Lohani Caves & Springs, Mandu

Tucked along the western edge of the Mandu plateau, a short walk from the royal enclave, the Lohani Caves are a cluster of rock-cut chambers hewn into the hillside that are widely counted among the oldest surviving works on the plateau — quietly predating the celebrated Malwa Sultanate-era palaces and pavilions that made Mandu famous.

• Cut directly from the living basalt, the caves are austere and unadorned: low doorways, plain pillared halls and worn niches that once, by tradition, sheltered ascetics and rock-cut shrines.
• Scholars remain cautious about their exact age and original purpose, and you should treat the popular datings with a light touch, but their weathered simplicity offers a striking counterpoint to Mandu's later Indo-Islamic grandeur.
• Beside the caves lies the feature that gives the spot its second half — a perennial spring, long valued as a source of sweet water on a plateau where cisterns and stepwells were prized.
• Water still seeps and pools here through the seasons, framed by tumbled stone and scrub.
• The setting is unmanicured and evocative, and the caves reward travellers who enjoy poking about quiet, half-forgotten corners rather than headline monuments.
• The real crowd-puller, though, is just beyond: the adjoining Sunset Point, a natural terrace on the plateau's rim where the land falls away toward the Narmada valley far below.
• In the last hour of daylight the escarpment glows amber and the haze-softened horizon draws a small, appreciative gathering.
• Come well before dusk, wear sturdy shoes for the uneven rock, carry water, and mind the unfenced edges.
• Mandu sits roughly 140km from Omkareshwar and pairs naturally with Maheshwar as a two- or three-day plateau circuit.
• For food, keep to Mandu's simple pure-vegetarian kitchens near the main road and the Jahaz Mahal parking area, where local bhojanalayas ladle out unlimited Nimari-Malwa thalis — dal, seasonal sabzi, rotis, rice, kadhi and papad — alongside poha-jalebi breakfasts, sabudana khichdi and hot samosas.
• The plateau's famed baobab (khirni) fruit is sold in season by roadside vendors.
• Choose a busy, clearly pure-veg thali house and eat before you head out to the viewpoint, as options thin out after dark.