Difference between revisions of "Nagpur"

Revision as of 22:06, 17 January 2013

Nagpur is a city in Maharashtra State, India famous for its Nagpur oranges. It is the headquarters of the Vidarbha division. It is also the "second capital" of Maharashtra state, which means that some administrative functions are carried out here, and one of three sessions of the Legislative Assembly in a year occur here.

Get in

By train

Nagpur is the center of India. zero milestone of India is located in the city. It is almost equidistant from all the major metros. Nagpur is connected with all major cities with trains several times a day. Trains run through the day to all parts of the country. All metros are more or less an overnight journey.

By plane

To meet the increase in demand of air traffic in India and provide the required world-class infrastructure for the aviation sector, Mihan [1] Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport is set at Nagpur.

• Nagpur airport[2] is just 7 km from the city-centre. is connected to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Raipur, Nashik, Bangalore, Ahemadabad, Indore, Pune, Sharjah (UAE), Doha(Qatar). Host of airlines fly in and out of Nagpur.

Indian Airlines operates twice daily to Mumbai, Delhi and thrice-weekly to Kolkata and Hyderabad. Jet Airways has two daily flights to Mumbai and one every evening to Delhi. Air Deccan operates daily a direct flight from Mumbai with the Airbus A320 flight. Also there are flights from Mumbai to Kolkata which has a stop at Nagpur.

Many new domestic airlines, namely Indigo Airlines, Kingfisher Airlines have started operations recently (Aug 2006).

Air Arabia has started flying to Nagpur. They operate five times a week, slated to become daily soon. Direct flights to Singapore started in June 2006 on Silk Air, have since been cancelled.

Nagpur is also a Haj terminal and in season Air India operates 747s direct to Jeddah.

Recently Qatar Airways have announced launching of Nagpur - Doha bi-weekly flights.

Get around

By Taxi-Rickshaw

The best way to get around are the yellow and black 3 wheeled taxicabs known as the Autorickshaws or simply Rickshaws. Hollering 'Auto' or 'Rickshaw' at a passing Rickshaw should be enough to catch the drivers attention. In most cases the drivers would be able to understand Hindi and maybe even a few words of English. They are normally quite helpful but are known to cheat tourists so bargain hard and it might be a good idea to ask a pedestrian to get an idea about how much it costs normally to reach your destination by auto. In Nagpur, auto rickshaws don't follow the meter system. They all have them, they are supposed to follow them, but, it will be hard to find an auto with a working meter.

By Taxi-Cabs

There are taxis (cabs) available at the Airport and Railway Station. You can also rent a "Qualis", a slang generic term for a SUV-taxi named after the common Toyota Qualis(but now are available as many other brands, such as the Chevy and India's own luxury brand, Mahindra). Normally they are offered with a driver, and they will stay with you all day, week, or even month if you'd like. This chauffeur can normally understand English, and knows the city very well.

By car

There are many car rental companies available. Driving in Nagpur as in rest of India, is very risky. Drivers can be hired for not much more than the vehicle itself and is highly recommended.

By bus

For using the local buses, you will need to know the routes and numbers. You can take help from people standing on bus stops (usually people are helpful and may be able to communicate in English). Besides, buses are the most common transport facility for the common people in the city and hence they are overcrowded at times. Now Star Bus service started here also. Bus mainly go to Buldi station from there you can conveniently to other places.Frequency of City buses are quite good enough to reach local destinations and suburbs area.

Talk

The local language is Marathi. Hindi is understood by almost everyone and English is prevelant to educated people. Nagpur city had a literacy rate of 89.3% in 2001, which is quite high by Indian standards, as Nagpur is a major education centre in Central India that attracts students from all over the country. English is at least partially understood by most people in the tourist industry.

