India Guide
Maharashtra
The Bibi-ka-Maqbara
Price: $5 (or the rupee equivalent)
Opening time: Daily 8am– sunset
Completed in 1678, Aurangabad's Mughal tomb-garden, the Bibi-ka-Maqbara, was dedicated by Prince Azam Shah to the memory of his mother Begum Rabi'a Daurani, Aurangzeb's wife. Lack of resources dogged the 25-year project, and the end result fell far short of expectations. Looking at the mausoleum from beyond the ornamental gardens and redundant fountains in front of it, the truncated minarets and ungainly entrance arch make it appear ill-proportioned compared to the elegant height and symmetry of the Taj, built fifty years earlier by Aurangzeb's father. The impression is not enhanced by the abrupt discontinuation of marble after the first two metres – allegedly a cost-saving measure.
An enormous brass-inlaid door – decorated with Persian calligraphy naming the maker, the year of its installation and chief architect – gives access to the archetypal charbagh (quadrangular) garden complex. Of the two entrances to the mausoleum itself, one leads to the inner balcony while the second drops through another beautiful door to the vault (since a suicidal student jumped from a minaret, visitors may no longer climb them). Inside, an exquisite octagonal lattice-screen of white marble surrounds the raised plinth supporting Rabi'a Daurani's grave. Like her husband's in nearby Khuldabad, it is "open" as a sign of humility. The unmarked grave beside it is said to be that of the empress's nurse.