Gwalior Travel

Gwalior is a former princely state located in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Since the 8th century, Gwalior has been a city of tremendous historical importance. Many puissant Indian rulers patronized this great city leaving their own ineradicable footprints on the city. The great attraction- the legendary Gwalior Fort is described by the Moghul Emperor Babar as "The pearl among the forts of Hind".
After India got independent in 1947, Gwalior along with other princely states was unified into the state of Madhya Bharat. In 1956, Madhya Bharat was combined with Madhya Pradesh.
The city has been fortunate in founding itself as an education hub of India. It has Asia's largest physical education institute and two national institutes that are pioneers in their respective fields. In addition to this there are several colleges of national repute.

Major Attractions of Gwalior City
Sas - Bahu Temples
The Sas-Bahu temples is located inside the Gwalior Fort, Sas-Bahu is the name originally given to two adjoining temples of different sizes. The larger of the two is lavishly embellished with elegant sculptures and intricate designs. The visitors are over whelmed with its splendid charms and archicture.

Jain Sculptures
The city has numerous poignant Jain sculptures, which were originally cut into the steep rock faces in the 15th century. These masterpieces were damaged when Babur attacked on Gwalior but were renovated later on. These sculptures are classified into 5 main groups.

Man Singh Palace
A Palace also known as the Chit Mandir or Painted Palace due to the beautiful paintings embodies on the walls of the palace. The palace is painted with beautiful pictures of ducks, peacocks and elephants, it is just a captivating sight. A small museum next to the Man Singh Palace houses sculpture and carvings from around the fort.

Palaces
Inside the colossal walls of Palace there are several small palace structures which are equally rated among the most ravishing palace complex. Karan Palace or Kirti Mandir, Jehangir Mahal and Shan Jahan Mahal has a large meager Jauhar Kund (platform). It is at this place that the mass sati or self-immolation of royal ladies took place after the defeat of Raja Man Singh in 1232 in battle with Mughal Empire.

Jai Vilas Palace and Scindia Museum
The palace is still the residence of the current maharaja of the Scindia family, some part of the palace has been converted in to a museum. About 35 rooms have been transformed into a museum that showcases the most luring items such as Belgian cut glass furniture, real stuffed tigers, a Rolls Royce on rails, a German bubble car, a life-size marble statue of Leda and a model railway that carried brandy and cigars around the dining table. The central hall known as the Durbar hall with its huge, beautiful chandeliers is just irresistible.

Excursions from the City
Gwalior also facilitates some beautiful excursions, Datia -74 km is famous for its Bundela palaces and paintings. Pawaya- known as Padmavati in ancient times is famous for its archaeological remains of first and eight centuries that have been discovered here. The Dhoomeshwar Mahadeo temple-3 km is a fine example of Bundela architecture. Sonagiri, Orchha, Shivpuri, Chanderi, and Tigra Dam are some other places in the vicinity of Gwalior.

Other Attraction of Gwalior
Sound and Light Show
Depicting the tales of by gone era of Gwalior regime, the sound and light show is held every evening in front of the Man Mandir. The combination of light and sound takes you back to the time of raja's and maharajas.

Mode of Transport
Air: Indian Airlines has a thrice a week hopping flight from Delhi through Gwalior to Bhopal, Indore and Mumbai, which also returns from Mumbai through the same cities.

Rail: The super fast Shatabdi Express links Gwalior with Delhi, Agra, Jhansi and Bhopal. Other trains take almost 5 hours to Delhi, 2 hours to Agra, 12 hours to Indore and 24 hours to Mumbai.

Road: From the central bus terminal there are regular services to Agra, Jhansi, Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur. There are two buses each morning to Khajuraho. Buses also run from the private bus stand in Lashkar. Local transportation in Gwalior includes cycle-rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and horse-drawn tongas.