Trip to Aurangabad(Built by the Throne), Maharashtra

Ajanta Caves

Declared as the tourist capital of Maharashtra, Aurangabad(named after Emperor Aurangzeb) is also known as the "City of Gates". I did a weekend trip to Aurangabad and kind of fallen in love with the place...wish I lived in a place like that.

From Mumbai took the Devagiri express at 9 PM on a Friday evening. After a long time travelled in a long distance train-the journey was uneventful-the train left on time and reached around 4:30 AM. People had been scaring and discouraging me not to go there in the peak of summer- but reached there to find that it was surprisingly cool- it had rained the previous day. What struck me most was the cleanliness and absence of crowd (I guess any place after Mumbai would feel the same way).

Ellora Caves

Left for Ajanta after breakfast- took us around 2 hrs by road…the scenery and landscape isn’t much during the summers-people say it looks beautiful after the rains. Ajanta has around 26 caves- but 4-5 of them have paintings- the rest have carvings. The paintings are amazing considering the fact that they are so old- they are 3 dimensional and based on the Jataka tales…the caves are lined in the form of a horse shoe. In earlier times there was a river/spring flowing by and water used to cover the floors of the caves and sunlight would reflect from them and light up the painting and the walls ….To preserve the paintings, photography is not allowed inside. After wandering around the caves for a long time…Spent some time at the local shop that sells semi precious stones…then went back to the hotel.

The second day turned out to be pretty hectic…went early morning to Ellora. Ellora consists of 34 Hindu and Buddhist caves. Was awed by the main cave- cave 16-the Kailashnath temple – a free standing monolith carved top down from a single mountain rock. It depicts scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The statues look so full of life! The Buddhist caves are beautiful- I could have spent an entire day there…but didn’t have the time…After a couple of hours went visiting temples….there’s a Jyotirlinga  temple- and then went to a Hanuman temple- where the idol of Lord Hanuman is in a sleeping position. 

En route stopped at the Daulatabad Fort- another lovely place…loved the defense mechanisms they have- the mazes…the trenches, moats, watch towers- imagine the amount of thinking that must have gone into it. It was an amazing trip into history. 

Bibi Ka Maqbara

 In the evening went to Bibi ka Maqbara- the grave of Aurungzeb's fourth wife…it is an imitation of Taj Mahal. It is built on the same line but of half marble and the rest of seashell powder. Owing  to its similarity its called the Mini Taj of the Deccan. Due to lack of water, maintenance of the gardens isn’t what is should be. 

After that went to a place called Panchakki- at first glance it looks like a mere pond- and you wonder what’s so great about it- its actually a reservoir which is fed by water from a source that is about 5-6 kms away….water comes in through earthen pipes…its a great engineering feat considering that it was built in the 17th century ….And a question crossed my mind- if problems like these had a solution then …..whats stops the govt now..to take measures to solve people’s problems…There’s a small place near Aurangabad called Jalgaon (the name seems ironic!!)- where water supply is there only once a week.

The day was almost coming to an end- had to catch the 11:30 Devagiri express back- but stopped by for a short time to see how weaving of saris and shawls is done (Paithani and Himroo are the famous saris of the place). Left the place with lovely memories and a resolve to revisit. 2 days definitely isn’t enough to see Aurangabad.

For those who want to visit, Aurangabad is well connected by road and rail. There are connecting flights to the metros. Good time to visit is October to February.

(Contributed by Jayashree Mishra and first published in Enigmaticindia.info site in July 2011)

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Trip to Datia Palace(Govind Mahal), Datia, Madhya Pradesh

Datia Palace

As we moved on our journey to Orchha from Gwalior, we stopped by at the Datia Madhya Pradesh tourism property for lunch. As we emerged from our vehicle lo and behold in front of us was this majestic fort/palace on the banks of the Karna Sagar lake.

On enquiring with the staff at the restaurant he informed that it was the Datia Fort/ Mahal (Palace) /Govind Mahal /Jehangir Palace (as known by different names) build by Raja Bir Singh Ju Deo(Dev) the Bundela Rajputs of the Orchha house.(You can read more about Datia from the Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol 11, page 195-199)

While we did not have time to visit the Palace that day we decided to definitely visit it on our return journey.

We had to reach the entrance of the Palace after meandering through narrow lanes of the town. It has a very steep climb of stairs and definitely not friendly for the elderly folks. Hardly any visitors were around and at the entrance there was a guard who noted down our details for Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) record keeping purpose. We finally managed to get the only official guide (as claimed by him) and he narrated some of what we will be penning down.

It is said that this Mahal was started in 1614 and took almost nine years and around INR 32 Lakhs of rupees then to complete this 440 rooms, seven storied palace. It was built as a token of appreciation for King Salim (Jehangir), who Bir Singh Deo had befriended by killing Abul Fazl, Akbar's Vazir. However the visit never happened and so the Palace was not used even for a single day.

Blue Tiles engraved on Mughal architecture

The Mahal is built purely of stone and bricks with no traces of either of wood or iron. It exudes some of the finest of Indo Islamic architecture, with stone lattice and motif work, chhatris, carved ceilings, four octagonal towers, red sandstone Jarokas paintings of birds, animals, flowers (of which some are still visible at the exterior), blue tiles with Mughal architecture tinge(the guide informed us that it was probably Turkist), Bundela paintings etc. At each corner (four) there were four Rani Mahals(Queen's palace) and an additional Rani palace for Jehangir's entourage. The first two floors were built to house the soldier,horses and parts of the entourage.

A majestic place to visit and experience the Bundela era.

