Aurangabad - Part IX - Bibi Ka Makbara

We had now reached the last destination of our whole trip. Bibi Ka Makbara was supposed to be a replica of the great ‘Taj Mahal’.

This was constructed by the Mughal Prince Azam Shah, son of Aurangzeb, as a loving tribute to his mother Rabia-ul-Daurani a.k.a Dilras Banu Begum, in between 1651 – 1661 AD. The experts say it is a very poor replica of the Taj as it lacks symmetry and also the material used in this building was cheaper than that used in the Taj.

We were no expert, just a couple of ordinary tourists. So Bibi Ka Makbara appeared in front of us with its own elegance and grace. We did not try to degrade it by comparing with the great Taj and one should never do that. The Taj is the Taj and nothing is equivalent to it.

We bought the ticket from the counter – 5/ per head and entered the complex. The main entrance was itself a big structure with great carving on the walls. It should be noticed that the walls were made of plaster, not of marbels. The carvings were really great which illustrated rosary etc.

The Entrance

Carving on the door

The ceiling of the dome of the main entrance was very rich in art with colorful decoration of paintings on the walls. We felt that the walls were all painted with colors during the old days.

Door carving

Entering the main complex through the entrance would surely give you a surprise as we felt the same. It was hard to believe that we were not looking at the Taj. The same structure with four minarets at each corner and in the centre the main building with an arched dome. The compound was surrounded by boundary walls with a gate at each side – so in total 4 different gates, with the frontal one being the main entrance.

The ceiling of the main entrance - fabulous artwork

Paintings

We reached straight ahead to the Makbara, the main building can be reached through a small gate and stairs at either side. We were at the main level within a couple of minutes and started roaming around the central dome. Each of the minarets and the outer walls were made of plaster, only some of the bases and the main dome were of marbels. Nonetheless the artworks and the carvings on the outer walls deserved a load of praise for their delicateness and elegance.

The view from the front

At the left side of the main tomb, there was a mosque and this was where the symmetry lacked. It did not actually look good.

Main Entrance from the courtyard

The Mosque at the left defies the symmetry

Minaret

Carvings on the exterior walls

We left our shoes outside the entrance of the main tomb. The sun was at the top and marble flooring became too hot to walk on barefooted. We quickly entered the main tomb. It was cool and peaceful inside. The windows were designed precisely in symmetrical geometrical shapes at each side with great artwork.

Artwork inside the tomb

Artwork - inside the tomb - some more

We sat inside the tomb for sometime and then did another round of the central building. Then we proceeded towards the exit.

The tomb - people exchanging money for blessings

Marvellous carvings on the walls outside

Rosary

We came back to our hotel around 1.50 pm where after a good bath and some packing that was left, we had our lunch. We started preparing ourselves to bid adieu to Aurangabad, the city we fell deeply in love with.

We came to the bus stand with somewhat heavy hearts – the fantastic Mr Ashok arranged a car for us to drop us at the central bus terminus, where we found the AC Shivneri standing the designated place.

We ascended the bus and reclined ourselves to a small but delicious slumber. The bus started on time at 4 pm and we we reached Pune around 8.45 pm. The journey was much comfortable due to the facts that the bus was really cosy and we were still ruminating our experiences of the last days which we spent in a place, which invites everyone again and again to come back to its open outstretched arms and observe and appreciate its past glory.

Aurangabad - Part VIII - Aurangabad Caves

From the great Daultabad we headed towards the Aurangabad Caves. Enroute we passed Bibi Ka Makbara and went further ahead towards a hill, the next destination being Aurangabad Caves which were just 2.5 kms from Bibi Ka Makbara. It was 12.15 pm and the sun was radiating with all its power. Our driver said that we could finish the caves within half an hour which seemed a bit impossible to me.

