Indore () is the largest and most populous

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in the Indian state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and

Indore Division Indore division is an administrative geographical unit of Madhya Pradesh state of India. Indore is the administrative headquarters of the division. The division consists of districts of Indore, Barwani, Burhanpur, Dhar, Jhabua, Khandwa, Kharg ...

. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to encompass campuses of both the Indian Institute of Technology and the

Indian Institute of Management The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are central government-owned-public business schools for management offering undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and executive programmes along with some additional courses in the field of busin ...

. Located on the southern edge of Malwa Plateau, at an average altitude of above sea level, it has the highest elevation among major cities of Central India. The city is west of the state capital of

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

. Indore had a census-estimated 2011 population of 1,994,397 (municipal corporation) and 3,570,295 (

urban agglomeration An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

). The city is distributed over a land area of just , making Indore the most densely populated major city in the central province. Indore is the cleanest city in India according to Swachh Survekshan Report 2022 sixth time in a row, conducted by MoHUA the world's largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey. Indore traces its roots to its 16th-century founding as a trading hub between the

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

. The city and its surroundings came under

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Sh ...

on 18 May 1724 after

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later ...

Baji Rao I assumed the full control of

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syn ...

. During the days of the British Raj,

Indore State Indore State, also known as Holkar State, was a kingdom in India. Its rulers belonged to the Holkar dynasty. After 1857, Indore became a 19-gun salute Maratha princely state (a rare high rank) under the British Raj. Indore state w ...

was a 19

Gun Salute A gun salute or cannon salute is the use of a piece of artillery to fire shots, often 21 in number (''21-gun salute''), with the aim of marking an honor or celebrating a joyful event. It is a tradition in many countries around the world. Histo ...

(21 locally) princely state (a rare high rank) ruled by the

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as ...

Holkar The Holkar (Pronunciation: �o(ː)ɭkəɾ dynasty was a Maratha clan of Dhangar origin in India. The Holkars were generals under Peshwa Baji Rao I, and later became Maharajas of Indore in Central India as an independent member of the Mara ...

dynasty, until they acceded to the Union of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Indore served as the capital of the

Madhya Bharat Madhya Bharat, also known as Malwa Union, was an Indian state in west-central India, created on 28 May 1948 from twenty-five princely states which until 1947 had been part of the Central India Agency, with Jiwajirao Scindia as its Rajpramukh. ...

from 1950 until 1956. Indore's financial district, based in central Indore, functions as the financial capital of Madhya Pradesh and is home to the

Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange (MPSE) was a stock exchange located at Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was a SEBI recognized Permanent Stock Exchange, until its de-recognition in 2015. Established in 1919, it was 3rd oldest stock exchange in Ind ...

. Indore has been selected as one of the 100 Indian cities to be developed as a

smart city A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data. Information gained from that data is used to manage assets, resources and services efficiently; in retur ...

under the

Smart Cities Mission National Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting program by the Government of India with the mission to develop smart cities across the country, making them citizen friendly and sustainable. The Union Ministry of Urban Devel ...

. It also qualified the first round of Smart Cities Mission and was selected as one of the first twenty cities to be developed as Smart Cities. Indore has been part of Swachh Survekshan since its inception and had ranked 25th in 2016. It has been ranked as India's cleanest city six years in a row as per the Swachh Survekshan for the years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. Meanwhile, Indore has also been declared as India's first 'water plus' city under the Swachh Survekshan 2021. Indore became the only Indian city to be selected for International Clean Air Catalyst Programme. The project with cooperation of

Indore Municipal Corporation Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

and Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board, will be operated for a period of five years to purify the air in the city.

Etymology

Gupta Gupta () is a common surname or last name of Indian origin. It is based on the Sanskrit word गोप्तृ ''goptṛ'', which means 'guardian' or 'protector'. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, the surname ''Gupta'' was adopted by se ...

inscriptions name Indore as 'Indrapura'. It is believed that the city is named after its Indreshwar Mahadev Temple, where Indra is the presiding deity. It is believed that Indra himself did ''

Tapasya Tapas (Sanskrit: तपस्) is a variety of austere spiritual meditation practices in Indian religions. In Jainism, it means asceticism (austerities, body mortification); in Buddhism, it denotes spiritual practices including meditation and se ...

'' (meditation) in this place and led sage Swami Indrapuri to establish the temple. Later,

Tukoji Rao Holkar Tukoji Rao Holkar (26 June 1723 – 15 August 1797), belonging to the Holkar clan of the Marathas was the feudatory of Indore (r. 1795–1797). Tukoji Holkar was the adopted son of Malhar Rao Holkar, he was the second son of Shrimant Tan ...

who belonged to the Holkar clan of the Marathas and was the feudatory of Indore, renovated the temple.

History

Gupta Empire (Gupta Era)

Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gold ...

inscription mentions Indore as city/town of Indrapura in Gupta Indore Copper plate inscription dated 146 Gupta era or 465 CE. These are also some of the earliest mentions of Indore where the city is mentioned as 'Indrapura'. Indrapura (modern day Indore) was then known for its sun temple, where in 464–65 CE, Gupta king

Skandagupta Skandagupta ( Gupta script: ''Ska-nda-gu-pta'', r. c. 455-467) was a Gupta Emperor of India. His Bhitari pillar inscription suggests that he restored the Gupta power by defeating his enemies, who may have been rebels or foreign invaders. He ...

had made an endowment for the permanent maintenance of the city's sun temple. The temple was constructed by two merchants of the city – Achalavarman and Bhṛikuṇṭhasiṁha. 466 CE Indore Copper Plate Inscription, Hinduism, Skandagupta, Sanskrit

466 CE Indore Copper Plate Inscription, Hinduism, Skandagupta, Sanskrit

Maratha Raj (Holkar Era)

During the

Mughal era The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

, the area under the modern Indore district was equally divided between the administrations ('' sarkar''s) of

Ujjain Ujjain (, Hindustani pronunciation: �d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative centre of Ujjain district and Ujjain ...

and Mandu. Kampel was the headquarters of a ''mahal'' (administrative unit) under the Ujjain ''sarkar'' of Malwa Subah (province). The area of the modern Indore city was included in the Kampel pargana (administrative unit). In 1715, the

Marathas The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

invaded this region (Mughal territory) and demanded

chauth Chauth (from Sanskrit, meaning ''one fourth'') was a regular tax or tribute imposed from the early 18th century by the Maratha Empire in the Indian subcontinent. It was an annual tax nominally levied at 25% on revenue or produce, hence the name, ...

