Vidisha

Vidisha is a city in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, located near the state capital Bhopal. Vidisha is the administrative headquarters of Bhelsa during the medieval period. The town is situated east of the Betwa River, in the fork of the Betwa and Bes rivers, 9 km from Sanchi. The town of Besnagar, 3 km from present-day Vidisha on the west side of the river, became an important trade centre in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, under the Shungas, Nagas, Satavahanas, and Guptas, and was mentioned in the Pali scriptures. The Emperor Ashoka was the governor of Vidisha during his father's lifetime. His Buddhist Empress Vidisha Devi who was also his first wife was brought up in Vidisha. It finds mention in Kalidasa's Meghdoot.

The district of Vidisha can be divided into five major areas in coherence with the physical features, viz. the Valley of Betwa, the Eastern Region, the Western Region, the Sindh Valley and the Bina Valley. Tourism forms the major chunk of the economic activity here. The district of Vidisha has many important archaeological sites, ruins, inscriptions as well as sculptures. Some well known places of tourist interest here are the city of Vidisha, Gyaraspur, Udaypur, Sironj and Badoh-Pathari.