Bidar, Karnataka, India (info, July 2025)
Located on the Deccan plateau in northern Karnataka, the city of Bidar is steeped in history and architectural wonders, yet often overlooked on typical tourist trails. Once the medieval capital of the powerful Bahmani Sultanate and then the Bidar Sultanate, Bidar boasts a rich Indo-Islamic heritage that comes alive in its monuments, mosques, madrasas, and mausoleums. The imposing Bidar Fort, one of the finest examples of medieval fortification in South India, crowns the city with its massive gates, triple rock-cut moats, royal palace ruins, and ornately decorated audience halls. Nearby lies the exquisite ruins of Mahmud Gawan Madrasa, a 15th-century university of Persianate architectural style that reflects Bidar’s past as a center of power, learning, and culture.
|
Bidar Fort: Open Areas (info) |
|||
Sherza Darwaza (more)
|
View from inside
|
Multiple gateways
|
|
Well-designed fort
|
Multiple layers of walls
|
Triple rock-cut moats
|
Vaulted spaces
|
Passage to another
|
Path to Gumbad Darwaza
|
Rangeen Mahal and
|
|
Gumbad Darwaza
|
Inside Gumbad Darwaza
|
Hazar Kothri
|
Rangeen Mahal and
|
14-petalled basalt
|
Lal Bagh (Ruby Garden)
|
Lal Bagh
|
Lal Bagh (more)
|
Distant ruins (more)
|
Another gateway
|
Diwan-i-Am from Takht
|
Another view of Takht
|
Diwan-i-Am (more)
|
Diwan-i-Am (info)
|
Hall of public audience,
|
Where foreign dignitaries
|
Another gateway in the
|
Bastion with canon
|
Canon atop bastion
|
View of Takht Mahal etc.
|
|
|
A village below w/ temple
|
Naubat Khana
|
Gagan Mahal area (more)
|
Unnamed complex
|
Unnamed complex (more)
|
Baby buffaloes
|
Main fort complex
|
Exiting the fort towards
|
Approaching Gumbad
|
Exiting Gumbad Darwaza
|
Path to Sherza Darwaza
|
Bidar Fort: Rangeen Mahal (info) |
|||
Rangeen Mahal is on
|
Courtyard inside (more)
|
Courtyard with water tank
|
Courtyard with stairs
|
Floral stucco carvings
|
Apartments with ornate
|
Carved wooden columns
|
Syncretic influences
|
A typical apartment
|
Open area for the queen
|
Apartment ceiling
|
Ceiling detail
|
Mother of pearl inlaid in
|
Apartment fit for a queen
|
Room in Rangeen Mahal
|
Beautiful arched doorway
|
Palace interior
|
Once colourful walls
|
Fortifications from
|
View from the palace
|
Fort: Hazar Kothri |
|||
Hazar Kothri
|
Literally, '1000 cells' (1, 2)
|
A guard claimed the cells
|
Structures inside
|
Fort: Tarkash Mahal |
|||
Tarkash Mahal
|
Interior
|
Backyard / Gagan Mahal
|
Tile and stucco work
|
Ruins of the palace
|
Built for a Turkish wife
|
Ruins of the palace
|
Ruins of the palace
|
Fort: Takth Mahal / Diwas-i-Khas (info) |
|||
Approaching Takht Mahal
|
Once the royal residence
|
Inside the main entrance
|
Courtyard with rain water
|
View of the courtyard
|
Remains of pillared halls
|
Buildings that stand
|
Steps up to palace rooms
|
Royal apartments
|
A petalled fountain (more)
|
Another room (more)
|
Arched passages (more)
|
Indo-Islamic fusion (more)
|
Another apartment
|
Courtyard, Diwan-i-Khas
|
Visitor
|
Bidar Fort: Solah Khamb Mosque (info) |
|||
Bidar's oldest Islamic
|
Built in 1423-24 CE
|
Has 16 pillars in the
|
Back side of the mosque
|
The Mihrab (more)
|
Floral decor on pillars
|
Part of the prayer hall
|
An aisle inside
|
|
Mahmud Gawan Madrasa (info) |
|||
Built in 1472 by Mahmud
|
Gawan was the Bahmani
|
Was built in the Persiante
|
Ruins of the 3-storey
|
Once a major center of
|
Former classroom (more)
|
Could accommodate
|
The dome
|
Taught theology, maths,
|
Coloured tiled once
|
Damaged in 1696 during
|
Part of the Madrasa is
|
|
Bahmani Tombs |
|||
The necropolis of the
|
Several sultans and their
|
Collapsed tomb
|
Built in the 15th and
|
Indo-Persianate style
|
Square structures with
|
A small mosque at the
|
Decor once had tiles with
|
Some tombs had tiles
|
Some had Persian poetry
|
Tomb of Ahmed Shah is
|
Frescoes inside. Site is
|
Chowkhandi (info) |
|||
Entrance gateway to
|
Tomb of saint Hazarat
|
Good representative of
|
Spiritual advisor to
|
Barid Shahi Park (info) |
|||
Tombs of the Barid Shahi
|
The dynasty ruled from
|
Indo-Islamic architecture
|
Serene park with tombs
|
Walk in the
|
Tying threads around a
|
Tomb of Ali Barid Shah
|
Tomb of Ali Barid Shah
|
Tomb of Ali Barid Shah
|
Under the dome
|
Dome ceiling
|
Tomb of Qasim
|
A medieval mosque
|
Mihrab
|
Gateway to the tombs
|
Visitor
|
Bidar Archaeological Museum (info) |
|||
Chhayapratima
|
Chhayapratima
|
Chhayapratima
|
Kartikeya
|
Mahishasura Mardini
|
Shakti
|
Ganesha
|
Hero Stone
|
Hero Stone
|
Female Chauri Bearer
|
Male Chauri Bearer
|
Male Chauri Bearer
|
Nataraja
|
Mandanika
|
Shiva Dwarpalaka
|
Bust of Leogryph (Yali)
|
Goddess
|
Makara Torana
|
Amorous couple
|
Model Shikhara
|
"Vishkanya, or
|
Mother & Child
|
Bidar Tiles (info)
|
Persian inscriptions
|
Swords, daggers,
|
Satavahana art in
|
Rashtrakuta Art
|
Late-Chalukyan art
|
Miscellaneous Bidar Sights |
|||
Chowbara
|
Fateh Darwaza (more)
|
Woman, Fateh Darwaza
|
Diorama in a park
|
Bidar from the Mahmud
|
Bidar from the Mahmud
|
Warli street art (more)
|
Warli street art (more)
|
Designed in collaboration with Vitalect, Inc. All rights reserved. |