(tax) from the Mughal ''Amil'' (administrator) of Kampel. The Amil fled to

, and the local

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

s agreed to pay Chauth to the Marathas. The chief zamindar, Nandlal Chaudhary (later known as Nandlal Mandloi), paid a chauth of around Rs. 25,000 to the Marathas.

Jai Singh II Jai Singh II (3 November 1681 – 21 September 1743) popularly known as Sawai Jai Singh was the 29th Kachwaha Rajput ruler of the Jaipur State, Kingdom of Amber, who later founded the fortified city of Jaipur and made it his capital. He was born ...

, the Mughal Governor of Malwa, reached Kampel on 8 May 1715, and defeated the Marathas in a battle near the village. The Marathas came back in early 1716, and raided Kampel in 1717. In March 1718, the Marathas, led by Santaji Bhonsale, invaded Malwa again, but were unsuccessful this time. By 1720, the headquarters of the local pargana were transferred from Kampel to Indore, due to the increasing commercial activity in the city. In 1724, the Marathas under the new

Baji Rao I, launched a fresh attack on the Mughals in Malwa. Baji Rao I himself led the campaign, accompanied by his lieutenants Udaji Rao Pawar,

Malhar Rao Holkar Malhar Rao Holkar (16 March 1693 – 20 May 1766) was a noble subedar of the Maratha Empire, in present-day India. He was one of the early officers along with Ranoji Scindia to help spread the Maratha rule to northern states and was given the e ...

and

Ranoji Scindia Ranoji Shinde the founder of the Scindia dynasty from maratha caste that produced outstanding Maratha military commanders during the 18th century. Later the Scindia served as vassals of the British from the northern Princely state of Gwalior. ...

. The Mughal

Nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

met the Peshawar at Nalchha on 18 May 1724, and acceded to his demand of collecting chauth from the area. The Peshwa returned to the

, but left

at Indore to oversee the chauth collection. The Marathas maintained friendly relations with Nandlal Chaudhary, who held influence over the local

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been ...

s (chiefs). In 1728, they defeated the Mughals decisively at Amphora, and consolidated their authority in the area over the next few years. On 3 October 1730,

was appointed as the Maratha chief of

. The local zamindars, who had the title of Chaudhari, came to be known as ''Mandloi''s (after mandal, an administrative unit) during the Maratha reign. The

dynasty of the Marathas, which controlled the region, conferred the title of ''Rao Raja'' upon the local zamindar family. After Nandlal died, his son Tejkarana was accepted as the ''Mandloi'' of Kampel by the

Baji Rao I. The pargana was formally granted to

by merging 28 and one-half Pargana by the Peshwa in 1733. The pargana headquarters were transferred back to Kampel during his reign. After his death, his daughter-in-law

Ahilyabai Holkar Ahilya Bai Holkar (31 May 1725 – 13 August 1795) was the hereditary noble queen of the Maratha Empire, in early-modern India. She established Maheshwar (in Madhya Pradesh) as the seat of Holkar Dynasty. After the demise of her husband Kha ...

moved the headquarters to Indore in 1766. The

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administ ...

of Kampel was converted into Indore tehsil by a change in the name. Ahilyabai Holkar moved the state's capital to

Maheshwar Maheshwar is a town, near Khargone city in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh state, in central India. It is located on State Highway-38 ( Khargone city-Barwaha- Bandheri Highway),13.5 km east of National Highway 3 (Agra-Mumbai highway) a ...

in 1767, but Indore remained an important commercial and military center.

Princely State (Indore/Holkar State)

Ahalyabai Holkar is fondly remembered as a noble, saintly and courageous woman. She ruled the kingdom of Indore (which was then part of the wider

) for several decades. Her rule is remembered as a golden age in Indore’s history. From an agricultural background herself, she married Khande Rao, prince of Indore. Thereafter, she resided in the Royal Palace. Later, she was trained in statecraft and accompanied the army to war on many occasions. At that time the

(which was founded by

Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adil ...

) was at the apex of its power. There were frequent battles and skirmishes, both against foreigners as well as internal feuds. In one such battle in 1754, Ahalyabai’s husband was killed. Her aged father-in-law ( Malhar Rao) was shattered at the death of his son. He summoned Ahalyabai, who he loved deeply, and said: "You are now my son. I wish that you look after my kingdom".

died in 1766, 12 years after the death of his son Khande Rao. Malhar Rao's grandson and Khande Rao's only son Male Rao Holkar became the ruler of Indore in 1766, under Ahilya Bai's regency , but he too died within few months in April 1767. Ahilya Bai became the ruler of Indore after the death of her son with Khande Rao. Ahilya Bai was a great pioneer and builder of Hindu temples who constructed hundreds of temples and Dharmashalas throughout India. She is specially renowned for refurbishing and reconsecrating some of the most sacred sites of Hindu pilgrimage that had been desecrated and demolished in the previous century by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb including: *

Kashi Vishwanath Temple The Kashi Vishwanath Temple is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is located in Vishwanath Gali of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh in India. The temple stands on the western bank of the holy river Ganga, and is one of the twelve Jyot ...

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhya wa ...

– Construction of Shri Rama Temple,

Sarayu The Sarayu is a river that originates at a ridge south of Nanda Kot mountain in Bageshwar district in Uttarakhand, India. It flows through Kapkot, Bageshwar, and Seraghat towns before discharging into the Sharda River at Pancheshwar at the I ...

Ghat *

Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. A Hindu holy place, it is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage and is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. ...

– Construction of Shri Kedareshwar Temple and Hari Temple, Dharamshalas (at Rangdachati, Bidarchati, Vyasaganga, Tunganath, Pawali), construction of many kundas (at Gaurkund, Kundachatri), a garden and a kunda of warm water at

Devprayag Devprayag (Deva prayāga) is a town and a nagar panchayat, near New Tehri, New Tehri city in Tehri Garhwal district, Tehri Garhwal District in the state of Uttarakhand, India, and is the final one of the Panch Prayag (five confluences) of Alak ...

, pastoral land for cows *

Dwarka Dwarka () is a city and a municipality of Devbhumi Dwarka district in the state of Gujarat in Western India. It is located on the western shore of the Okhamandal Peninsula on the right bank of the Gomti river at the mouth of the Gulf of Kut ...

– Mohatajkhana, Pooja House and donation of some villages to the priests of the

Dwarkadhish Temple The Dwarkadhish temple, also known as the Jagat Mandir and occasionally spelled Dwarakadheesh, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Krishna, who is worshiped here by the name ''Dwarkadhish'', or 'King of Dwarka'. The temple is located at Dwarka ci ...

Kedarnath Kedarnath is a town and Nagar Panchayat in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, India, known primarily for the Kedarnath Temple. It is approximately 86 kilometres from Rudraprayag, the district headquarter. Kedarnath is the most remote of t ...

