Ratlam District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Ratlam is administrative headquarters of the district. Ratlam known historically as Ratnapuri, is a city in the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh state. The town of Ratlam lies 480 m above sea level. It is the administrative headquarters of Ratlam District. It is bounded by Mandsaur District to the north, Jhalawar District of Rajasthan state to the northwest, Ujjain District to the west, Dhar District to the south, Jhabua District to the southeast, and Chittorgarh District of Rajasthan to the east. It is divided into five tehsils and is home to 9 towns and 1063 villages. The district is part of Ujjain Division.

Ratlam is one of the important Districts of Madhya Pradesh which is situated in the North West part of the State "The MALWA" Region. The New Town of Ratlam was founded by Captain Borthwick in 1829 with regular and broadened streets and well built houses. Ratlam was once one of the first Commercial Towns in Central India being the centre of an extensive trade in opium, tobacco and salt. It was also famous in Malwa for its bargains called Sattas. Before the opening of the Railway Line to Kahndwa in 1872, there was no better mart than Ratlam. The District of Ratlam was created in June 1948 and was reorganised in January 1949. It covers the area of the former princely State of Ratlam, Jaora, Sailana, Piploda. Ringnod Tehsil of Dewas Senior, Alot Tehsil of Dewas Junior and parts of Mandsaur Tehsil of Gwalior State, a few villages of Dhar State and Chief Commissioners provinces of Pant Piploda.

Ratlam History

Ratlam was given to Ratan Singh Rathore a as a gift by Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan loved watching elephant fights therefore he held an event and chose his favorite war elephants and invited all the clans of rajputana to watch and from the Rathore clan Ratan Singh was chosen. As the festival was beginning one of the elephants went berserk and was going towards Shah Jahan and no one in the crowd was brave enough to take a step to protect him,everyone fearing for their own lives fled but one, it was Ratan Singh, he swiftly climbed the elephant and stabbed the elephants head with his sword and killed it .Shah Jahan who saw this with his own eyes was so impressed by his bravery that he gave him the whole ratlam state and proclaimed him as the king of Ratlam.

Ratlam climate

Ratlam, like most of Madhya Pradesh, has a transitional climate between a tropical wet and dry and a humid sub-tropical climate. Three distinct seasons are observed, summer, monsoon and winter. Summers start in mid-March and can be extremely hot in April and May. Highs can reach 45 C, although the humidity is extremely low. The monsoon season starts in late June, with temperatures averaging around 26 C, with sustained, torrential rainfall and high humidity. The average rain fall is 36 inches. Winters start in mid-November and are dry, mild and sunny. Temperatures average about 4-15 C, but can fall close to freezing on some nights. In summer temperature can be sometimes as high as 48-50 C and in winters it can be as low as 2 C. Ratlam gets moderate rainfall of 35 to 38 inches during July September due to the southwest monsoon. Major crops grown in Ratlam include wheat, barley and gram with some variety of fruits including grapes.

Ratlam Tourism

Ratlam has several beautiful temples such as KALKA MATA near Collector ate. Cactus Garden located at about 20 Km. at Sailana for its different varieties of Cactus. Nageshwar Temple the Hussain Tekri at "Jaora" is also the well known place.

Tourist places in Ratlam
Bilpakeshwara temple at bilpank
Siva temple, jhar
Veerupaksh Mahadev Temple, Bilpauk.
Shipawra Temple, Alot.
Dharola Mahadev Temple, Alot.
Garkhankhai Temple.
Kedareshwar Temple, Shivgarh.
Amarji Temple, Ratlam.
Ayana Mahadev Temple, Jaora.
Kalikamata Temple, Ratlam.
Mahalaxmi Temple, Ratlam.
Barbad Hanuman Temple, Sailana Road, Ratlam.
Gadkhange Mata Temple 30 Km. on Bajna Road.
Kedareshwar Temple 20 Km. near Sailana.
Dholawad Dam 15 Km. near Dholawad village.
Sagod Jain Temple Ratlam.
Cactus Garden Sailana.
Hussain Tekri Jaora.
Andikalpeshwar Temple Alot.
Barbad Hanuman Temple near Ratlam
Kharmore Bird Century Near Sailana
Ganga Sagar near Ratlam