The average annual rainfall in the District is 786.6 mm. The rainfall in the districts in the region round about Sitamau- Mandsaur- Malhargarh, and in general increases in the northern part of the district from the west towards the east. The heaviest rainfall in 24 hours recorded at any station in the district was 323.9 mm. at Garoth on 1945 June 29.

In the district there is rapid increase in temperatures after February. May is generally the hottest month with the mean daily maximum temperature at 39.80 °C and the mean daily minimum at 25.40 °C. Days are intensely hot in summer and hot dust-laden winds which below during this season add to the discomfort. On individual days in the summer session and in June before the onset of the monsoon the day temperatures often go up above 45 °C. January is the coldest month, with the mean daily maximum temperature at 35.00 °C and mean daily minimum at 9.30 °C.

In late 2010, we were commissioned by Madhya Pradesh government to publish a travel guide on three of the least known districts of the state – Neemuch, Ratlam and Mandsaur. These three districts, located on the westernmost edge of the Malwa Plateau are surrounded by Rajasthan on three sides. So little is known about the region, past its main cities, that we often went along without any preliminary research, stumbling upon unknown places and palaces one after the other.

I was accompanied on this trip by colleague and friend Parvati Sharma (now a published author who had previously accompanied me to other equally exciting destinations in MP like Burhanpur and Asirgarh), who basically did most of the research and writing while I hung around, clicked a photograph or two, supplied the evening whiskeys and ran into hyenas (oh yes, but more on that later).

We took a train from Delhi and on a slightly nippy February morning, reached the small big town of Ratlam. Its claim to fame is the fact that it is a major railway junction and that a small village in the Western Ghats was passed off as this dusty town in the hit film Jab we Met. We shall deal with crowded Ratlam and its charming surroundings at a later blog post. For now we skip over to our next destination, Mandsaur. One look at the map will tell you that the three towns of Ratlam, Mandsaur and Neemuch are linked together by the spanking new, four-laned State Highway 31. We however were barely on it. From Mandsaur we embarked on a circuitous journey through the badlands of Madhya Pradesh to Neemuch. This post deals with the first leg of the journey from Mandsaur to Darmarajeshwar via Sitamau.

Mandsaur, the smallest of the three towns is also the oldest. According to some sources, the great Sanskrit poet Kalidasa was born here, and Mandsaur – or Dashapura as it was known for much of its history – is mentioned in his best-known work, Meghdoot.

Most of the town is still packed inside the medieval city walls and as a result, it is quite a job to manoeuvre even a small vehicle in its many crowded lanes. Just outside the city walls, and on the banks of the tired looking river is the Pashupatinath Temple, the biggest attraction of Mandsaur. The temple complex, which is rather modern has been built around a unique shivalinga which has four faces carved on the four cardinal directions.

The famous Pashupatinath temple in Mandsaur, which has been following this unique tradition for last two decades, celebrated the I-Day on Thursday.

“On August 15, 1947 when the country got independence, then as per the ‘Hindu Panchang’ (calendar) it was the ‘chaturdashi’ of dark lunar fortnight (Krishna Paksha) during the month of shravan,” Pashupatinath temple’s senior priest Umesh Joshi told PTI.

“Therefore, for the last 20 years we have been performing puja in the temple for Independence Day on this ‘tithi’ (day) as per the Hindu calendar,” he said.

The Independence Day was celebrated with traditional fervour on the chaturdashi yesterday at the temple, situated around 225 km from Indore on the banks of Shivna river in Mandsaur, he said.

“On the occasion, the ashtamukhi (eight-face) Shivlinga in the temple was anointed with water having the holy ‘durva’ grass dipped into it and prayers were performed for happiness to prevail in the country,” Joshi said.

He said as per the Hindu beliefs, sprinkling water of the durva grass on the Shivlinga reduces the affects of evil forces. This tradition is performed every year with a wish that the country may remain protected against the evil forces, he added.