Aurangabad Caves are 12 Buddhist Caves which are spread over the hills past the Bibi Ka Makbara into 3 different groups. These groupings are done as per the location of these caves. At the western side there are 5 different caves – Cave 1-5. To the eastern side caves 6-9 are located in the second group which is almost a kilometer apart from the first group. The third group – consisting of caves 10-12 – is at the close proximity of the second group, only 100 meters or so apart. The caves are datable from circa 2nd – 3rd century AD to 7th century AD.

Our car first came to the western side of the hills. This is the main entrance of the caves and you have to buy the tickets from here. So always start from this side.

We bought the tickets (5 Rs per head again) and entered into the complex. To our utter frustration, we saw a number of stairs which we needed to climb to reach the level where the caves resided. We knew how the climb was going to be under the sun – steep and arduous and so it was.

After much gasping and panting we reached the top and started visiting the caves. There was some repair work going on.

Cave 1 was an unfinished vihara. It is amongst the oldest of this series of the caves. This belonged to the 2nd-3rd century AD.

Cave 2 was also a vihara. There was shrine of Buddha at the rear.

Cave 3 was a chaitya hall which dated back to the Hinayana age, again built around 2nd-3rd century AD. This cave was in a state of so badly preserved that the whole stupa and the pillars were being reconstructed by concrete and cement.

Cave 4 was a very simple chaitya which was excavated around 4th century AD.

Cave 5 used to be a small temple but the whole front collapsed.

We visited these caves in quick succession, in one of the caves (Cave 1 or 2) there were great carvings and sculptures, some equally comparable to the great Ajanta & Ellora in regards to the skill with which they were carved.

We came back to the main entrance, got in the car and then headed towards the eastern side of the hills. After 5 mins we reached the parking and we were thankful that there were no stairs this time.

Cave 6 looked like it had the features of a vihara and a chaitya both which was unique. It had carvings of Buddha in a teaching gesture and with many other carvings like dwarfs, worshippers etc.

Cave 7 was the most important of all these caves and bore a lot of carvings of great elegance. It had famous carvings of the Boddhisattva Padmapani delivering from the 8 great fears of the Buddhas, Tara the start Goddess, avalokitesvara etc. One of the most famous sculptures was a group of six female musicians. As per ASI board at the entrance, some of the sculptures here are more elaborate than the same examples in Ajanta and Ellora. This statement itself justified the splendor and majesty of the carvings of this cave.

Cave 8 was an unfinished one, and it looked as if the excavation work just commenced.

Cave 9 is in ruins and nothing much is left to see here, other than a sitting Buddha statue.

The last group of caves can be reached by flight of stairs (not again!!). But Caves 10, 11 and 12 are perfectly plain and did not bear anything significance. Cave 10 is almost buried up while cave 11 and 12 were unfinished.

To our surprise, we completed the 12 caves within half an hour as predicted by our driver. Perhaps we did not do justice to these caves but to be very frank, we did not have much strength left within us to carry on.

We then proceeded towards Bibi Ka Makbara.

Snaps are here -

Aurangabad Part VII - Daulatabad Fort

Our conquest has reached the last day but still had a long way to go. We already booked bus ticket towards Pune at 4pm – this was the popular AC Shivneri bus which run regularly between the Pune-Aurangabad route and this is MSRTC’s one of the finest buses. Mr Ashok arranged the ticket for us. As we did not have a full day, we started straight to Daulatabad Fort at 8.30 am and reached the main entrance of the fort by 9 am – fortunately we did not have any flat tyre today. 3rd time lucky!

Daultabad was built as city by the Yadavas, by Raja Bhillama in 1187 AD and it was known as ‘Devgiri’ at that time which literally means ‘The Hills of the Gods’. It grew to be a big city and remained as a Yadava stronghold for over a century until in 1294 Alauddin Khilji captured the fort. The Yadavas did not pay the tribute they were asked for and Malik Kafur - in 1307 and 1310 – occupied the fort. In 1318 the last Yadava King Harpal was flayed alive.