– Dharmashala and Kund) * Omkareshwar – Renovation of the temples of Mamaleshwar Mahadev, Amaleshwar and Trambakeshwar Temples, completing the construction of Gauri-Somnath temple, construction of a Dharmashala & pond, donation of a silver mask for adoration of the

Shivalinga A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional ...

Rameswaram Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kil ...

– Construction of Hanumana Temple, Shri Radha Krishna Temple, a Dharmashala, Well & Garden and many more. In 1818, the

s were defeated by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

during the

Third Anglo-Maratha War The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1819) was the final and decisive conflict between the English East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an invasion of Maratha ter ...

, in the

Battle of Mahidpur The Battle of Mahidpur was fought during the Third Anglo-Maratha War between the Holkar faction of the Maratha Confederacy and the British East India Company at Mahidpur, a town in the Malwa region, on 21 December 1817. On 21 December 1817, ...

by which the capital was again moved from Maheshwar to Indore. A residency with British residents was established at Indore, but Holkars continued to rule

as a princely state mainly due to efforts of their

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the e ...

Tatya Jog. During that time, Indore has established the headquarters of the British Central Agency.

was originally the commercial center of Malwa. But the British administrators such as

John Malcolm Major-General Sir John Malcolm GCB, KLS (2 May 1769 – 30 May 1833) was a Scottish soldier, diplomat, East India Company administrator, statesman, and historian. Early life Sir John Malcolm was born in 1769, one of seventeen children of Ge ...

decided to promote Indore as an alternative to Ujjain because the merchants of Ujjain had supported anti-British elements. In 1906 electric supply was started in the city, the fire brigade was established in 1909, and 1918, the first master-plan of the city was made by noted architect and town planner,

Patrick Geddes Sir Patrick Geddes (2 October 1854 – 17 April 1932) was a British biologist, sociologist, Comtean positivist, geographer, philanthropist and pioneering town planner. He is known for his innovative thinking in the fields of urban planning ...

. During the period of Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar II (1852–86) efforts were made for the planned development and industrial development of Indore. With the introduction of Railways in 1875, the business in Indore flourished during the reigns of Maharaja Shivaji Rao Holkar, Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar III and Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Holkar. File:Raja Shrimat Sir Kashirao (Dada Saheb) Holkar (KCSI) (KIH).jpg, Kashirao (Dada Saheb) Holkar KCSI (

Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...

), the elder brother of Maharaja Tukojirao Holkar II, receiving public recognition by the Viceroy, Lord Canning, in open durbar on 14 January 1861 File:Tookajee Rao Holkar.jpg, Tukoji Rao Holkar II, Indore, from a drawing by Mr. W. Carpenter, Jun.," from the ''Illustrated London News'', 1857 File:Tukojirao III Maharaja Holkar of Indore.jpg, Tukoji Rao Holkar III, The Maharaja of Indore (1890-1978) by James Lauder,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

File:Investiture of his Highness Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Holkar Bahadur of Indore 9th May 1930.jpg, Investiture of His Highness The Maharaja Yeshwant Rao II Holkar Bahadur of Indore 9 May 1930 File:Ahilyabai Holkar 1996 stamp of India.jpg,

1996 stamp of

The Holkar State Darbar (Court) was composed of many Jagirdars,

s, Istamuradars,

Mankari Mankari (Mānkari or Maankari) is a hereditary title used by Maratha nobles and troops from the Indian subcontinent who held land grants, and cash allowances. They held an official position at the Darbar (court) and were entitled to certain cer ...

s and

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

Post-independence

After India's independence in 1947, Holkar State, along with several neighboring princely states, acceded to the Indian Union. In 1948, with the formation of

, Indore became the summer capital of the new state. On 1 November 1956, when

was renamed/merged into

, the state capital was shifted to

. Indore, a city today of nearly 4.5 million (2018) residents, has been transformed from a traditional commercial urban center into the modern dynamic commercial capital of the state.

Climate

Indore lies on a borderline between a humid subtropical climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cwa'') and a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

(''Aw''). Because of its high elevation and inland location even during the hottest months the nights are relatively cool, which is known as '' Shab-e-Malwa''. Three distinct seasons are observed: summer, monsoon and winter. The coldest temperature was in January 1936. Indore gets moderate rainfall of during June–September due to the

southwest monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscill ...

Demographics

Indore is the most populous city in Madhya Pradesh. It is also the largest metropolitan city in Central India. According to the 2011 census of India, the population of Indore city (the area under the municipal corporation and outgrowths) was 1,994,397. The population of the Indore metropolis (

that includes neighboring areas) was 2,170,295. In 2011, the city had a population density of 25,170 people per square mile (9,718 per square km), rendering it the most densely populated of all the municipalities with population over 100,000 in

. As per the 2011 census, 1,502,775 were literates, which translates to 75.4% of the total population, with an effective literacy rate (of population 7 years and above) 85.5%, with male literacy of 89.8% and female literacy was 81.2%. The

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

populations in 2011 were 309,229 and 54,075, respectively. The total number of households were 404711.

Religion

Majority of the population are

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

(80.18%), followed by significant populations of

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

(14.09%) and

Jains Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

(3.25%).

Languages

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

is the official language of Indore city, and is spoken by a majority of the population. A number of Hindi dialects such as

Malvi The Malvi or Malavi, also known as Manthani or Mahadeopuri, is breed of zebu cattle from the Malwa plateau in western Madhya Pradesh, in central India. It is a good draught breed; the milk yield of the cows is low. The breed has been studie ...

, Nimadi and

Bundeli Bundeli (Devanagari: बुन्देली or बुंदेली; or Bundelkhandi) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Bundelkhand region of central India. It belongs to the Central Indo-Ayran languages and is part of the Western Hi ...

are spoken in decent numbers. Other languages with substantial number of speakers include Marathi,

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Sindhi,

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

, Punjabi and

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

. According to 2012 figures, around 6,000 Pakistani Hindu migrants live in the city (out of a total 10,000 in the state).

Government and politics

Civic administration

Indore has a city government, or

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, with a mayor-council form of government. In 1870, the first municipality was constituted in Indore. and Bakshi Khajan Singh was appointed chairman. Indore municipality became the first city to have an elected municipal government responsible for the welfare and growth of the city. In the year 1956, during the reorganization of states, Indore was included in

, and later that same year, was declared a

municipal corporation A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally ...

