakti, located in the LavKush Nagar, in the northern part of the city and is approx. 3 kms from railway station. The temple is dedicated to the Goddess Nav - Chandi. A fair is organized in the month of Falgoon (Feb-March) and cultural & religious programme is being organized by Baba Gangaram, the devotee of the Goddess who has constructed the temple. Film stars and / or and great personalities perform at the fair every year. Thousands of devotees attend the fair.

·  Kishore Kumar Memorial (Samadhi): A beautiful Modern architectural skills can be seen in this monument of the famous playback singer? Actor Kishore Kumar. He was born and brought up at Khandwa and showed great love and regard for the city. He desired to be cremated here. Hence, a “Samadhi” was built 4 kms away from the railway station on the way to Indore.

·  Nagchun Dam is 7 kms from the station site, North to the city near Nagchun village. This is a nearest picnic spot of the city. From this dam also the water is being supplied to the city. Dense plantation around the place makes it beautiful.

A belated review of the excellent services... By Rajnish - 14 Sep 2009

One of our esteemed guests dropped a review at the search engine GOOGLE. One can check it by writing HOTEL GRAND BARRACK KHANDWA.

I stayed at the hotel for five days starting 31 Jan 2009. We were new to the place, in fact the area as such. It was a pleasant culture shock to get personalised services, be it food, guidance, and room services. The word excellent describes it all succintly.‎

A pleasant surprise : by vonkla on May 06, 2009. vonkla recommends this hotel.

  http://www.indiamike.com/india-hotels/reviews/4547/

Positives: Very capable staff

Negatives: None

The hotel is ten minutes with a rickshaw from the railway station

Grand Hotel is original a part of a British army garrison.I guess it were the quarters of subaltern officers or something like that. The complex is quit old but clean. The rooms are situated next to each other along a porch.

We stayed there in February 2009 and had an AC-room for 735 rs. The room was not so big but there was also a storage chamber and a bathroom. Bucket hot-water. Laundry service. The restaurant is cheerless but the food tasted very good. We stayed three nights and the other days we had dinner on the large lawn. All the other guests took their meals in their rooms.

The English of the owner and his son, who principally runs the hotel, is very good. They are very helpful and capable in making travel arrangements. We had to leave at 6 AM and even at that time we got breakfast with coffee.

Very friendly hotel : by wichy on Aug 09, 2009. wichy recommends this hotel.

 One of our guests from Russia wrote:
http://www.indiamike.com/india-hotels/reviews/4628/

Positives: Good location, friendly stuff, good, reasonably priced rooms
Negatives: The food was just OK

Stayed at Grand Hotel Khandwa just for 1 night (even less, than 1 night - we had a train at 4 AM). The place was a pleasant surprise: clean and nice rooms with spotless buthroom, and extremly friendly and caring stuff. The owner and his son a really good in English (as vonkla already said), and they take as much care of you, as your own family :-) As we had a very early train to Jalgaon, we ordered a rikshaw to train station, and the owner even said that one of hotel boy will see us to the station - as it could be dangerous to go to the station without escort. As the autorikshaw did not come in time (I think, he had seen sweet dreams :) ) - the owner's son take us to the station by the car, even without any fare, and the hotel boy escort us to the platform, and stayed with us till our train had arrived and we take our seats. We were really appreciated :-) Khandwa is the best option to get from Omkareshwar-Maheshwar to Jalgaon (Ajantha caves), and Grand Hotel is very nice option to spend some time before the train :-)
The price for the double for 3 person non-AC was, as I remember, about 600 IR.

OUR GUEST REVIEW

Sumiranji,

I wanted to do this for a while but hectic schedules & travel pushed it this far.

We want to Thank You for the wonderful customer service you provided us during our visit to Khandwa.

I was touched when your mother came  and gave us a ride to the hotel.

I know we were being whiney impatient travellers ( I would blame it on the heat... high tempretures).

This was an amazing memorable incident which I will never forget.

I was also impressed to see that you have opened your hotel to provide a lot of facilities to the kids in the community.

I will highly recommend your hotel to all my family & friends.

If you want to use this email as an testimonial I would be happy.

Thank You again for providing great services.

Best Regards

Preety Sathe

Mr. & Mrs. Sule