Devagiri day by day became an important base for the operations of the Delhi Sultanate's conquering expeditions southwards. In 1327 it attained a brief period of its biggest glory, when Muhammed Bin Tughalak, ordered his capital to be relocated from Delhi to this southern city. The Devgiri city was now renamed as Daulatabad. The entire population – men, women and children, rich and poor alike – of Delhi were ordered to march in a mass and move to the new capital. Even the sick and dying ones were not exempted from this long arduous journey, that involved a terrible toll in human misery and thousands of Delhi citizens perished on the way. And it was all in vain. The Sultan regretted his decision and repeating his act of madness ordered the whole crowd of migrants to move back to the abandoned capital, Delhi.

During the Sultan’s absence from Delhi the Muslim governors of the Deccan revolted; and Daulatabad itself fell into the hands of Zafar Khan, the governor of Gulbarga. It remained in the hands of the Bahmanis till 1526, when it was taken by the Nizam Shahis. It was captured by the Mughal emperor Akbar, but in 1595 it again surrendered to Ahmad Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar, on the fall of whose dynasty in 1607 it passed into the hands of the usurper, the Nizam Shahi minister Malik Amber, originally an Abyssinian slave, who was the founder of Kharki (the present Aurangabad).

His successors held it until they were overthrown by Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor, in 1633; after which it remained in the possession of the Delhi emperors until, after the death of Aurangzeb, it fell to the first Nizam of Hyderabad. Its glory, however, had already decayed owing to the removal of the seat of government by the emperors to Aurangabad.

However Daulatabad grew to become a great city, rivalling Delhi in size and importance. The province to which it belonged broke away from the rule of Delhi and hence the fort was strengthened with more layers of fortifications and some huge cannons were strategically placed all around the fort.

This is arguably amongst the best constructed and survived forts all over the world but ironically this fort never in its lifetime witnessed a battle. Only once was the power transferred on this fort, and that too was by treachery and betrayal!

We were recalling these facts while we were on the way. Once we reached the fort, it was quite easy to see why the fort was considered to be impregnable. The huge fortifications and bastions were still intact. The gigantic structure of the fort is visible from quite a distance and the topmost structure was situated at such a location that it seemed to be invincible.

  

Main Entrance of Daultabad, the topmost structure is visible



Courtyard before entering through the first gate

We bought the entry tickets (5/- per head) and entered through the main gate. The gate was humongous in size – the wooden doors were still intact, studded with ferocious spikes – these spikes prevented the use of elephants to force the gate.

First Entrance

We came across a small courtyard , upon which the second entrance stands. This is another huge gate with its surviving wooden gate. The courtyard is mounted with cannons of various shapes and sizes. One of the cannons was shaped like either a dragon or some other fearful animal!!



Courtyard - see the canons at both sides



Carving on the wall of a courtyard



The 'Jumbo' Cannon

The Dragon Cannon

Passing through this gate, the first structure we found is a lofty conical tower. This used to serve as a watch tower. At the upper end of the tower there is a small balcony with three arches.


Watch Tower from left




Watch Tower from front below

Besides this tower and after a small courtyard , another entrance was present on the left. As soon as we entered through this gate, we came across a really really high tower with red walls at a small distance. This is said to be around 65 meters in height and named as ‘Chand Minar’ (the tower which touches the moon). This is only second in height after the Qutub Minar in Delhi. The staircase to go us was now blocked for the public. There was an ancient Jain Temple on the right of this path, before the Chand Minar.

Chand Minar - the first encounter

Jain Temple



Just on our left there was another structure which was led to by a series of stairs. This was called as the Hathi Hauz and this was designed to be a swimming pool where the trainees can learn swimming.

Hathi Hauz

Just a bit ahead of the Hathi Hauz, we entered into a vast open courtyard beyond which amidst the cluster of carved pillars there was a temple – a temple of Bharat Mata, a Goddess personifying the modern Indian Nation. The broken pillars were a proof of marvellous carvings.