See

• Ambazari lake and garden
• Khindsi Watersports, Ramtek, khindsi, ☎ 9860840000, [3]. Khindsi is a picturesque lake just 40 kms from Nagpur city and is famous for the natural beauty and water-sports. The lake is in a valley covered by thick forest and is a very popular tourist destination of Central India. There are cottages for accommodation too.
• Futala lake Side (Evening Host for Food in Exotic lake view)
• Shri Ganesha Temple near Railway station
• Mata mandir in Koradi is near from Nagpur
• Dragon Temple in Kamptee
• Shri Shantinath Jain Temple in Ramtek
• Telankadi or Futala Lake.
• Kasturchand Park.
• The botanical gardens.
• Shukrawari Lake.
• Telankhedi Hanuman Temple & Gardens.
• Telankhedi Shiv Mandir.
• Ramtek fort and RAMDHAM temple is near from Nagpur.
• Dhamma Chakra stupa(Diksha Bhumi).
• Taj Bagh
• RSS headquarter at Reshimbagh.
• Raman Science Center
• Maharaj Bagh
• Lake garden Sakkardara.
• Japanese rose garden
• Seminary Hills & Air Force Station
• Parsi Cemetery
• Pavnar (About 50 km westwards from Nagpur)
• Sadar Nagpur
• Bohra Masjid it is very big and beautiful mosque, at Itwari
• It has world class cricket Stadium controlled by Vidarbha Cricket Association, popularly known as "VCA".
• Sonegaon Lake, Khamla Road (South). Migratory birds seen in winters.
• Shiv Mandir, HB Estate (South). 400 yr old Shiv Mandir.
• Bhure Buwa Ganesh Mandir, Near RSS H.Q.Mahal.
• Gajanan Temple, Nagalwadi Hingna.

Do

Come for morning walk at seminary hills garden walking track, and spend your evenings along Futala lake.

• Narrow Gauge Rail Museum, Kadbi Chowk, Kamptee Road. It is a Rail Museum having old & heritage articles of Indian Railway, Old Steam Engines, coaches, saloons and many more things related to Narrow Gauge Indian Railway. A very good garden is there with a Toy Train. It is a very good Rail Museum for childrens for the knowledge of Indian Railway
• Shiv Mandir, HB Estate, Sonegaon (South). 1000, years old Sonegaon Lake and Shiv Mandir
• bishop cotton school, sadar nagpur. bishop cotton school is an heritage building from the british era it is in the heart of city and pride of nagpur
• Gajanan Mandir Nagalwadi near Hingna.
• RAMDHAM, Ramtek (national Highway 7), ☎ 9860840000, [4]. RAMDHAM is Central India's largest spiritual - cultural tourism park which houses all Hindu deities under one roof. There are cultural shows like folk dances, magic and puppet shows every evening and tourists can look forward for a comfortable stay at the resort.
• Sai Mandir, (Wardha Road). This is a really famous Sai Baba temple.

Buy

During summers don't forget to buy Oranges. Nagpur is easily called "Orange City" of India. If you are missing summer, then try Orange Burfi, a milk based sweet with orange flavor.

Itwari, Sitabuldi, Sadar and Dharampeth areas are especially known as shopping areas due to the large number of shops and pavement hawkers in these areas. Bargain is MUST incase you are not familiar with the area. Sunday Foot path market is a very good market at Sitabuldi for shopping household things.

Nagpur is also famous for Cotton articles. Various handicrafts mostly cotton based can be purchased from Sitabuldi, Itwari.

Eat

Nagpur has a lot of good places to eat.

During summers the best place is Khindsi lake with huts around the lake and serving veg and non veg food.

For Non-Veg, many restaurants in Momin pura (this neighbourhood is a must visit during month of Ramzan) serve specialities like Biryani and other eats in places like M.L.A. Canteen, Tanveer Hotel, Babban Hotel, Hotel Al-Zam-Zam on CA Road, Babbu's Hotel in Dharampeth. Many of these restaurants have branches in otehr places within Nagpur.

The best continental can be savoured at 10 Downing Street in Ramdas Peth while Fountain Sizzlers & Bistro serves amazing sizzlers.

Mount Road near Sadar is the best hang-out for foodies. Ashoka for continental or Indian, Nanking for Chinese, Barbecue for Punjabi (Indian Tandoori), Veeraswamy's and Kamat for South-Indian Food.

Zinq for Italian food, Masala for Indian, China for Chinese. V5, a group of 5 different restaurants including a bar, a family restaurant and a disco is a neat establishment. Village Tadka on outer(?) ring road serves excellent Saoji cuisine and Saoji Chicken is a must try. And if you like Saoji taste, you can take home Saoji Curry of Actchawa, which can be used in easy one-step preparation of Saoji food.

Haldiram's is also a good place to eat it also provides packed food for Air/Railway Passengers.

Some of the restaurants of the hotels also offer a great dinner opportunity like Tuli's 'Frontier Post' for Afghani food (peshawari naan and frontier dal recommended) and LB's 'Drums of Heaven'. The Pride Hotel, a favourite amongst air-travelers due to its proximity to the airport, holds numerous food festivals throughout the year for food conneussiers.

