Tuesday, May 27, 2014
As I was standing next to the Aurangabad Caves I got a
beautiful view of the city below. The view is simply amazing. Barren lands and
houses in Aurangabad city sandwitched between the hills ranges.
I got a beautiful view of Bibi Ka Maqbara and Sunheri Mahal
from here. Though these places were far away they looked so big even from a
distance. Just makes me imagine how gigantic it will be when I am close to it.
Sunheri Mahal as the name states was shining in the sun. It
was painted yellow in color and shone in the sun. I could see it from atop
Aurangabad Caves. It had a garden like thing before its building. Like a
“aangan” in Marathi.
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| Sunheri Mahal from Aurangabad Caves |
From a distance it was appearing that huge; imagine how big
it will be when I am in its premises.
Within 15 minutes by rickshaw we were at the entrance of
Sunheri Mahal.
There was on old structure standing there, which stood as
the entrance to Sunheri Mahal. It’s a good thing that it is being redone. I am
happy to see that we are taking care of your history.
As you enter it, you will see a small narrow rectangular
water fountain which had identical flora growing next to it and in front of us
stood Sunheri Mahal.
The yellow painted structure stands out in the mud colored
hills behind it.
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| Sunheri Mahal |
Sunheri Mahal is a golden palace situated in the outskirts
of Aurangabad city at Paharsinghpura. It is inside the campus of Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar Marathwada University.
The Palace was built by a Bundelkhand Chief who had
accompanied Aurangzeb to the Deccan.
Sunheri Mahal was built between 1651 and 1653 at a cost of
Rs.50,000 and in 1934 it was sold to the Nizam of Hyderabad for Rs.26,400.
The entrance of the Palace is decorated with beautifully
done arches.
The Palace is now a Museum. It was set up in 1979 and
displays sculptures, paintings, ornaments, pottery and weapons. The museum is
open from 1030 hours to 1700 hours each day except for Monday.
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| Aurangabad Caves from Sunheri Mahal |
No photography is allowed in the premises of the museum. As
I entered the museum I saw black colored cannons standing there with cannon
balls next to it.
The walls were adorned with beautiful paintings made on wood
and glass. Never seenpaintings like this before but they were truly good. There
were sculptures in Stone, Bronze and Brass of Hindu Gods kept for display in
the premises. These were beautifully carved out.
Swords, Cannons, Guns and GunCannon were kept for display.
Out of which what caught my attention is GunCannon. It had the trigger of a gun
and had a long funnel and I guess miniature cannon balls need to be loaded in
it to fire.
The Darbar gallery was beautifully painted. It is said that
the interiors of this place were once painted Gold. But due to repair work done
on this it is now repainted. But some parts of the previous paintings can still
be seen.
Musical instruments used then are also up for display. Now
with the coming of DJ music who plays these instruments. I guess they are
played only if some performance is given.
Beautifully designed and decorated treasure chests are on
display all over the place.
A throne for Ganpati made of wood and polished dark brown is
also on display within the Palace premises.
The museum is on the ground floor and the office is on the
first floor.
It’s good that they have now started maintaining the
premises. After all a 400 year old Palace has survived that long and should be
worked on to survive for centuries to come.
I enjoyed my visit here in the history museum.
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