Hidden Secrets of Bibi ka Maqbara Aurangabad - Under the Platform of Bibi ka Maqbara Aurangabad

Hidden Secrets of Bibi ka Maqbara Aurangabad -  Under the Platform of Bibi ka Maqbara Aurangabad

Side View of Platform

The Bibi Ka Maqbara Aurangabad is constructed on a square platform, 72 feet in length and breadth and 20 feet in height.[1] The platform is flanked with the minarets at the four corners. A number of rooms with arched domes in diamond-cut design are constructed beneath the platform on all sides. The vertical walls and the roofs of these ground floor rooms are decorated with graffiti design patterns which were created by scraping portions of the gesso plaster baring the green and red coloured coats beneath it. A small tomb which is said to have been of the nurse of Rabiya Daurani is found near the rooms on one of the sides below the platform and is reachable by means of a small flight of steps, to which ingress is through a brass plate covered teakwood gate.[2] The miniatures of trees, flowers and some animate motifs[3] are carved on most of the brass plates covering the eight doors below the platform. The remaining brass plates are examples of the finest metal ornamentation work in beaten brass with bold floral panels and borders hammered and chiselled in a masterly fashion.[4] The hands of the craftsmen excelled in their own artistry in the creation of the Bibi Ka Maqbara Aurangabad.

The chamber below the platform of Maqbara

 The elevated sides of the platform are plastered in white Choona (lime) but it shines like marble. The railings at the edge of the platform have been carved in red stone in an arabesque design. Three large cisterns with a fountain at the centre of each are found at each side of the platform[5]with an exception to the western side of the main building. The floral design on the platform is very simple.

 

Dr Shaikh Ramzan

M.A., M.Ed., PhD (History) Researcher

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[1] Field Survey, Measurements taken at the spot.

[2] Bilgrami, op. cit., p. 325

[3] Photo plate showing trees, flowers, etc., p. 58, 74, 118

[4] Aurangabad District Gazetteers, op. cit., p. 953

[5] C.B. Burrows, Glimpses of Nizam's Dominions, p. 396