Tourism in Indore: The City That Will Not Be So Ordinary.
If you’ve never been to Indore, you’ve missed out on one of India’s most defiantly impassioned, food-obsessed and secretly charming cities. Indore isn’t talking about its own self-worth around Delhi, or a genteel beach body like Goa or anywhere else sitting in the centre of Madhya Pradesh. Instead, it subtly beckons you along with the promise of poha, jalebi and a healthy dose of confusion over which street you just moved into. The one truth: Indore isn’t there to show off monuments and palaces. Sure, Rajwada Palace looms tall in the center of the old city, and Lal Bagh Palace offers up some taste of royal life but let’s be real, you’re likely here for the food. Sarafa Bazaar, for example, is a place where diets are to die. By day, it sells jewellery. By night, it becomes a foodie’s playground, where you can eat everything from crisp bhutte ka kees to garadu (which is basically fried yam making it sexy). The question is not what to eat but how much more joy can your stomach bear? And then there’s Chappan Dukan that literally means “56 shops.” It’s not 56 anymore, but nobody can still count because who has time for math when there’s all this chaat to eat? This street is Indore’s therapeutic answer. A little dahi puri, a glass of shikanji, and all of life’s troubles seem a lot less daunting. Others say Indoris are so happy because they’ve solved their life code: good food and no needless drama. Of course, Indore is doing its very best to be modern as well. There’s a clean city campaign in town that the locals take surprisingly seriously. India’s cleanest city is this way multiple times, and really you can’t help but admire the commitment. There is a certain irony in people tossing their trash in the proper bins just feet on the heels of a vendor, deep-frying unidentifiable oil that’s visibly far from optimal. You’ve got balance, as they say. For those in search of something more spiritual than spicy, Indore has several temples to visit. The Kanch Mandir, which is made wholly of glass, will leave you blinking in disbelief, because it’s beautiful, but also because you’re trying to figure out how on earth they keep it so spotless. And there is Omkareshwar , only a few hours away, where the holy Narmada river curls round the form of the Hindu symbol “Om.” It’s soothing, it’s sacred, and yes, it’s a perfect Instagram backdrop. There needs to be a respectable mention of Indore’s traffic too. It’s a certain sort of adventure, in which lanes are optional and honking is a mode of conversation. And yet somehow, everyone gets to where they need to be, which shows that chaos, if you get it right, can be a form of art. By the time you leave
Indore, you’ll feel full of food, of stories, and of a slightly confusing love for a city that doesn’t scramble to be perfect. Indore doesn’t have to be Paris or Mumbai. It’s content being content as it is: loud, energetic, irrefutably lovable. And if that isn’t reason enough to go, you likely haven’t had the poha yet.