Bibi Ka Maqbara, Aurangabad

Bibi ka Maqbara (tomb of the lady) is a mausoleum built by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for his first wife and head consort Dilras Banu Begum. She died on 8th October, 1657 at the age of 35 at Aurangabad. You can read about the historical details at the ASI website. I will talk about my visit there. We reached there in the late afternoon and it looked a very busy place. Apart from tourist, a lot of local people also visit there.

Timings: All days open between 8 AM to 8 PM
Entry fees: Rs 10 (Indian), others Rs 250

Apart from the big white entrance gate, the first thing you will see is the notice “Eatables are not allowed inside”. Then passing through the queue, we came face to face with the mausoleum also known as Mini Taj Mahal or Taj of Deccan. It is a scaled down architecture of the more famous Taj Mahal at Agra. Once, we have seen Taj Mahal, there will be obvious comparison between the two. Nevertheless, this is a good architecture. It also has a bench like Taj Mahal before the fountain series starts to sit and take picture like a Mughal emperor!

From here a little further walk and climbing few steps took us to the final resting place of Dilras Banu Begum. The area around her mortal remains are made of white marble and the inside of the dome has exquisite work on the wall. The elevated floor outside gives a good view of the surrounding. We climbed down few steps on the other side and walked to the other end. Here a small room like structure marks the end of the mausoleum.

On both sides of the mausoleum are large areas which were manicured as garden with sitting arrangement. It looks people of noble rank and the then royal would spend time here. The boundary wall of the mausoleum is nicely designed and worth mentioning. I would suggest to take a walk around the main structure to enjoy it better. My suggestion on visiting time would be in the late afternoon. This way you can see the mausoleum both in daylight and night.