(IMC) is spread over an area of 269 square km. The Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) is a unicameral body consisting of 69 Council members whose districts are divided into 12 zones and these zones had been further divided into 69 wards defined by geographic population boundaries. In 2014, 29 villages were added into the fold of the municipality. In 2015, 23 more villages were added. After these inclusions, the number of wards went up to 85, and zones 19. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

and

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s are elected to five-year terms. The municipal or local elections to Indore Municipal Corporation were last held in 2015. The next elections were to be held early in 2020, but as per a report from February 2020, these have not happened, although preparation of voter rolls and ward reservation happened later in July. The elected wing of the city government is headed by the Mayor and the incumbent Mayor is

Malini Gaur Malini Laxmansingh Gaur (born 19 June 1961) is an Indian politician serving as the mayor of Indore. She is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. She became mayor in February 2015 by defeating her nearest rival Archana Jaiswal of Indian Natio ...

. As per a report from the

Free Press Journal ''The Free Press Journal'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper that was established in 1928 by Swaminathan Sadanand, who also acted as its first editor. First produced to complement a news agency, the Free Press of India, it was a s ...

, Indore was notified in 2018 for not having constituted ward committees. The executive wing is headed by Pratibha Pal, the municipal commissioner of Indore, who is also the first female commissioner of the city. On 8 May 2020, the budget for of 4,763 crore for 2020–21 was approved for the civic body. Major sources of revenue for the municipality include collection of property tax, water tax, rent. Indore municipality follows the guidelines as per th
Madhya Pradesh Municipal Corporations Act 1956
as well as th
Madhya Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1961
The IMC is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, libraries, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, local planning, and welfare services.

Representation in Parliament and State Assembly

Indore city is represented in the parliament through the Indore Lok Sabha constituency, which covers most of the district. In May 2019,

Shankar Lalwani Shankar may refer to: People *Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name * Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer * L. Shankar, Indian violinist * S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar *Sanka ...

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

, who is also the chairman of the Indore Development Authority, had been elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

from Indore. As pe
delimitation from 2008
Indore city is represented in the state assembly constituency through 5 Constituencies, election for which last took place in 2018:

Law and order

The Indore Police, a division of the

Madhya Pradesh Police The Madhya Pradesh Police Department is the law enforcement agency for the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. Organizational structure Hierarchy The Madhya Pradesh Police uses the following ranks: Officers * Director General of Police (DGP) ...

, is under the direct control of Department of Home Affairs. The

government of Madhya Pradesh Government of Madhya Pradesh also known as the State Government of Madhya Pradesh, or locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and its 52 districts. It consists of an executive ...

is the law enforcement agency in Indore. Indore district is divided into 39 police stations and seven police outposts. In 2012, it was reported that the Police Commissionerate system would be implemented in Indore, but this did not pan out because of tussle between the IAS and IPS officers in the state. The bill was proposed again in 2018 and has been criticised by NewsClick. The system has not been implemented as of 2020, although there has been talk of it. As of 4 September 2013, the Divisional commissioner is Dr Pawan Kumar Sharma. In Feb 2020, the new

Director General of Police Director general of police (DGP) is a rank in the Indian Police Service, held by the highest ranking police officer in a State or a Union Territory of India, typically heading the state or the UT police force. The DGP is appointed by the cab ...

became Vivek Johri while SSP Indore is Harinarayan Chari Mishra.

Judiciary

Indore is also a seat for one of the two permanent benches of

Madhya Pradesh High Court The Madhya Pradesh High Court is the High Court of the state of Madhya Pradesh which is located in Jabalpur. It was established as the Nagpur High Court on 2 January 1936 by Letters Patent dated 2 January 1936, issued under Section 108 the '' ...

with

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

, the city, its agglomerates, and other 12 districts of western Madhya Pradesh falls under the jurisdiction of Indore High Court.

Other agencies

Most of the regions surrounding the city are administered by the Indore Development Authority (IDA). IDA works as an apex body for planning and co-ordination of development activities in the Indore Metropolitan Region (IMR) comprising Indore and its agglomeration covering an area of . Primarily, IDA develops new residential areas. During the early stage of development of such areas, the IDA is responsible for developing basic infrastructure. Once a sizeable number of plots are sold, the area is formally transferred to the IMC, which is then responsible for the maintenance of the infrastructure in the area. The IDA consists of two appointed components; the collector of the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

, who has executive powers, and the IDA Board which includes a chairman appointed by

Government of Madhya Pradesh Government of Madhya Pradesh also known as the State Government of Madhya Pradesh, or locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and its 52 districts. It consists of an executive ...

, Municipal Commissioner of Indore and five members form Town and Country Planning Department, Forest Department, Public Health Engineering, Public Works Department and MP Electricity Board who scrutinize the collector's decisions and can accept or reject his budget proposals each year. The role of IDA is to implement the master plan for Indore prepared by the Town and Country Office, Bhopal. The headquarters of the IDA is at Race Course Road, Indore.

Civic utilities

Electricity in Indore is supplied by the Madhya Pradesh Paschim Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited, the state's agency. Major source of water in Indore are Narmada river and overhead tanks. In 2016, the central government sanctioned 70 crores under the

AMRUT Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission was renamed to Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and then relaunched by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in June 2015 with the focus to establish infrastructure tha ...

scheme to overhaul the water facilities. Indore used to receive 350 MLD of water from Jalud pumping station on Narmada river; while in 2019 the quantity reduced by 100 MLD, as of 2020 it has regained its capacity. The municipality supplies around 450 MLD water through piped connections to parts of the town on alternate days, other parts of the city have shortage of water. The urban poor and unauthorized slum area face a massive shortage of water, and need to purchases private water in drums, or need to have to access private tubewells. A joint study done by UN Habitat, IMC and WaterAid mapping poverty surveyed 176545 households (approximately 1/3rd of the households in the city), and found that 72% of the households did not have access to piped water supply. As of 2012, Indore generated nearly 240 MLD of sewage. As per a report from August 2018, Indore achieved 100% treatment of the faecal matter generated in the city. The city has 3

sewage treatment plants Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding en ...

(STPs), which includes a Sequencing Batch Reactors with a capacity of 245 MLD, the largest in the world, as well as a 78 MLD and 12 MLD Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket reactor at Kabitkhedi and a third with a capacity of 122 MLD. As of 2019, Indore generates over 1,115 metric tons (MT) of garbage a day, of which 650 MT is wet waste and 465 MT is dry waste. The municipality has 100% door to door collection and segregation. The city has a Centralized Processing Unit situated at Devguradia, Nemawar Road over an area of 146 acres. Waste collected at the garbage transfer stations in city is weighed, compressed and moved to this site for final processing. Indore also set up a Plastic Collection Centre (PCC) to reuse and recycle the city's

plastic waste Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are catego ...

and also installed a plastic cleansing machine known as a 'Phatka Machine'.

