Indore is the largest city in Madhya Pradesh and its commercial capital, a sprawling, energetic place that most travellers pass through rather than linger in. That is a mistake if you like street food — Indore is consistently rated among India's best cities for eating, and the night food markets at Sarafa Bazaar and Chappan Dukan are reason enough to stop.
The old city has the Rajwada, a seven-storey palace built by the Holkar dynasty, and Lal Bagh Palace on the outskirts shows off the family's later taste for European grandeur. The Kanch Mandir, a Jain temple entirely encased in mirror glass, is one of the more unusual religious buildings in central India. Indore is also the jumping-off point for Mandu, the ruined Afghan fortress city in the Vindhya hills, about 90 km to the southwest.