Highlight
• In memory of his first wife and chief consort Dilras Banu Begum
• The sixth Mughal Emperor built Bibi ka Maqbara in 1660 as a replica of the Taj Mahal
• Had been built by Shahjehan for his wife
From the renewed row over his Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi to the disturbing silence around his spare tomb near Aurangabad, Aurangzeb is once again at the center of controversy. However, one piece of Mughal Emperor history is slowly coming to life in Maharashtra.
Overview
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been excavating a 400-year-old hammam opposite Aurangzeb’s ‘Bibi Ka Maqbara’ in Aurangabad for the past six months.
The sixth Mughal Emperor built Bibi ka Maqbara in 1660 in memory of his first wife and chief consort Dilras Banu Begum, as a replica of the Taj Mahal, which his father Shah Jahan had built for his wife.
The excavation began after the ASI learned of the existence of such a hammam (public bath), which had been forgotten and buried beneath a plot of land opposite the Bibi Ka Maqbara for over a half-century.
The ASI has discovered a 3636-meter structure and cleared a portion of the area so far. According to ASI officials, the hammam is directly opposite the Bibi Ka Maqbara and may have been intended for use just before entering the monument.
According to officials, such hammams existed in front of monuments such as tombs, mosques, and other places of worship during the Mughal period.
According to ASI officials, the hammam was covered in soil sometime after the 1960s, when a road was built between it and the protected monument. It was forgotten over time.
“It came to the attention of the ASI only recently when a person whose father worked with the ASI and was an attendant at the monument met some officials,” an unnamed official said.
He told them that as a child, he would come to the site with his father to deliver tiffin and would always see the hammam, which was now covered by debris. He also showed the ASI staff the exact location.
“He said that if we excavated the site and removed the soil, we’d find a door and an entry point.”
As a result, we received approvals and began excavating. We did discover a door and, after further investigation, the remaining structure. “According to the official, the process began over a year ago and they
hope to finish it as soon as possible.
Milan Kumar Chauley, the ASI’s Aurangabad Circle Superintendent, stated, “We are currently doing scientific clearance (of the soil).”
Once completed, we will restore and conserve the structure before opening it to the public.”
