The garden tomb’s beauty can make getting clicked in front of the Taj Mahal pale in comparison, finds DNA.
Though the Taj Mahal is one among the Seven Wonders of the World, few know of the inspiration behind the marvel. When Emperor Shah Jahan set out to build a monument for his beloved, he had his best-in-class architects study the design of the finest and celebrated monuments.
Out of this arduous exercise of analysing drawings at great length, emerged two designs that fascinated the emperor: Tomb of Mandu in Madhya Pradesh and Ibrahim Rauza in Bijapur. And eventually, the detailing, carvings and splendour of the latter made the cut.
Ibrahim Rauza, the garden tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah II, was built in Bijapur in North Karnataka in 1626 AD, while construction of the Taj Mahal started in 1636 AD.
After personally seeing the Rauza, I realised anyone in the emperor’s shoes would have chosen this monument.
Truly underrated, Rauza’s beauty can make getting photographed in front of the Taj, pale in comparison. Its minarets, parapets, cupolas and cornices, with richly decorated walls and perforated stone windows, humble the style quotient of the visitor.
The word ‘Rauza’ literally means a garden. It is a square garden that consists of two buildings — on the left, a tomb containing the remains of Ibrahim Adil Shah and his wife and on the right, a mausoleum with a mosque and four minarets. Built on a single rock bed, this palatial structure is noted for the symmetry of its features.
Skirted by intricately sculpted gardens enclosed within an imposing wall, the entire structure lies above a basement that houses secret passages and living quarters for the cavalry. He chose iconic architect Malik Sandal for the task, whose grave lies within the courtyard, close to the sultan. Today, Bijapur has many polytechnic colleges, art and architecture institutes named after Malik.
It is said that most structures built by the Adil Shahi dynasty have a sense of mysticism about them. This place is also a shutterbug’s paradise. At sunset, as the birds fly back home over the Rauza, the aura amplifies.
Bijapur is a one-stop-shop for tourists. It has over 50 mosques, more than 20 tombs and a number of palaces, architecture that proliferated between the tenth and eleventh centuries.
In the words of renowned traveller and historian, Fergusson: “There is nothing in Hindustan comparable with the grandeur of conception of the Gol Gumbaz nor any so elaborately rich in ornamental detail as the buildings comprised in the Ibrahim Rauza. The tombs of Humayun and Akbar will not bear comparison with them. Some will be inclined to think that the Taj Mahal in Agra is superior but it is very difficult to compare the two.”
Ibrahim Rauza, referred to as the Black Taj, has impacted other monuments. Like the adage goes: “A heart in love with beauty never grows old.” Maybe that was the reason for Shah Jahan to pick Ibrahim Rauza over the Tomb of Mandu; he never wanted his love for Mumtaz, or his proposed creation, the Taj Mahal, to grow old.
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