Economy

Indore is a commercial center for goods and services. As per the official records released by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (Madhya Pradesh), the GDP (nominal) of Indore District is estimated at Rs. 43,356 crores for the year 2016–17. While its per-capita nominal GDP was recorded at INR 1,07,930 in 2016–17. The city also hosts a biennial global investors' summit, which attracts investors from several countries. Major industrial areas surrounding the city include:

Pithampur Pithampur is a town near Dhar city in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, India. Pithampur is an industrial city, and is a part of Indore Metropolitan Region. Pithampur houses major industries and companies of Madhya Pradesh. Demographics ...

(phases I, II and III alone host 1,500 large, medium and small industrial set-ups), Indore Special Economic Zone (around 3,000 acres/ 4.7 square miles/ 1,214 hectares), Sanwer industrial belt (1,000 acres/ 1.6 square miles/ 405 hectares), Laxmibainagar Industrial Area, Rau Industrial Area, Bhagirathpura Industrial Area, Kali Billod Industrial Area, Ranmal Billod Industrial Area, Shivajinagar Bhindikho Industrial Area, Hatod Industrial Area. The city also has IT Parks, Crystal IT Park (550,000 square feet), Pardeshipura IT Park (100,000 square feet), Electronic Complex, and Individual Special Economic Zones (SEZs) such as TCS SEZ, Infosys SEZ, Impetus SEZ, Diamond Park, Gems and Jewelry Park, Food Park, Apparel Park, Namkeen Cluster and Pharma Cluster. Manufacturing of Corrugated Paper

Pithampur near Indore is known as the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

of Madhya Pradesh.

(MPSE) was set up in 1919. It is the only stock exchange in Central India and the third oldest stock exchange in India. It is located in Indore. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has established an Investor Service Center in the city.

TCS TCS may refer to: Organisations * Tata Consultancy Services, an IT company headquartered in India * Taxpayers for Common Sense, a US nonpartisan federal budget watchdog organization * TCS Courier, a Pakistani courier service * Touring Club Suisse ...

has officially started an offshore development center in Indore with a total campus area of around 1.5 million square feet.

Collabera Collabera Inc is a company that provides information technology consulting. Its North American headquarters is in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, while the Asia Pacific headquarters is in Vadodara, Gujarat India. Collabera is the largest privately hel ...

has also announced plans to open campuses in Indore.

Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was founded in Pune and is headquartered in Bangalore. Infosys is the s ...

is setting up a new development center at Indore at an investment of Rs. 1 billion in Phase I at Super Corridor. Infosys demanded an area of 130 acres (53 hectares) to open its new facility in Indore which will employ about 13,000 people. The government of MP has done the land allotment. Impetus, headquartered in Los Gatos, California, USA, with multiple offshore offices in Indore, has started operations at its 25-acre land, procured from the SEZ. Besides these, there are several small and medium-sized software development firms in Indore. Webgility, a San Francisco-based ecommerce company that has had a presence in Indore since 2007, opened a 16,000 square-foot campus at NRK Business Park in 2017. Accenture has also opened the office in Vijay Nagar area. Nagarro also had the presence in Indore.

Culture

Food

Indore's culinary culture has a blend of Maharashtrian, Malwi, Rajasthani and Gujarati influence. The street food of the city is especially popular. Two of the most noteworthy street food places in Indore are Chappan Dukan and Sarafa Bazaar. As part of the Smart City project, the Chappan Dukan area has been developed as a smart food street. The cost of this project is 40 million and has been implemented in a 45-day period. Sarafa Bazaar, which is India's only night street-food market, attracts large crowds from the city and tourists from various places. Indore is also notable for its wide variety of ''namkeen''s or savory items and has many popular ''namkeen'' stores across the city. Most popular food items of Indore include poha, kachori, samosa, jalebi, gulab jamun, rabdi, gajak, imarti, bhel, pani puri, hot dog, egg banjo, moong bhajiya, moong daal halwa, dahi wada, sabudana khichdi, sabudana wada, ''

dhokla Dhokla is a savoury sponge dish that is native to the Indian state of Gujarat and parts of adjacent states, and is popular throughout the country. It is made with a fermented batter that is steamed to a cake-like consistency. The batter consists o ...

'', jeeravan, and sev. The city is debatably the most vegetarian city in India; nearly 49% of population is vegetarian at some leve

Entertainment

The

Yeshwant Club ''Yeshwant'' is a 1997 Indian action crime film directed by Anil Mattoo, produced by Vijay K. Ranglani. It stars Nana Patekar and Madhoo in pivotal roles. Also, it was the final film of Shafi Inamdar, who died a year before the release. Synops ...

(named after Late the Maharaja Yeshwant Rao II Holkar of Indore) and Sayaji Club/Hotel (named after Late the Maharaja Sayaji Rao III Gaekwad of Baroda) are big sponsors for art & music and invite talents from across the world. The major art centers in Indore are the Devlalikar Kala Vithika, Ravindra Natya Grah (RNG), Mai Mangeshkar Sabha Grah, Anand Mohan Mathur Sabhagrah, DAVV auditorium, and Brilliant Convention Centre. The city has a good

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

music culture which is growing.

Nicotine Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...

, one of the city's earliest and most renowned bands, is widely known for being the pioneer of metal music in Central India.

Transport

Air

Indore is served by Devi Ahilyabai Holkar International Airport, about 8 km from the city. It is the busiest airport in the state of

with 2,269,971 passengers and 10851 tons cargo for April 2017– March 2018. Devi Ahilyabai Holkar International Airport, Indore has been adjudged as the best airport in the under 2 million annual passenger footfall category in the Asia Pacific region in the Airports Council International (ACI)'s airport service quality (ASQ) rankings for the year 2017.

Rail

The

Indore Junction Indore Junction (station code: INDB) is one of the Railway junctions in Madhya Pradesh and serves Indore, the commercial capital of Central India. The railway station of Indore Junction BG (future Indore Central) falls under the administrativ ...

is an A-1 grade railway station with a revenue of more than Rs. 500 million. The station comes under Ratlam Division of the

Western Railways The Western Railway (abbreviated WR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways and is among the busiest railway networks in India, headquartered at Mumbai, Maharashtra. The major railway routes of Indian Railways which come under Western Rail ...

. Electrification of the Indore–

Dewas Dewas is a city in the Malwa region of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The municipality was formerly the seat of two 15-Gun Salute state princely states during the British Raj, Dewas Junior state and Dewas Senior state, ruled by the Pua ...

–

was completed in June 2012.

Ratlam Ratlam, known historically as Ratnapuri (lit. ''gem city''), is a city in the northwestern part of the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh state of India. The city of Ratlam lies above sea level. It is the administrative headquarters of Ratlam di ...

