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Shona Adhikari

A brief stopover at the Daulatabad fort on your way to the famous Ellora caves in Maharashtra is really worth the while, says Shona Adhikari.

The Grishneshwara Temple near Ellora.

As a world heritage site, Ellora, near Aurangabad in Maharashtra, draws people from all over the world. Tourists are so anxious to reach Ellora that they have no inclination to see other interesting sites located along the route. And for anyone making the trip to Ellora, it will be worthwhile to stop at the historic Daulatabad Fort and also Khuldabad, where one can find the final resting place of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, the tomb of the first Nizam of Hyderabad and the Grishneshwara Temple — one of the 12 jyotirlingas, which attracts pilgrims from all over the country.

It took about half-an-hour from Aurangabad to reach Daulatabad, or the `abode of wealth'. And, it was an amazing sight. An enormous conical natural rock, 183 metres high, it had been one of the most important forts in India, gaining even more importance when the 14th-century sultan of Delhi, Muhammad bin Tughlaq, decided to shift his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad.

Daulatabad was earlier known as Devgiri (or the Hill of God), and adapted as a stronghold by the Yadavas, who made it their capital. In 1294, the sultan of Delhi, Ala-ud-Din Khilji attacked Devgiri and defeated its king, Raja Ramachandra. Though Ramachandra was appointed as Devgiri's governor, his son Shankara defied Delhi's command and was put to death in 1313. In 1318, Sultan Qutb ud-Din KhiIji built the Friday Mosque, the first Muslim monument in the town. A victory tower, the Chand Minar, was built in 1435 and was a military observation post.

The fort is almost a rock-climber's ascent. While the outer wall, 5-km long, protected the population in a town that has long been abandoned, a second wall enclosed the area known as Mahakot (great fort) and the third enclosed the Balakot (young fort) with a magnificent entrance gateway. A broad stairway hewn in the rock leads to a Mughal Baradari, built for Shah Jehan's visit in 1636. A final stairway leads to the very top that is defended by a canon. The multiple stout wooden doorways are spiked against elephant charges.

By the time I had come down from the top of the fort, I was really thirsty. There are a number of roadside eateries opposite the fort, and I was able to refresh myself, before I started off on my next port of call. .

So on to Khuldabad — to a totally different atmosphere. Clearly a large and imposing town in the past, Khuldabad seems almost preserved in an early 18th-century time-warp. My first visit was to Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb's austere tomb, open to the sky, with a tulsi plant growing over it. A tomb that is certainly different from those of the other Mughal Emperors that I had seen. Aurangzeb, unwilling to be a burden on the State, paid for his mausoleum from the money he had earned by selling white caps that he had quilted. He chose this as his final resting-place, partly because the ground was hallowed by the Dargah of saint Sayyid Zain-ud-Din, who died in 1370. Nearby are the tombs of Azam Shah (Aurangzeb's second son), his wife and his daughter.

On the opposite side of the road, lies the Dargah of another venerable saint, Sayyid Burhan ud-Din, who died in 1344. Within the same courtyard are the graves of Nizam ul-Mulk Asaf Jah I, the founder of the royal dynasty of Hyderabad, and his son Nasir Jung.

Also worth visiting at Khuldabad, is the mausoleum of Bani Begum, the wife of one of Aurangzeb's sons. Set in a sheltered garden, this charming edifice is encircled by a wall with domed kiosks and charming pavilions — echoing the Persian identification of paradise, with running water and flowers as symbols of immortality.

My next stop was at the splendid Grishneshwara Temple, listed as the 12th jyotirlinga, and located very close to Ellora. The temple is an important place of pilgrimage, and draws huge crowds during Shivratri. A 600-year-old temple, it has an ornately carved shikhar that has depicts all the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Among the notable images are those of Kartikeya on his peacock and a splendid Ganesh. The spire is covered in gold leaf.

At the entrance of the temple sits a Nandi bull facing the inner sanctorum. The temple, built by Rani Ahilyabai, is now managed by a trust It was lunch-time and my driver suggested that lunch at Ellora would be best, and that it was just a short drive away. I settled down to a simple meal of rice, dal and vegetables at a small cafe.

The Ellora Caves beckoned, but I was glad to sit down after all the sightseeing of the morning. I had a sense of satisfaction at having seen all these wonderful places en route to Ellora — places that I would never have seen, had I not taken a friend's advice and stopped along the way instead of rushing to Ellora, the way most people do.

Lunch over, it was now time to take on Ellora... but that's another story!

Picture by the author

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