Jhabua

If you are not an excessively energetic type but still want to visit a place that most other visitors have not been to, Jhabua would be a good choice. It is about 90 kms from Dhar and its main attraction is that it is in the heart of the tribal lands of the Heart of India. It will give you an opportunity to see how the legally designated adivasis or aboriginals of India live.

The majority of these people belong to the Bhil and Bhilala tribes and the most convenient way to see them is when they congregate in Jhabua for the weekly haat or fair on Sundays. Its a teeming, colourful, event stocked with everything from chickens to terracotta pots, bead jeweller)-, spices, mountains of freshly cooked sweets and the dried flowers of the mahua tree used to brew their potent beer and gin-like drinks. A special annual fair is also the setting for their 'official' elopements. It is known as the Bhagoriya Mela, literally the Run-away Fair.