This week, The Musafir Stories speaks to Amol Wanjari, co-founder of Orange Odyssey - a tour company specialising in curating heritage experiences around Nagpur, Maharashtra!

Today's destination: Nagpur, Maharashtra

Nearest Airport: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport (NAG)

Nearest Railway Station: Nagpur Railway Station (NGP)

Prerequisites - N/A

Packing - Pack light

Time of the year - October to February, winters are ideal time to visit

Length of the itinerary: 3 hours

Itinerary Highlights:

1. Amol takes us on a guided heritage tour around the old city of Nagpur, uncovering the evolution of Nagpur.

2. The evolution takes us from the prehistoric time to the post-independence era, unravelling a layered history of Nagpur.

3. The first reference is of the stone circles at Junapani and Mahurjari that date back to the megalithic period. There are 300 such stone circles dating back to 3000 years ago and are believed to be burial sites of those periods.

4. There is also a copper inscription at Devri dating back to the 10th century, probably from the Rashtrakuta period that mentions Nagpur.

5. Then we discuss the Gond era, the Gond Fort, the foundation of Modern Nagpur, and the brief rule of Gods at Nagpur. There’s a bastion left from the early Gond period which we visit during the walk.

6. After that, we unfold the History of Maratha's rule at Nagpur by visiting the Kalyan Dwar, a gateway of the old Rajmahal or Mahal of Nagpurkar Bhonsles, their rule & development of the city. During this layer, we visit Gol Bazaar, Kotwali Police Station, Kelibag Temple Complex, and Bakabaicha Wada (Now DD Nagar School).

7. We then visit the site of the old palace to see the Town Hall & Native Library. We start here with the British rule & developments during the colonial period. After that, we visit Senior Bhonsla Palace, followed by the Rukmini temple complex. This temple is a masterpiece from the Bhonsle Rule.

8. We then come to Shukrawar Darwaja, which is known as Gandhi Gate now. We talk about history from the post-independence period, discussing the Nagpur pact & the renaming of the gate & lake after Gandhi.

9. As the walk ends here, we visit an old food establishment, to have Nagpuri breakfast of Tarri-Poha.

10. Post that we take an overview of the structures of Civil Lines, like the Central Museum, High Court & Zero Mile Stone. We also have an overview of Weavers of Mominpura.

Links:

Orange Odyssey’s website - https://www.orangeodyssey.com

Orange Odyssey’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/OrangeOdysseyIN

Orange Odyssey’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orangeodysseyindia/

Orange Odyssey’s Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/OrangeOdysseyIndia/

Image Credit - Amol Wanjari, Orange Odyssey

Battle music: Sota War (https://freesound.org/people/YleArkisto/sounds/258207/ ) by YleArkisto (https://freesound.org/people/YleArkisto/ ) is licensed under CC by 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ )

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