For food on the run The Kathi Crossing near VCA Ground, Poonam Chambers Byramji Town, Pratap Nagar and LAD Collge offer amazing rolls which are a meal in themselves.

For street food, roadside carts are lined up with pani puri, Chat, Pav Bhaji and the Indianised version of Chinese noodles and Manchurian at Bajaj nagar and Yeshwant Stadium.You can also find them near Traffic Park and Futala Lake.

It has one of the biggest Grocery market in Central India near Shaheed Chowk. Shaheed chowk(square) is also very famous in the night for variety of street foods. One more place to have great fast-food for people who want to have a quick bite at " Calcutta Rolls " it is located near Shankar Nagar Square.

Drink

One can find numerous places in Nagpur for variety of drinks. Almost, all the hotels in City are fully licensed. There is lot of diversity amongst the drinks, one will find here.

• Ten Downing Street, 5th floor, Milestone building, Wardha road, Ramdaspeth, [5].
• Zinq, Mount Road Extension, Sadar, ☎ 0712 2562146.
• Fionaa, 209,Dharampeth Towers, 3rd Floor, W.H.C. Road, Dharampeth,Nagpur-10, ☎ 098 22 014555 , 098 22 384444.
• Moksh, Rani Jhansi Square, Butty Bhavan, Wardha Rd, Nagpur.
• V5, Opposite Mount Hotel, Mount Road, Sadar, ☎ 0712 6611414.

Sleep

Since its a booming economy for Nagpur, many of the good hotels have set up their businesses here. There are many hotels ranging from Budget to Star. MTDC counters at Railway Station and Airport will be able to help you find a good place to sleep. Below are few good hotels where a good bargain can be obtained.

• Hotel Center Point,
• Hotel Pride,
• Hotel Tuli International,
• Hotel LB,
• Hotel Airport Center Point,
• Hotel Heritage,
• Hotel Govind (Sitabuldi,0712-2544956,2567641)
• hotel redisson blu
• Vits Hotel Nagpur (near railway station), 7 Dhantoli, Warda Road, ☎ 0712-2452891 / 92 / 93 / 61517555, [6]. checkin: noon; checkout: 11:30AM. 4000.

• Hotel Siddhartha Inn, 90 Central Avenue, Near Agrasen Sqaure, Gandhibagh (industrial market area, 2 km from railway station), ☎ (0712) 2727488, [7]. Each of 25 rooms is centrally air conditioned & elegantly furnished. Restaurant serving North and South Indian and Chinese cuisines.
• durgesh barve, ☎ 839o1oo87o.

Get out

• Wardha - 70 km south west to Nagpur, this place has great importance in the history of independent India. Mahatma Gandhi's Ashram at Sewagram and Vinoba Bhave's Paramdham Ashram at Pawnar are 6 km and 9 km from Wardha. This place is also famous for its Khadi cloths. Ramtek is about 40kms from Nagpur a Hill where Lord Rama Visited.

• Tadoba - 130 Kms South of Nagpur in Chandrapur district, Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve which has a population of about 55-60 tiger and in addition about 25 cubs are spotted in 2009-2010 aged from 4 months to 18 months. Tadoba is very well connected to Nagpur, Chandrapur, Wardha and Ballarshah.

• Bandhavgarh National Park - 465 km from Nagpur in Umaria district, M.P., Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve which has a population of about 59 tigers. Bandhavgarh is very well connected to Nagpur and Jabalpur.

• Pench Tiger Forest - 60 km from Nagpur. Nearer to Ram mandir Ramtek. Very good forest reserved for tigers.

• Ramtek - Temple town - 40 km from nagpur. Has wonderful temples on top of Satpuda hills and covered by greenery. Watersports are operated in Khindsi lake with water zorbing, water scooter, paddle boat, speed boat, banana boat and rain dance and cultural tourism park RAMDHAM is nearby.

• Mansar - 35 km from Nagpur. Has archeological excavations and temples. The best one is RAMDHAM.

Local Lingo and Slang

In Nagpur, Marathi and Hindi are the most spoken languages. Because of the proximity to the state border, Nagpur's spoken languages are heavily inlfuenced by neighboring state languages. The Marathi spoken in Nagpur has a different twist to it as compared to Marathi spoken in Pune and Western Maharashtra. Also, in Hindi people use a words which are a combination of the Marathi and Hindi words. An example is the expression "Hao" (or "Hau") which means "Yes". This expression is formed by a combination of the Marathi "Ho" (Yes) and the Hindi "Haan" (Yes).