Doors (Darwaza) to Aurangabad

Friday, May 23, 2014

When I entered the city of Aurangabad I was greeted by some structures. The road goes through them.

Door on the way to Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga Temple

 It made me wonder as to what it is as it had no walls at the side or anything historical inside. I knew they were Doors (Darwazas) to city as per the knowledge I had as I visit forts quite often.

Another Door on the outskirts of Auranzeb Tomb

Broken Darwaza btw broken is not its name, again name is not known

When I inquired at the hotel reception, I was told that there are 52 such Doors aka Gates all over Aurangabad. Though most of them have collapsed. Some do stand tall as these are being worked apon.

As we travelled around the city, I noticed walls over the place some had a Door connected to them, others didn’t.

Door on the outskirts of Auranzeb Tomb

I asked the Rickshaw driver about the same. To which he replied that he would show me the twelve gates that still stand and the museums and Aurangabad Caves. So I started negotiating on the price, though I could lower the price by just Rs.100, it cost me Rs.500 and no waiting charge.

Mohamad Darwaza near Panchakki

He told me that initially there were around 52 Doors in Aurangabad. These were connected to walls and an entire village used to reside in it. But today just 12 Doors are impact in the City. Most of them have fallen due to non maintenance. The same goes for the walls, I saw shops being built in its place.

Darwaza on the way to Bibi ka Maqbara

But he managed to show me the walls wherever he could.

Barapulla Darwaza

We saw , Delhi Darwaza, Kala Darwaza, Roshan Gate, Kutkut Gate, Zafar Gate, Paithan Gate, Baramulla Darwaza, Muhamad Darwaza, Bhadkal Gate, Ismail Darwaza, Noor Masjid Gate, Rangeen Darwaza and Khaas Gate.

Mehmud Darwaza

Rangeen Darwaza

There is nothing special about Khaas Gate, as only one half of the Door stands which is now used as a garbage dump. There are no walls as these were broken down long ago by people to erect their shops on it.

Badkal Gate

Dilli Darwaza

The other gates are mostly named and some maintenance work is being carried out so that it doesn’t fall apart. These Doors were built of stone and could accommodate soldiers I believe atop it so that they could keep a watch on who is entering and exiting the city and to figure out fishy business.

Islam Darwaza

Makai Darwaza

How I wanted them to continue this till date, at least that way the Doors and the Walls would have remained intact and not encroached upon as I saw.

No name put up for this Darwaza

Hope they maintain what remains of these Doors.

Darwaza on the way to Noor Masjid Road