Mandsaur district is a District of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Mandsaur is the administrative headquarters of the district.The ancient Pashupatinath temple is situated in Mandsaur. Large quantities of opium are produced in Mandsaur district. The District takes its name from the headquarters town, Mandsaur. It is considered to have been evolved from Marhsaur, originating from Marh and Saur or Dasaur, two of the villages which merged in the town. The town was known as Dashpur during ancient times. Other etymology claims it derives from Mandodari, wife of Ravana, who is said to have been born in the district. The district has an area of . The district is present on the border of the Mewar and Malwa so the culture is the combination of the both regions, and is bounded by Neemuch District to the north west, Chittorgarh district to North east, Kota district and Jhalawar district to east and Pratapgarh District, and Ratlam District to the south. It is part of Ujjain Division. Mandsaur District forms the northern projection of Madhya Pradesh from its western Division, i.e., Ujjain Commissioner's Division. It lies between the parallels of latitude 230 45' 50" North and 250 2' 55" North, and between the meridians of longitude 740 42' 30" East and 750 50' 20" East. The district is an average-size district of Madhya Pradesh. It extends for about . from north to south and from east to west. The climate of this district is generally dry except in south-west monsoon. Year may be divided into four seasons. The cold season is from December to February. This is followed by the hot season from March to the middle of June. Thereafter the south-west monsoon season starts and continues up to about the middle of September. The average annual rainfall in the District is . The rainfall in the districts in the region round about Sitamau- Mandsaur- Malhargarh, and in general increases in the northern part of the district from the west towards the east. The heaviest rainfall in 24 hours recorded at any station in the district was .