You can view more pictures here

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Trip to Ater Fort, Bhind Madhya Pradesh

History of the Fort

After a day long safari at the Chambal River, our journey took us to a lesser known Fort of India, the Ater Fort It is located in the Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh, however it can be accessed from Uttar Pradesh (U.P.)too by crossing the Chambal River.

View of from the top of the Fort

Khoni Darwaza

Without much expectations we set out to see this fort from the UP side by crossing the Chambal river. A camel caravan was waiting for us at the other side and after a lot of juggling all of us managed to mount the camels. The Chambal river bed(sand) was quite wide as the water levels had receded and it took us some time to come to main land. You can also take one of the local jeeps/Auto to go to Ater and after a 30 minute camel safari we could see the large fort structure. At the foot of the Fort in an adjoining ground, the local folks were busy playing cricket.

Restoration work by ASI in progress

We meandered up a small pathway to the entrance of the Fort which was blocked by a truck carrying construction material. Our guides from the resorts walked us through a gate into this large fort. The limited information about Ater Fort is inscribed in a marble stone(by ASI) and placed at the entrance. Built by the Bhadoria Chief,Badan Singh Judeo in A.D. 1644 and was completed by Mahsingh in 1668.

Rani Ka Mahal

Like most major forts there are four entrances in each direction and fortified at seventeen places from a defensive stand point of view. Atypical of the Mughal architecture the Fort has the Diwan-I-Am and Diwan-I-Khas, The Saat Manjila (seven storied watch tower), Rani and Raja ka Mahal (King and Queen Places), the Khooni Darwaza and other structures. There is a huge/deep well and one needs to be careful as its not fenced. The higher floors have become home to the beautiful rose ringed parakeets and one can spot other birds here too including the illusive Crested Buntings.

Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) is trying to restore this place with building material and methodology from those eras. This place is crying for more attention not only for restoration but also to be visited, appreciated and enjoyed.

You can view more photos here

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Trip to Udayagiri-Khandagiri Caves, Odisha

The Udayagiri-Khandagiri caves are just 5-6 Kms from the capital city of Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.

Located on two adjacent hills or hillocks, these are caves made for Jain monks during the reign of King Kharavela(193 BCE – after 170 BCE).

There are 18 caves in Udayagiri and 15 caves in Khandagiri. The climb to the caves is quite steep and is not friendly for senior citizens. The inscriptions are in Brahmi, Oriya, Devanagiri and in some places in Sanskrit. Some of the important caves are the Ganesh Gumpha, Sarpha Gumpha and Hathigumpha.

Beware of monkeys and vendors/shopkeepers will sell you peanuts which can be offered to the apes.

Do take time out to visit this historical place.

 

(This was published in our website http://www.enigmaticindia.info/destination/culture-heritage)

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Trip to Bidar, Karnataka

The historical town of Bidar is just 140 kms from Hyderabad, yet we never thought of visiting this place. Sometime back our family friends Pankaj and Shaloo mentioned that they have been to this town which had a fort and a famous Gurudwara. Months passed and nothing changed...suddenly one day another friend passed on a news item "Jungle Lodges opens the Blackbuck Resort in Bidar". Being Nature freaks we immediately did some googling and found out about the place and booked a 3 night package with the same resort.

Our drive from Hyderabad to Bidar was quite smooth and we had our breakfast in an Udipi hotel in Sangareddy district. The roads were good and after crossing Zaheerabad we turned right towards Bidar. Had some difficulty in finding the resort which is set on the banks of a village tank in the Vilaspur Mandal area. The rooms are very nice with each overlooking the lake/tank.

The same day evening we spent trekking around the place with a guide and were hoping to see some birds...however ended up finding couple of langoors. The terrain is scruby with a few tall trees around. The forest department seems to have done a lot of plantation in the adjoining hillocks. We spent the quite evening enjoying food, strolling in the resort and retiring to bed.

Next day morning was the Blackbuck safari day and all charged up we assembled in the reception area around 5:30. There were 15 more guests and we did not start till about 6:30 thanks to a queer couple who decided to trudge in quite late. The four Boleros took us in a long trip and finally we ended up in a stone quarry area. The guide with a lot of disappointment said...its too late now to spot the black bucks as the stone quarries have started operating. Suddenly we saw a flurry of activities and everybody got down from their vehicles and rushed in one direction. Far in the horizon, we saw the antlers of the blackbuck, having seen them in Rollapadu Sanctuary we were quite acquainted with this. We decided to move back to the resort, leaving the rest behind. Having reached the restaurant I walked up the hillock to do birding. This is a good place to spot dryland birds and we were lucky to find a lot of new ones we had not seen earlier.

The food in the resort was too good and the staff very nice. In the evening we decided to venture into the Bidar town to visit the historical places - the Bidar Fort. Many parts of the fort have been barricaded; however a small museum housed a lot of things like the weapons etc. Post this we decided to visit the Choubara(a clock tower) it the old city that also housed the traditional Bidri Craftsmen. We spent some time in one of the shops and learnt how Bidri craft is done. It was an amazing experience to see these craftsmen converting metal to world class wares.

The next day morning after another round of bird watching we checked out of the resort and headed back to Bidar town. In Bidar we went straight to Guru Nanak Jhira, which is considered a sacred place by the Sikhs. Spent an hour or so listening to Gurbani which made you feel so nice and peaceful. Came out and had aloo parathas in the dhaba near the Gurudwara(missed out on the langar), and moved towards Jharani Narasimha temple. Hundreds of devotees were thronging the place and we realized that we had to walk in knee deep water for more than 400 ft before seeing the deity. Decided to make this religious trip some other time and headed back to Hyderabad. Overall this was a very good experience.

(You can visit the Bidar Tourism website to get comprehensive details)

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