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Though this is the last post in my Bidar Trip series, Bidar Fort was in fact the first place I visited in Bidar. I had reached Bidar around 12pm and I straight away parked inside the Bidar Fort. In this post I’ll talk about my experience of visiting Bidar Fort and Mahmud Gawan Madrasa. Both the places are quite close to each other and you don’t need to travel much. And since I was on my scooter, it wasn’t a big deal. So here’s my experience of visiting Bidar Fort and Mahmud Gawan Madrasa.
Majestic Bidar Fort
Built in 1432 by Bahmani Sultan Ahmad, the Bidar Fort has a 5.5 km immensely thick walls. The wall has a triple moat which made it quite secured.Not only that it has a lot of underground passes for quick escapes. However, these places aren’t accessible for normal public. Also one thing to note is that there are people who stay inside the fort premises. So don’t be surprised if you see vehicles driving inside the fort while you aren’t allowed to take your vehicle. Inside the Bidar Fort there are a lot of places like Rangeen Mahal, Takth Mahal, Gagan Mahal, Solah Khamba Mosque and much more. If you want to know more about the fort, do check out the small briefing center near the entrance when entering from Sherja Darwaza.
Most part of the fort is in a poor state. Most of the buildings inside are just remains and people are barred from entering them. The only place that is worth visiting inside is the Solah Khamba Mosque. It was in this mosque that Aurangzeb offered prayers in the name of his father after he conquered Bidar. This is also the same place where the famous song Ishq Sufiana was filmed. It’s a huge place and quite nicely maintained when compared to other places in Bidar. The intricate designs and the symmetry is perfect. Apart from these there are a few remains in the fort along with the huge canon. However, be prepared to walk a lot if you want to visit all of those. Overall, it’s a good place but most of it is in ruins so nothing much to see is what I feel.
Mahmud Gawan Madrasa
Madrasa for all of you who don’t know is a center for learning in Islam. You can find these even today in cities across India. This Madrasa was building in 1472 by Mahmud Gawan who was the minister in the Bahmani dynasty. The madrasa provided free accommodation to about 1000 students and also had a library that had more than 3000 books. Mahmud Gawan Madrasa has a lot of part that is damaged, much of it due to an accidental blast during Aurangzeb’s reign. Just like the Bahmani Tombs, there’s good use of the Persian Blue color on the main building and the minaret.
And like most other places in Bidar, this too is in a sad state. There’s absolutely no care taken for this place. It is surrounded by houses in all the directions. There are kids playing in the compound too. I did want to spend more time here, but the crowd was too much and hence decided to leave.
End of my Bidar Road Trip
With this, it’s the end of my Bidar Trip series. It was a random quick decision I took to visit Bidar as I didn’t travel much in 2019. The road trip was a great experience as I got to visit a new city. Bidar is a place of historic importance in India. It’s a religious center for Sikhs with the presence of Nanak Jhira Gurudwara. There are a lot of places to visit in Bidar. However, it’s sad to see the sorry state of most of the iconic places. I’ve been to so many other places of historic importance which are so well maintained, but that’s not the case with Bidar. I sincerely urge the Karnataka Tourism Department to works towards preserving these places. All most all of the places I visited didn’t have an entry ticket. They can make it a ticketed entry if that is required.
How did you find my Bidar trip series ? Liked it ? Disliked it ? Mention in the comments below or tweet to me at @Atulmaharaj or DM on Instagram.