–Indore broad gauge conversion was completed in September 2014. Indore–

Mhow Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a town in the Indore district in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located south-west of Indore city, towards Mumbai on the old Mumbai-Agra Road. The town was renamed as ''Dr. Ambedkar Nagar'' in 20 ...

section was upgraded to broad gauge in 2016 and electrified in 2017. The city of Indore has eight railway stations in addition to the main Indore Junction:

Road

Indore is connected to other parts of India through National and State highways. The National Highways passing through the city are: * National Highway 52 (NH 52) contains parts of the erstwhile NH3 (AB Rd stands for Agra Bombay Road) and it originates at Sangrur, Punjab and runs through

Jaipur, Rajasthan Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known a ...

, Indore,

Dhule Dhule is a city located in the Dhule District in the northwestern part of Maharashtra state, India known as West Khandesh. Situated on the banks of Panzara River, Dhule is the regional headquarters of MIDC, RTO, and MTDC. The city is mainly kn ...

and terminates at

Ankola Ankola is a Town Municipal Council and a taluka in Uttara Kannada district of the Indian state of Karnataka. The name of the place is derived from a forest shrub Ankola grown on the coastal hill side and worshiped by the Halakki Vokkaligas a ...

in Karnataka. * National Highway 47 starts from Bamanbore, Gujarat and reaches Indore via Ahmedabad and further connects Betul to terminate at

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

. The highways which have ceased to exist because of renumbering are: * National Highway 3 also known as the Agra-Bombay Road or AB Road, was an important highway connecting

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

via Indore &

. * National Highway 59 & its branch NH 59A. NH 59 originated at Ahmedabad and passed through

Godhra Godhra is a municipality in Panchmahal district in Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Panchmahal district. Originally the name came from ''gou'' which means "cow" and ''dhara''- which have two meanings dependi ...

, Indore,

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Ch ...

Brahmapur, Odisha Brahmapur (; also known as Berhampur) is a city on the eastern coastline of Ganjam district of the Indian state of Odisha. Bramhapur is most famous for its street food, silk sarees or pato sarees, temples and many historical places. Bramhapur al ...

and terminated at

Gopalpur-on-Sea Gopalpur is a coastal town and a Notified Area Council on the Bay of Bengal coast in Ganjam district in the southern part of Odisha, India. Today it is a commercial port, a famous sea beach and a tourist destination. Gopalpur is around 15 ...

while NH 59A connected Indore & Betul. The state highways passing through the city are: * MP State Highway 27 runs from Jhalawar in Rajasthan, through

, Indore,

Barwaha Barwaha is a municipality and tehsil in Khargone district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Barwaha is second biggest city of District after Khargone city.The Barwaha city is divided into 18 wards for which elections are held every 5 yea ...

Burhanpur Burhanpur'' is a historical city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of Burhanpur District. It is situated on the north bank of the Tapti River and northeast of city of Mumbai, southwest of the state's capi ...

in Madhya Pradesh and terminates at

Malkapur, Buldhana Malkapur is a city and municipality in the Buldhana district of Maharashtra, India. Malkapur is one of the largest cotton producers in the area. In the British era, it was known as the "White gold of Vidarbha". Malkapur has a vast paper indu ...

in Maharashtra. * MP State Highway 31 (

Neemuch Neemuch or Nimach is a town in the malwa region. Neemuch crowns the north western part of MP. It has been also referred to city of Nature and Peace. The town shares its northwestern border with the state of Rajasthan and is the administrati ...

–

Dhar Dhar is a city located in Dhar district of the Malwa region in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Dhar district. Before Indian independence from Great Britain, it was the capital of the Dh ...

)

Public transport

Indore's City Bus transport system runs through 277 km (172 mi) of road with a daily ridership of over 140,000. Atal Indore City Transport Services Ltd, a PPP scheme operates buses and radio taxis in the city. The buses designated as City Bus operate on 64 Routes with a fleet of 361 buses, with 421 bus stops. The buses are color-coded into three colors: Blue, Magenta and Orange according to their route. Indore BRTS (iBUS) – Indore BRTS is a bus rapid transit system with 53 air-conditioned buses equipped with services like GPS and IVR which are used to track the position of the bus with information displayed on LED displays installed at the bus stops. Indore Magic (Auto Rickshaw) – Indore Auto Rickshaw is a magic service for small distance travel. Daily approx. 500,000 people travel within the city. Indore Metro is a

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...

system that is currently under construction in its first phase. Indore Cable Car was announced in January 2021 as another public transport for the city to decongest traffic. It will also be the first cable car in India to run on crowded streets.

Education

Indore is one of the education hubs of India and is the only city to house both an

and an Indian Institute of Technology. The

Daly College The Daly College is a co-educational residential and day boarding school located in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was founded by Sir Henry Daly of the British Indian Army during India's colonial British Raj, following an English public sch ...

, founded in 1870 by General Henry Daly, is one of the oldest co-educational boarding school in the world, which was established to educate the rulers of the Central Indian princely states of the '

' and

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

s'.''

Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), styled Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and then Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman ...

in India: Being a Selection from His Speeches as

Viceroy and Governor-General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

1898–1905'', by George Nathaniel Curzon Curzon, Thomas Raleigh. Published by Macmillan and co., limited, 1906. ''Page 233''. Speech: "4th November 1905"...."The old Daly College has founded here as long ago as 1881, in the time of that excellent and beloved Political Officer, Sir Henry Daly"... The

Holkar Science College Holkar Science College, officially Government Model Autonomous Holkar Science College, also known as Holkar College is an institute in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.It was established on 10 June 1891 by His Highness Maharajadhiraja Raj Rajeshwar Saw ...

, officially known as Government Model Autonomous Holkar Science College was established in 1891. Indore is the first city to have both IIT (

Indian Institute of Technology Indore Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South A ...

) and IIM (

Indian Institute of Management Indore The Indian Institute of Management Indore (often abbreviated as IIM-I) is an autonomous public business school located in Indore, Madhya Pradesh in India. Instituted in 1996, IIM Indore is the sixth addition to the Indian Institute of Ma ...

). Indore is home to a range of colleges and schools. Indore has a large student population and is a big educational center in central India, it also is the education hub of central India. Most primary and secondary schools in Indore are affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE); however, quite a few numbers of schools are affiliated with ICSE board, NIOS board, CBSE board, and the state level M.P. Board as well.

is one of the most prestigious institutions in the country. Started in 2009, IIT Indore has its 500-acre campus in Simrol (28 km from Indore City). IIT Indore has several disciplines including Civil Engineering, Computer Science Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy, and Material Science. IIT Indore ranked 15 under the engineering category in the National Institute Ranking Framework. IIT Indore's central library emphasizes the use of Online Information Resources. The library provides its users access to nearly 3800 electronic journals as well as access to databases such as ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore Digital Library, Science Direct, MathSciNet, JSTOR, SciFinder, Taylor and Francis, WILEY, and Springer. The library also provides air-conditioned and Wi-Fi enabled reading halls.

Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology The Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology is a unit of Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, engaged in R&D in non-nuclear front-line research areas of lasers, particle accelerators and related technologies. History On 19 Fe ...

is a unit of Department of Atomic Energy, Government of

, engaged in R&D in non- nuclear front-line research areas of

lasers A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

, particle accelerators and related technologies. The Centre is situated at the south-western end of the Indore,

.The RRCAT campus is spread over a 760 hectare on the outskirts of Indore city. The campus encompasses RRCAT

laboratories, staff housing colony and other basic amenities like school, sports facilities, shopping complex, gardens etc.

Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya Devi Ahilya University (informally abbreviated DAVV), formerly Indore University, is a State University. It was named after 'Ahilya Bai Holkar', the 18th century Queen and ruler of Indore, which was part of the Hindu Maratha Empire. Its jurisdi ...

, also known as DAVV (formerly known as University of Indore or Indore Vishwavidyalaya), is a university in Indore with several colleges operating under its aegis. It has two campuses within the city, one at Takshila Parisar (near Bhavarkuan Square) and another at Rabindra Nath Tagore Road, Indore. The university runs several departments including Institute of Management Studies, School of Computer Science & Information Technology(SCSIT), (IMS), School of Law (SoL),

Institute of Engineering and Technology, DAVV The Institute of Engineering & Technology, DAVV commonly referred to as IET, or IET DAVV is the engineering school of Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya. It was founded as an autonomous institute in 1996. The college follows a self-financed model. The ...

(IET), Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMRC), International Institute of Professional Studies (IIPS), School of Pharmacy, School of Energy & Environmental Studies – one of the primer schools for MTech (Energy Management), School of Journalism and School of Futures Studies and Planning, which runs two MTech Courses with specializations in Technology Management & Systems Science & Engineering, MBA (Business Forecasting), an MSc in Science & Technology Communication. The campus houses several other research and educational departments, hostels, playgrounds, and cafes. The Indian Institute of Soybean Research (IISR) ( ICAR,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

), Asia's largest soybean research center, is headquartered in Indore. There are 16 laboratories in the facility for different disciplines, including genetic engineering, application of artificial intelligence in image analysis, big data analysis, food processing, agriculture machinery, nanotechnology, biotechnology, remote sensing, and application of IOT in agriculture. Situated in the heart of Malwa, Indore enjoys the status of an "educational and industrial Capital of Madhya Pradesh". To initiate and strengthen agricultural research and development in Malwa and Nimar regions, the Institute of Plant Industry came into existence in the year 1924. Later on, in the year 1959, the Government College of Agriculture, Indore was established with the merger of the erstwhile Institute of Plant Industry (IPI). It was a prestigious campus of Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, since 1964. After bifurcation of Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur in 2008 and Separate second Agricultural University is formed, that is, Rajmata Vijiyaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Gwalior now College of Agriculture, Indore is coming under the juridicition of RVSKVV, Gwalior. The

Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS), formerly known as Govindram Seksaria Technological Institute (GSTI), is a institute of technology located in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is an autonomous institution ...

(SGSITS), formerly Shri Govindram Seksaria Kala Bhavan, is a public engineering institution located in Indore. It was established in 1952 as a technical institute offering licentiate and diploma courses in engineering. New Delhi granted the status of an autonomous institution in 1989. In 2020, it became the first and only Madhya Pradesh government-funded engineering college in the state to have made its place among the top 250 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking released by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College (MGMMC), established in 1878 as the King Edward Medical School, is one of the oldest government run medical colleges in India. It is attached to tertiary teaching hospitals named Maharaja Yeshwantrao group of Hospitals established in 1955. Indore also has two other Privately run medical colleges which act as teritary care hospitals, they are SAIMS and Index Medical College and Hospital. The College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry,

is a constituent college of Nanaji deshmukh Veterinary Science University,

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

an autonomous Veterinary University in India, and is a pioneer college in the field of Veterinary Sciences in India. It is one of the oldest veterinary colleges in

and India was founded in 1955 the present building of the college was inaugurated by the first prime minister of India Pt.Jawahar Lal Nehru on 12 November 1959.

Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences The Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS) is a group of colleges located in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. The institute also features Mohak Hitech Speciality Hospital within the campus, the hospital performed youngest bariatric sur ...

(SAIMS) is a group of colleges located in Indore. It features Mohak Hitech Speciality Hospital within the campus.

VIBGYOR Group of Schools VIBGYOR Group of Schools is a chain of schools, the first of which was established in 2004 in Goregaon, Mumbai, India. Under the leadership of Rustom Kerawalla, Founder Chairman of the Institution, the VIBGYOR Group has opened 40 schools in fou ...

have a branch in Vijay Nagar.

Health and medicine

Indore is home to 51 public health institutions and has a number of private hospitals. The healthcare facilities of Indore include Government run tertiary teaching hospital MY Hospital attached to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Indore, private run hospitals include Bombay Hospital, SAIMS, Index Medical College & Hospital, Choithram Hospital, Shalby Hospital, CHL Hospital,

Medanta Global Health Limited, d/b/a Medanta, is an Indian hospital chain based in Gurgaon, India. The chain was started in 2009 by cardiac surgeon Naresh Trehan and Sunil Sachdeva. History In 2004, cardiac surgeon Naresh Trehan began working on Me ...

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

, Vasan, Centre for Sight and Navchetna Rehabilitation and Deaddiction Center. The National Family Health Survey of 2018 found Indore to be India's most vegetarian city, with 49% of residents eschewing meat products.

Media

Print media

There are about 20 Hindi dailies, 7 English dailies, 26 weeklies and monthlies, four quarterlies, two bi-monthly magazines, one annual paper, and one monthly Hindi language educational tabloid named "Campus Diary" published from the city. India's only magazine on the pump industry, ''Pumps India'', and valve magazine ''Valves India'' are published from here.

Electronic media

The radio industry has expanded with a number of private and government-owned FM channels being introduced. Indore switched to complete digitalization of cable TV in 2013 under the second phase of digitalization by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Indore is covered by a network of

optical fiber An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass ( silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a mea ...

cables. Doordarshan Kendra Indore with studio and transmission started from July 2000.

