Bhopal under construction: for the goddess and for us

Diederik15 October 2026

A covered walkway with red cloth along the sides and a ceiling full of hanging artificial flowers in white, pink, purple and yellow

Saturday 10 October 2026

After a few less interesting days, today was finally a day worth writing about again. You could clearly see that the preparations were in full swing, because tomorrow Sharad Navratri begins. For nine nights and ten days the goddess Durga is celebrated and worshipped, in all nine of her forms. A good excuse, then, to wander through the city again and look at all the decorations going up.

And speaking of building things: before we went into town, we first went with Yasha's brother to look at places to live, in case we really do want to settle in Bhopal. I think we saw at least five different apartment complexes and duplexes, from new builds still under construction to homes we could move into right away. That gave us an idea of what's possible and what it would cost us if we take that step.

What struck me is that quality is increasingly taking centre stage, especially in what's being built now. There's also more attention to sustainability. Think solar panels, collecting rainwater and reusing it to flush the toilet or run the washing machine, and materials where someone has genuinely thought about the impact.

Not everywhere, of course. We also saw new builds that you just knew wouldn't still be standing in twenty years. Luckily, the difference between quality and no quality is easy to spot.

After all those apartments we were in the mood for something else, so off to the decorations for the goddess Durga. We saw beautiful structures made of flowers and gorgeous lighting everywhere.

A large flower structure being built on an open lot: a giant green teddy bear with a pink heart, green turrets and an arch reading Dubai Miracle Garden, with building materials on the ground in front

A covered walkway with red cloth along the sides and a ceiling full of hanging artificial flowers in white, pink, purple and yellow

The same kind of flower tunnel from inside, with pink and blue light shining through the hanging flowers and a car on the street at the far end

But the most beautiful thing was a temple being built on the spot: with nothing but wooden poles and cloth, they got it into exactly the right shape.

A man on a wooden ladder hangs artificial flowers under a red and purple roof, in a quiet street with trees and parked cars

A long garland of orange marigolds with small white and red flowers, hanging from a tree at a flower stall

While the city was getting ready to welcome the goddess, we were busy with the question of whether we could build a home here ourselves. Both still under construction, but it's starting to take shape.