Entrance of Bharat Mata Temple

Temple courtyard - topmost building at the backdrop

Cluster of Pillars - Chand Minar rising with pride

Temple Architecture

The Idol with the little priest



Carvings



We came out of the temple through another exit which led the way to just in fron of the beautiful Chand Minar. Passing by the Minar, there were ruins of another temple. This was called the Hemadpanti temple. This was later used as a mosque.

Pillars enriched with exquisite carvings

Going ahead there were a series of stairs and we came across another inner wall (third) and one more entrance – which was called as Kalakot. Going through these stairs, we came across a courtyard where there are 3 different structures – a citadel straight ahead, a ruined house on the right and another palatial structure on the left.

Kalakot Entrance

Fortifications

Entrance after the Kalakot

The Citadel

The structure on the right was called ‘Chini Mahal’ (The Chinese Palace) as the walls of these building was decorated with colored China clay – the remnants of which is still visible easily. This mahal used to be a royal prison served to imprison the royal captives of Aurangzeb.

Chini Mahal - frontal view

Chini Mahal - the view from the citadel

The palace on the left is called the Nizam Shahi Palace.

The Nizam Shahi Palace

Upon the citadel, there was a huge cannon which is called the Mendha (ram) canon because it has ram’s head designed on one end.

The Huge "Mendha' Cannon

This is how the name 'Mendha Cannon' originated

We were too exhausted to any more under the sun so, but we came to know we hadn’t even entered in the premises of the original and main central citadel. Now, we realized why it remained as invincible.

Beyond these constructions there is a moat which is 40 ft deep and a drawbridge was there, crossing this moat marks the beginning the original and the central citadel.

Drawbridge on the moat

The 40 feet deep moat

The moat from the top of the drawbridge

There is one narrow entrance which we encountered just crossing the moat. This entrance was too dark and and narrow that it really would take a lot of guts to enter and proceed, even in the daytime. We were told that this entrance was the last defence of the fort and was called as the ‘Andheri’ or the ‘Dark Zig Zag Passage’ – this is an underground passage, nearly 50 meters long. The entrance seemed like a cave. While we entered in this passage in broad daylight, we realized what darkness really meant. In addition to the pitch darkness, there were several deceptive devices used in this passage to mislead the enemy. Small openings for light and air misled the enemy to fall into the moat. If one stood bewildered, stones were pelted from above.

Entrance of Andheri - too dark to venture

There began a series of stairs , a steep and arduous climb – we came to know there were around 750 stairs to reach the top. We started climbing without knowing this actually. We might not have done this if we’d known that.

Climb continues

We climbed and rested. We rested and climbed. We climbed till a place was reached which had a Ganesha Temple. There we sat under the shadow and consumed a lot of water.

People taking rest after the arduous climb

Ganesha Temple - a much needed halt

From this temple there were also a number of stairs to reach the top, but not many. From the top the whole city was panoramically viewable and though it was a hot sunny day, it was breezing at the top which was very comforting. Not only the city, but also the whole boundary fortifications were visible. We were amazed to see the whole area which fell inside the fort premises.

A view from on the way to the top

Fortification walls of the fort from the top

At the top there was a building called Baradari which was completely surviving through the ages. This was built during the times of Shah Jahan, the mughal emperor, This structure had twelve arches with many windows. It used to be a relaxing place for the kings from where they could enjoy the serenity at the top with cool wind and a panoramic view of the city.

Baradari building at the top

We sat here for half an hour to gain some of the lost energy. I went further up – there was a dilapidated building which had two more cannons at the top – the durga cannon and the kalapahad cannon. It was really surprising to think how these heavy cannons were carried up at the top. All the cannons were really strategically placed facing all the important directions of the old days.

The Kala Pahad Cannon

Durga Cannon

As there was nothing else to see at the top we started getting down. We descended rather quickly. Once again, we were astonished to pass through this magnificent architectural splendour.

The more we stayed in Aurangabad, the more love we fell into with the city.

We then proceeded towards the next destination - Aurangabad Caves.

Sources:

For this post I acknowledge –

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daulatabad,_Maharashtra