Wi-fi

There are various companies providing paid and free Wi-fi services across the city. Reliance's Jionet became operational in November 2013. It covers the whole city and is a 4.5G high-speed Wi-fi service which was initially free but become chargeable in 2016. Indore is the second city in India to provide free Wi-fi across the city. AICSTL provides a high-speed free Wi-fi service named 'Free As Air' across the Indore BRTS corridor. BSNL has also started free Wi-fi services in prominent locations.

Sports

Maharani Usha Raje Cricket Stadium Indore - panoramio

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

is one of the most popular sports in the city. Indore is also home to the

Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA), headquartered at Indore, India, is the governing body of cricket in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the Madhya Pradesh cricket team. The board was formed in 1940 as the Holkar Cricket Associati ...

(MPCA), Madhya Pradesh Table Tennis Association (MPTTA), and the city has one international cricket ground, the

Holkar Cricket Stadium The Holkar (Pronunciation: �o(ː)ɭkəɾ dynasty was a Maratha clan of Dhangar origin in India. The Holkars were generals under Peshwa Baji Rao I, and later became Maharajas of Indore in Central India as an independent member of the Marat ...

. The first ODI cricket match in the state was played in Indore at Nehru Stadium in 1983. Besides cricket, Indore is also a center for many national and international championships. The city hosted the South Asian Billiard Championship and is a host to the three-day-long National Triathlon Championship, in which nearly 450 players and 250 sports officials belonging to 23 states take part in the action. Indore was included in holding two

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for holding the largest tea party in the world and for making the largest burger in the world.

Tourist attractions

Rajwada Palace Indore Rajwada01

Rajwada Rajwada is a historical palace in the city of Indore, Madhya Pradesh. It was built by the Holkars of the Maratha Empire about two centuries ago. This seven storied structure is located near the Chhatris and serves today as a fine example of roy ...

Palace is a historical palace in Indore city. It was built by the

s of the

about two centuries ago. This seven-storied structure is located near the

Chhatris ''Chhatri'' are elevated, dome-shaped pavilions used as an element in Indo-Islamic architecture and Indian architecture. Originating as a canopy above tombs, they serve as decorative elements. The earliest example of chhatri being used in the ...

. Kanch Mandir

Kanch Mandir Kanch Ka Mandir ( hi, काँच मंदिर), literally Temple of Glass, is a famous Jain temple in Indore, built by Sir Seth Hukumchand Jain. The construction began sometime around 1903. There are quite a few other temples in India kn ...

, literally 'temple of glass', is a famous Jain temple in Indore, built by Sir Seth Hukumchand Jain. Its construction began sometime around 1903. Khajrana Ganesh Temple is a pilgrimage center in Indore, dedicated to Lord Ganapati, built during the reign of Holkar Dynasty. Nahar Shah Vali Dargah is the oldest ''

dargah A dargah ( fa, درگاه ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargah'' दरगाह درگاہ, bn, দরগাহ ''dorgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often ...

'' of Indore. It is situated in the Khajrana area, a little distance away from Kalka Mata Temple. Lalbagh Palace Lalbagh Palace, Indore

Lalbagh Palace Lalbagh Palace is the former residence of the Holkar Maharaja of Indore State in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. History Spread over 76 acres of property, the construction of the present 45-room palace happened in three phases. Starting with Tukoji ...

is one of the finest buildings built by the

Dynasty between 1886 and 1921. The interior is beautified with striated Italian marble pillars, many chandeliers and classical columns, murals of Greek deities, a baroque-cum-rococo dining room, an English-library-style office with leather armchairs, a Renaissance sitting room, and a Palladian queen's bedroom which was the fashion among many of the late Raj-era Indian nobility, accompanied by a billiards room. There is imitation of the Buckingham Palace gates creak at the entrance along with 28-hectare ground, where, near to the palace, stands the statue of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. Manik Bagh

Manik Bagh Manik Bagh, also spelled Manig Bagh, is a palace of the Holkar Maharaja of Indore State in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The name means "Ruby Garden" or "Gem Garden". It was designed and built by the German architect Eckart Muthesius on behalf of Mah ...

palace was built in 1930 when Maharajah Yashwant Rao Holkar II commissioned the construction of the Manik Bagh ("Jewel Garden") palace. The architect was Eckart Muthesius (1904–1989) from Germany. The maharaja was at a young age at that time, as was Muthesius who was just a couple of years older. The work outside and inside was done in a late

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

and the international style of

modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...

. Yeshwant Club Yeshwant Club, Indore

The

came into existence in 1934 at the behest of late the Maharaja Tukoji Rao III Holkar of Indore. The club was established for their son, Yuvraj Yeshwant Rao Holkar. Spread over 14 acres it is a

legacy of the

rulers of

. Initially, the club was opened for

royalty, nobility, aristocracy, and the officers (Natives and British) of the Holkar State. Later its doors were opened for the business elites. Post-Indian Independence, the admission criteria were revised according to the changing times. Maharani Usha Devi, the daughter of late Maharaja Yeshwant Rao II Holkar of Indore is the Chief Patron of the club, the Honorary Chief Minister of

being the President of the club. Sirpur Biodiversity 2

Sirpur Lake The Sirpur Lake is the most important bird-watching site in

. It is a Ramsar site located on Dhar Road in Indore. It is known for more than 180 species of resident and migratory birds. It was restored to a viable bird habitat from a heavily encroached pool over four decades since 1980 by Padmashri Bhalu Mondhe and his NGO The Nature Volunteers, and was declared an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area in 2015-16. It is one of the most important bird habitats in

region. Another Ramsar site near Indore is Yashwant Sagar. Pitra Parvat

Pitra Parvat is one of the major point of attraction in Indore. The

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

is made with 8 elements in golden color. It took 125 workers and 7 years to complete the statue of the deity

Lord Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine ''vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and one ...

. This huge

has established a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

that has the small deity of

for the devotees to

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recogniti ...

is seen sitting in the lap of ''Mother'' ''Anjani'' in this temple.

Notable people

References

External links

City portal
at Govt. of India info. website * *
Indore Tourist Destinations: Madhya Pradesh Tourism
{{Authority control Smart cities in India Metropolitan cities in India Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2011 Cities and towns in Indore district Cities in Malwa Former capital cities in India Cities in Madhya Pradesh

Etymology

History

Gupta Empire (Gupta Era)

Maratha Raj (Holkar Era)

Princely State (Indore/Holkar State)

Post-independence

Climate

Demographics

Religion

Languages

Government and politics

Civic administration

Representation in Parliament and State Assembly

Law and order

Judiciary

Other agencies

Civic utilities

Economy

Culture

Food

Entertainment

Transport

Air

Rail

Road

Public transport

Education

Health and medicine

Media

Print media

Electronic media

Wi-fi

Sports

Tourist attractions

Notable people

See also

References

Further reading

External links