Bhopal is a city of lakes and mosques that repays several days of exploration. The Taj-ul-Masajid — one of the largest mosques in India — is the dominant landmark, its pink minarets reflected in the Upper Lake at sunset. The Upper and Lower Lakes together give the city an unusual, watery character for a central Indian city, and boat rides at dusk are a Bhopal ritual.
The Bharat Bhavan arts complex, designed by Charles Correa and opened in 1982, is one of India's outstanding cultural institutions, with galleries of tribal and contemporary art, a gallery of prints and drawings, and performance spaces for theatre, music, and dance. The State Museum and the Golghar Museum add further layers of history and archaeology. For context on the city's most difficult chapter, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Memorial Museum stands near the former Union Carbide plant site.