I had to travel to Jabalpur for office work and I jumped at the opportunity! The plan was such that after wrapping work, I knew I would have only a few hours for sight-seeing, but like they say – something is better than nothing – so I was excited about exploring a new city!

Knowing I had just 4 hours, I wanted to optimize my time and maximize my return! So, I started my sight- seeing with the #1 tourist destination in Jabalpur, which was a boat ride on River Narmada, to see the Marble Rocks at Bhedaghat. Although the boat itself wasn’t too exciting (too many people on it, uncomfortable seats, torn roof cover so the sun was peeping through!), however, the ride at Rs 100 was more than worth it! The rocks were magnificent, and it was interesting to see the different colors of the rocks – at some places brown & black and at others, pure white! And I have to mention our guide, who was super entertaining, narrating stories in a sing-song way with rhyming words and a lot of voice modulation and animations! The ride lasted about 45 minutes and it was enjoyable to see some interesting rock formations – in the shape of a Maruti 800 car, a frog, faces of a human, two kids fighting with each other, Nandi, Shankar’s sitting pose, amongst others!

On finishing the boat ride, it was time for some marble shopping – stones, shivlings, nandis, agarbattis, candles, name stands, etc. Then it was time to head to the Dhuandhar Falls. One could either walk upto them or take the ropeway. Since I was time constrained, I opted for the latter. The ticket was a mere Rs 85 and the cable car journey was a quick one. One gets a nice arial view of the falls. And where the cable car ends, one can hop off and walk a bit closer to the falls and take pictures. It is really a must-do as the fall lives up to its name – you can literally see the dhuan (smoke) flow (dhar).

Having covered the two most important tourist spots, we then headed to the Kachnar City, which has a well-maintained park that houses a huge Shiv murti. The height of the statue is 76 feet; it’s so majestic and just not to be missed!

Before heading to the airport for my flight back to Delhi, my last stop was the Madan Mahal Fort. One needs to take quite a few steep steps to get there, which is somewhat exhausting. Also, a quick warning – do not expect opulent forts like those in Rajasthan. This one is a tiny one, with just ruins left now. However, one must-do sight is the Balancing Rock – a huge stone balanced on the tip of another, which is a geological wonder (on the way to the fort). This one reminded me of Krishna’s butterball, another famous balancing rock, located in Mahabalipuram!

The one place I had thought I would visit is the Rani Durgavati Museum, however, being a Sunday, it was closed. So I’ll keep this for my next visit to Jabalpur, along with the Dumna Nature Reserve and ofcourse a trip to Bandhavgarh!