Hidden Secrets of Bibi ka Maqbara Aurangabad - Minarets

 

Hidden Secrets of Bibi ka Maqbara Aurangabad - Minarets

The art and architecture implemented in the construction of the minarets of the Bibi ka Maqbara  Aurangabad were filtered down from a lofty minaret at the Daulatabad Fort called Chand Minar, which has a height of 110 feet and was raised in the year 1435 AD.[1]

The combination of four minarets around the Bibi ka Maqbara  Aurangabad construction was introduced towards the end of the fifteenth century due to the construction of the Madrasah of Husain Baygara[2] and later on, it was replicated in the construction of Akbar's tomb at Sikandara in 1607 AD. The best combination of four minarets is found in the world-famous Taj Mahal at Agra. The combination of four minarets was introduced for the first time in the Deccan in the Mughal construction at Bibi-ka-Maqbara at Aurangabad in 1660 AD.

The four minarets standing on the four corners of the platform of the Bibi ka Maqbara  Aurangabad have an octagonal shape. The height of these minarets is 72 feet which are shorter than the height of the minarets of the Taj at Agra, the Chand Minar at Daulatabad and the Qutub Minar at Delhi. The minarets of the Taj are 137[3] feet tall and were constructed in 1644 AD.[4]

 

The circle at the bottom of the Bibi ka Maqbara  Aurangabad minaret measures 48 feet in circumference and at the top, the girth of the base of the hexagonal cupola measures 31 feet in circumference. Inside each minaret, there is a flight of 122 steps that wind up towards the top of the minaret. About midway towards the top of the minaret, there is a projecting gallery and another one higher up the minaret. The hexagonal cupola is crowned with a small dome. One of the minarets was struck by lightning and the cupola was displaced. It could not be repaired until 1884 AD and consequently, the Bibi ka Maqbara  Aurangabad lost its perfection and beauty.[5]

The minarets are raised in black lava stone cubes and brilliantly coated with white micaceous cement giving them an effect of polished marble. The canopy and baldachin of the cupola are structured in white marble and the center of the ciborium is raised with an ornamental brass spire. The white marble used in the cupola was procured from Jaipur.

Dr Shaikh Ramzan

M.A., M.Ed., PhD (History) Researcher

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[1] Aurangabad District Gazetteers, op. cit., 968

[2] Hills Derek, Islamic Architecture and Its Decoration, London, Febar & Febar, 1964 p. 56

[3] Brown, op. cit., plate xxvi

[4] Ibid.

[5] Bilgrami, op. cit., p. 324