Vikram University

Spread across a broad, tree-shaded campus on the Dewas Road side of Ujjain, Vikram University is the city's foremost seat of higher learning and one of Madhya Pradesh's older state universities.

• Established in 1957 and named for the legendary King Vikramaditya — the ruler whose court, by tradition, sheltered the "nine gems" of Sanskrit scholarship and whose name anchors the Vikram Samvat calendar — the institution was conceived to continue Ujjain's long identity as a centre of astronomy, mathematics and letters.
• That lineage is not merely decorative: the same city gave the world Jantar-Mantar-era observation and, centuries earlier, the astronomer Varahamihira, so a modern university bearing Vikramaditya's name reads as a deliberate thread from antiquity to the present.
• For a traveller, the campus is less a ticketed "sight" than a calm, walkable interlude between temple visits.
• Wide avenues, academic blocks, hostels, a central library and open lawns give it the unhurried air of a classic Indian public university.
• Departments span the sciences, arts, commerce, law, education and management, and the university anchors dozens of affiliated colleges across the Malwa region.
• Cultural programmes, convocations and academic seminars punctuate the calendar, and the grounds are a pleasant place for an early-morning stroll when the Malwa air is still cool.
• Visitors should treat it as a working educational institution rather than a monument: it is busiest and most rewarding on weekdays during term, quieter on Sundays and university holidays.
• There is no entry fee to walk the public avenues, though academic buildings, examination halls and the library are for students and staff.
• Photography of the leafy exterior and gateway is fine; be considerate around classrooms and offices, dress modestly, and avoid disturbing lectures.
• Combining a short campus walk with nearby Ujjain landmarks — the Vedh Shala observatory and the Shipra ghats lie within easy reach — makes for an easy half-day that balances the sacred and the scholarly.
• For food, the university neighbourhood and the wider Dewas Road stretch are dotted with simple pure-vegetarian options.
• Look for no-frills Malwa thali houses and South Indian outlets serving dosa, idli and filter coffee, plus student-friendly canteens and snack stalls turning out samosa, kachori, poha-jalebi and hot masala chai.
• For sit-down meals, several pure-veg family restaurants along Dewas Road and near the Freeganj market offer Gujarati-Rajasthani thalis, paneer dishes and North Indian staples; ask for the pure-vegetarian kitchen where unsure, and pair your meal with plain, bhang-free thandai or a sweet lassi rather than any flavoured ritual drink.