15 MAY, 2015
INDORE – QUEEN OF THE DECCAN The largest city and commercial center of MADHYA PRADESH province in central India, it is located 190 Km South-West of provincial capital BHOPAL. It is the 15th largest city in India and 147th largest city in the world. Indore is also referred to as “Mini Mumbai” due to diversity in population and culture, which is reflected in the crowd, shopping style, food and entertainment. The name Indore is said to have originated from the “Indreshwar” temple present in the city. It is situated on a confluence of the two Rivers Saraswathi and Kahn at the center of Indore, which makes the city more attractive. The city has a climate that consists of hot summers and cold winters with a spate of monsoon rains in between. Temperatures vary from 10 °C in winter to 45 °C during the summer. Known for its foodie culture, the blend of different people from different cultures has resulted in a diverse cuisine such as “IdliDosa”, “Vada-Sambhar” to Rajasthan inspired “Dal-Bafle”, a distinctive Malwa food.
But Indore is famous across the subcontinent for its wide variety of “Namkeens”, a specialty of the region, not found anywhere else. And its staple breakfast of “Poha” and “Jalebi” and snacks of “Kachori” and “Samosas” are also famous. In addition to being the commercial capital of Central India, Indore is renowned as an Educational hub of India hosting premier educational institutes, such as Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and Indian Institute of Technology, the only city in India to have both institutes in the same City. Pithampur Special Economic Zone (SEZ), is known as “Detroit of India” as it has many automobile industries and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies. Most of the big IT giants like TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) and Infosys are planning to invest heavy amounts to setup new development centers in the city. Currently some of the big IT players in the city are IBM Indore, Impetus, Computer Science Corporation (CSC) etc.
Food, People and Culture of Indore The cultural heritage of Indore includes remains of its glorious royal past, historic religious shrines and various archeological sites. Indore culture is a unique blend of various cultures from across the sub-continent. Persian, Chinese, North Indian, South Indian, Western Indian, British, Classical Indian, Medieval Indian, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Baha’I, Bohra, Jain, Buddhist etc. influences are easily observed in the demography, clothing, architecture and cuisine. Being a former Marathi princely state of the Holkar Dynasty, the people usually converse in Marathi, but Hindi is the official language of the city, spoken by the majority of the populace. Various dialects of Hindi can be heard here, namely Bundelkhandi, Marwari and Chattisgarhi. Some other languages spoken here are English, Gujarati, and Sindhi.
A variety of food can be found here, catering to the taste buds of a wide range of people. Whether it is South Indian DILIDOSA-SAMBHAR, North Indian CHHOLA BHATURA, Rajasthani DAL-BAFLE, Marathi BHEL, VADA-PAV, PAV BHAJI, Chinese Inspired, HAKKA NOODLES, CHOWMEIN, CHILLI PANEER etc. As is with most parts of India, Spicy Chaat Food is a hot favorite here with some mouthwatering PaniPuri, Vadas, Samosas, Chhole Tikkes etc. The city is also known for its thirst quenchers and drinks like SHIKANJI (a blend of milk and dry fruits), good old fashioned LASSI (flavored yogurt), and Jal-Jira. There are also some big fast food chains that have opened up in Indore such as PIZZA HUT, DOMINO’S PIZZA, MCDONALD’S, KFC, CAFÉ COFFE DAY. Besides these, several hotels and restaurants offer a variety of eatables. From Street food to Continental cuisine.
Indore has a tropical wet and dry climate. There are three seasons observed in Indore: •
Summer (March to May): Dry summer with temperature exceeding 40*C on several occasions. Average Day-time temperature is between 35-40*C
• Monsoon (June to September): Rainy season providing the city with 90% of its water. Average rainfall in a monsoon is around 33 inches. The combination of heat and water result in very humid conditions. • Winter (October t0 February): Winters tend to be very light with temperatures known to reach low 30s. Average temperature is between 26 and 30*C. It can go as low as 4*C on some nights.
Contact us: Ruchi Jain Ruchi.jain@aiesec.net
Suyash Rai Suyash.rai@aiesec.net