Aurangabad is a very fast growing city in northern Maharashtra, located in Marathwada region. Initially promoted as tourist attraction ( Ajantha and Ellora mainly), now it is a major industrial city with CIDCO, MIDCs having focussed on pharmaceutical industry, manufacturing and brewing being major revenue generators.
Where to Stay :
Numerous options of Hotels from 0 star to 5 stars are available,including the famous Zostel for backpackers and younger crowd.
Khuldabad
The main attraction at Khuldabad is the tomb of Badshah Aurangzeb , who I consider as one of the most successful Mughal rulers. Though villianized by the biased historians, he could be labeled as one of the rulers who ruled "Akhand Bharat". He spent around last 27-30 years of his life in the area (Aurangabad) and found it extremely safe and beautiful ( better than Agra-the traditional seat of Mughals ). He considered Daulatabad (Devgiri) as "Heaven on Earth" ( जन्नत -ए - जहाँ ) .
As per his wish , he was buried after death, near the tomb of his philosophical guide, the sufi saint- Hazrat Khwaja Makhdum Syed Shah Zainuddin Dawood Hussain Shirazi. This sufi saint lived almost 300 years before the reign of Aurangzeb but had a lasting influence on the Alamgeer with his philosophical teachings. Many travelers and independent historians from West, described Aurangzeb as a "pios religious ruler" while the history in some parts of India describes him as a "Bigot" and fanatic Muslim ruler.
The story of Aurangzeb as described by the local guide at his tomb is here in a 4 min video! Judge for yourself.
In my personal opinion, after having read many factual evidence based history notings, the positive part of Aurangzeb's life was his disciplined leadership that did not tolerate corruption. He was a principled leader who worked like a selfless "CEO" of company ( mughal empire ). He definitely had his leaning towards his philosophy and religion ( just like any other ruler ) but was one of the most successful mughal , who ruled major part of Indian sub-continent during his tenure. His empire was biggest and lasted longer (without any successful revolt) than by any Mughal. The positive aspects of his leadership need to be definitely appreciated without any grudge.
Here is a link to the album on facebook, with pictures and videos of Khuldabad
Daulatabad Fort ( Devgiri fort )
The invincible fort , that was never captured by anyone in a war ! Daulatabad ( Abode of Wealth ) remained with Mughals for very long period after it was named so and existed since "Yadav period" as Devgiri ( Hill of Gods )
It has wonderful history and one of the attractions for me was that this fort was the meeting place of Sant Eknath and his guru Janardan swami ( who was then the Killedar-care taker of fort of Devgiri )
The Fort has long and splendid history starting from the Yadav era of 400AD to the famous Khilji who planned to transfer his capital to Daulatabad from Delhi and gave up the plan few days after the move. Shah Jahan had visited the fort and was under the then viceroy of mughal empire, his son -Aurangzeb, who was posted in the Deccan region.
Here is a link to the album on facebook, with pictures and videos of Daulatabad
PanChakki (Water Mill)
Situated at a 15min driving distance from the main city of Aurangabad, PanChakki ( Water mill ) is a natural and engineering wonder, built in 1700+ AD, that used power of water flowing from a distance of 6+ kms to grind grains and make flour for the travellers and orphan dwellers at a Dargah.
Here is a videos of the working of Panchakki
Bibi-Ka-Makbara
Described as "Mini-Taj Mahal" or Taj of South India ( Deccan), it is one of the splendid monuments I have ever seen. Built by the son of Aurangzeb, Prince Azam Shah ( at the instructions of Father ) in memory of his mother Rabia-ul-Durrani or Dilras Banu Begum, as her mausoleum.
In my personal opinion , this monument is BETTER than Taj because of following reasons :
1) It is pure mughal architecture with the trade mark symmetry every where in carvings and decoration. Taj does not have pure mughal architecture, but is a mix of mughal and hindu(rajput) architecture. The reason being that Taj was built on a pre-existing monument that was built by a Rajput King ( a Vishnu mandir called Tejo Mahal ). The evidence of mix of hindu-rajput-mughal architecture is clearly visible on Taj everywhere !
2) It was built from scratch by craftmen using marbel and local mud-sand and composite. ( Unlike Taj that was constructed on a pre-existing monument built as a temple by Hindu-Rajput king in Hindu architectural style )
3) The one striking thing that I noticed here at Bibi-Ka-Makbara was that , the names and tombs of craftsmen who built the monument are seen in front of this huge monument!!
Here is the link to the album on facebook.
Aurangabad CavesThe other attraction in Aurangabad, that could be labelled as a "glance into Ajanta and Ellora caves" are the Aurangabad caves situated at the outskirts of city. The road to the caves is through the campus of Aurangabad University ( Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University ).
The best part of 300+ step climb to these caves is the splendid view of the city of Aurangabad and the Bibi-Ka-Makbara
What to eat ?
There are multiple veg, non-veg options in Aurangabad. One nice traditional restaurant I would recommend is "Shidori" in the Samarth Nagar area opposite to IMA.
Tea and paan stalls are common. One can enjoy quite inexpensive but tasty food and paan. The world famous "Old Tara Paan Center" is located in old city.
Multiple types of paans and quite inexpensive as compared to Pune and Bombay. In my personal opinion, this place is quite over-rated but is famous as Aurangabad destination..
Quality paans can be enjoyed at numerous paan shops in city, though.
And now the most important things visible on the road trip ....
The cats I met during my Aurangabad trip
This was one of my best trips in recent times , planned quickly and enjoyed thoroughly ! Also , it was one of the most awaited trip that was in the bucket list for long time along with Paithan. I kept Ajantha and Ellora away purposefully and would be planning a 3-4 day trip to these two "archeological" places separately. A good start to year 2020 !