Lotus Valley - The perfect weekend getaway near Indore

The cleanest city of India, street food capital of India and commercial capital of MP, Indore is known

by various names and has been constantly developing on all fronts.

One such aspect is weekend getaway destinations.

There are new adventure parks developed around the city and also some picnic destinations.
One such place which is recently getting into limelight is – Lotus Valley.

Located at village Gulawat near Hatod, Lotus Valley is around 23km from Rajwada Palace.
The road from Indore to Hatod is good, but within Hatod and from Hatod to Gulawat, the road is single way and quite damaged. At few places there are only pebbles and big potholes.

But once you reach Lotus Valley, the mesmerizing views of the area refreshes you and take all your tiredness away. The villagers have tried their best to develop this place as a picnic spot, but still there are lot of things that need to be done. I have heard that the government has undertaken the development work under itself, hence we can expect Lotus Valley to become a fully developed Weekend Getaway, including all the facilities, within a couple of years.

Currently you can do the following activities here:

1. Lotus Sighting
    As the name suggests, this place is famous for blooming lotuses, especially after the rains. The
    water released from the dam on Yashwant River accumulates here in the form of a 

    pond and you can witness hundreds of lotuses blossoming here. But that only happen during the 

    time from September to November, while during rest of the year the number of lotuses are 

    comparatively quite less.

    The bridge over the pond gives tourists the perfect view of the pond and lotuses.

2. Bird Watching
    As the area is marshy, it attracts lot of migrating birds and is a heaven for bird photographers.

3. Forest
    The area is also covered with forest, especially bamboo trees.
    It is a good place to sit and relax away from the city hustles or just have walk in the woods.

4. Pre-Wedding Shoot
     It is one of the best places around Indore to have a pre-wed shoot. The beauty of water, lotuses,
     and forest along with beautiful props prepared by the local villagers, like swings and cycles
     decorated with flowers, different shapes made with flowers etc, makes this place a perfect local
     pre-wed destination.

5. Food
    Villagers have setup food stalls serving tea, coffee, Maggie, fruits, and local delicacies. Even one
    lady was providing dal bati too.

The area is developing gradually, but there are few points which need to be worked on immediately:

1. Proper roads need to be constructed  from Hatod to Gulawat.
2. Proper washrooms need to be made and maintained.
3. Boating in the water should be restarted.
4. Pre-wedding shoot hours need to be decided and no pre-wedding shoots to be allowed during
    regular tourist hours. This way all the scenic spots will be available/accessible for the tourists.

5. Ticketing system should be started and only limited people to be allowed every day, so that the
    beauty of the place can be intact.
6. Proper parking facility needs to be developed.
7. Dustbins to be placed at appropriate distances.
8. Villagers should be allowed to setup their shops outside the tourist area. Inside the area only one
    café should be opened for public which can be maintained by government.

I hope once the above points are implemented, this place will definitely become a famous weekend getaway for Indorians.