The City of Gates : Aurangabad

When you think you know everything there is to know about a city, you are trumped with limited knowledge when you explore it in a literary sense! Therefore someone rightly said, ‘you always get to learn more when you step out of your home’! This trip was a revelation of sorts!

My mom and I, we had taken a local bus from Lonar bus stop to go to Aurangabad and it was our best and cheapest decision taken together! ( For everyone who hasn’t read my Lonar Crater Blog click here ) It took us 5 hours to complete a journey of 3 hours. But nevertheless, it was some experience! After reaching Aurangabad at around 11 am we debated amongst each other if we should stay for the night or only the day?

I wanted to see both Ajanta and Ellora Caves which is impossible to work out in a day as they both are in opposite direction from the city center. Ellora is the nearest with 45 mins of commute and Ajanta with 2 hours of commute. As we sat in the rickshaw and the driver made our decision easy for us and we decided to stay only for the day.

We first went to Ellora Caves. The major difference between Ajanta and Ellora is that Ellora has sculptures of god and goddesses whereas Ajanta has age-old paintings on its walls. Due to this striking difference, it is quite imperative to visit both the places, so that one is able to appreciate their individuality.

We directly entered the 16th cave which is the largest cave of all 34 caves. All these caves had different sources of culture – Hindu, Jain & Buddhist. As I entered the temple of this 16th cave a man with a huge torch asked me if I wanted to know what all the different sculptures meant. As I nodded my assent he used his torch to point at them and talk about it respectively.

I usually don’t prefer to do this, because frankly, I get bored but for the first time gaining knowledge of all the stone structures was interesting as hell! It made me understand the religions better and in a different light!

So my advice is that don’t shy away from extra knowledge, it never hurts to be knowlegdable.

After lunch, we explored few more places like Daulatabad Fort, Panchakki, and my most revered Bibi ka Muqbara.

Honestly, as the sun was already looming over our heads we half skipped Daulatabad Fort and decided not to climb the entire fort. For our tired bodies, it was a task we didn’t dare to uptake. We decided to walk to the Chand Minar ( which was built as a replica of Qutab Minar in Delhi ) and come back. This Chand Minar is closed for visitors as it had witnessed a recent suicide case.

The fort was quite a feast for the eyes as it is encircled by walls in a concentric manner- circle within a circle. The outer fort walls lined the periphery of the entire fort and it is quite a walk to reach the base of the fort.

The most refreshing point in our time at Daulatabad Fort was when we escaped the heat to stand under the colorful stalls displaying various fruits. And there we had the most succulent and sweet tasting pineapples we had ever had.

And at last, we proceeded to the one and only Bibi-ka-Maqbara (Tomb of the Lady). It is known by various names – Mini Taj Mahal / Black Taj Mahal / Dakkhani Taj etc. but always compared to Taj Mahal. It, in fact, is a smaller replica of Taj Mahal built by Aurangzeb with the help of stones and in memory of his first wife Dilras. She had died giving birth to their 5th child and this Tomb was her burial ground.

This Maqbara also has 4 Minars and a Tomb situated right in the middle of this structure. As we entered the mausoleum the tomb was situated far below for our reach. And there was money strewn on its surface, where everyone was offering coins and notes, praying for her soul.

The architecture of the inner walls and the dome were strikingly beautiful. A very tiny enclosure which created stature for the Maqbara!

Bibi-ka Maqbara was supposed to be a rival to Taj Mahal. A son wanted to outshine his dad’s creation. To put in other words Aurangzeb wanted to better Shah Jahan but couldn’t due to less budget of the same! Nevertheless, for a person like me who has never seen Taj Mahal, Bibi-ka-Maqbara become the best ever symbol created for love.

As we were done for the day, on our way back home we decided to try the famous Mustafa Biryani! And it stayed true to its name which was attested by our growling stomachs! A must try when in Aurangabad.

As we were heading back to Pune I realized I had missed out on many things in Aurangabad. But against that, I had learned so much more about the city, that it didn’t disappoint. Our day was filled with ‘firsts’ and ‘getting to knows’ as far as Aurangabad was concerned. And it was liberating in a way! Made me realize that no trip is a bad trip, it depends on you how you decide to take it!