Why it looks like this

The Upper Lake is the oldest thing on the map. Tradition says King Bhoja dammed the Kolans River here in the 11th century, and the city's name is often traced to 'Bhojpal' — Bhoja's dam. The dense old town, built up under Bhopal's 19th-century ruling begums, crowds the lake's eastern shore.

New Bhopal spreads over the hills to the south, with the planned government quarter and wide roads laid out after the city became Madhya Pradesh's capital in 1956. Water still divides the map: two lakes sit right in the middle of the city.