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About Madhya Pradesh 
Madhya Pradesh, India’s largest state is located at the centre of the country, with more than half the state on the Deccan plateau which forms the central portion of the Indian peninsula, bordered on either side by the hills of the Eastern and Western Ghats. The people here speak Hindi and culturally too, it is not very different from the rest of north India. Noteworthy structures are all concentrated to the northwest of the state, near Delhi and Agra. The reason is that the Vindhya Mountains, running from east to west, did not allow much movement between north India and the southeast. Sanchi, which is near the capital, Bhopal, has some important Buddhist ruins. Ruins of temples, monasteries and three stupas of various sizes, are strewn on hilltops giving a serene ambience to the area. To the west of the stupas are toranas (memorial arches), whose exquisite sculpture belongs to the period between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. This Buddhist art was the inspiration for Asian Buddhist art.
The most famous group of Hindu temples belonging to the Middle Ages is also located at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh. The architectural style of these temples, the Khajuraho style, is a sub-classification of the Orissa type and the west-Indian type, which again is a sub-classification of the overall north-Indian type. Many temples were built shaped like mountains, because of a belief in mountain worship. The ardhamandapa (porch), mandapa, mahamandapa, vimana and shikhara, built by the next generation resemble a mountain, while the inside of the temple reminds one of cave temples. The statues of males and females based on tantrism, carved in great detail on the wallls, are a feast for the eyes. This standard of temples can be seen all the way, from Agra to Sanchi.
Mandu, in west India, is spread over 20 sq km on a plateau, deep in the mountains. It is located in an isolated area, 634 m above sea level. Inside the fort wall is a palace, mosque, tombs, caravan sarai, etc dating back to the 15th century. In contrast to the ornamentation adorning Hindu structures, these buildings are austere. Before Mandu was abandoned in the 17th century, it was a self-sufficient city.
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