Bidar - Bidri work

Once you soak in the history of Bidar and start feeling enough tombs, it is time for you to shop.This monumental city doesn’t disappoint you there as well. Bidar is famous for its Bidri art work.

It is a unique form of art work done with silver inlay work on the base material of black metal alloy.
It is a beautiful handicraft work  with complicated designs in silver. Base material is an alloy of copper and zinc. They will cast jewellery boxes, bangles,vase and many more art pieces.Then different designs are engraved on the surface.On this engraved design,  silver wire is inlaid.Then it will be polished to give shiny new look. We saw few artisans working on their art pieces.

500  years old Bidri art work has its origin in  Bidar.  It originated when Bidar came under the influence of Persian artists who were working here during the Bahamani rule.Do I need to say Bidri art got its name from Bidar ?

Bidri work is valued by art appreciators.I bought few earrings.

Price starts from  Rs 200 to few thousands. Some of the big items with intricate design even cost few lakhs. Once we witness the work involved behind each art piece, we will realise it's worth the money. You can buy Bidriware   directly from the artisans at better prices.

Have you already been to Bidar ? Pls share your experience ...

Post related to this which might be of interest to you -

Bidar Narasimha swamy Jharani

Barid Shahi tomb 

Bidar Fort

Bidar – Barid Shahi Tombs

Ever since I entered Bidar town, this one monument was so inviting due to its spooky look. Big dome poping out among the grove of   trees was certainly not a popular place like fort. But it was attractive. At the first sight, I felt it is a perfect place for shooting horror movie!!

Just before catching up our train to Bangalore we had a couple of hours left. Along with one of my friends visited this place and believe me we were not in a mood to come out until our other friends started calling and reminded us that we were getting late.

This place is called as Barid Shahi tomb.

Barid Shai tomb is located in the garden on Udgiri road right behind the bus stand,walkable from any part of the town.  There are two main monuments which house both  father and his son’s graves.

Barid Shahi is one of the dynasties who ruled Bidar. Ali Barid Shah was a big lover of  art, architecture and poetry. His tomb is one of the masterpieces of Barid Shahi architecture. He himself had built it when he was alive.

Next to this monument little away  is his son Ibrahim Barid’s tomb. This one is similar to Ali Barid Shah’s tomb, but smaller in size. 

Both the structures are placed on a  platform. Ali Barid Shah’s tomb is a huge vertical monument of 70 ft  with unusually large dome on the top compared to its lower structure. It gives a feeling of something odd with the proportion. 

Outside the building on the platform are cluster of graves.These are graves of  ladies from his harem. I didn’t count but i guess there were more than 50 graves. 

 Inside of the tomb houses Ali Barid Shah’s grave along with his begum's graves. Inside of the tomb is open on all the 4 sides. It is decorated with colorful tiles and we can find few  inscriptions. There are few poems written on this. I could not read any of them though. I guess  it is in Persian language. 

All  these monuments were unattended. I could see people having sound sleep inside the monuments next to graves !!

I understand, recently it has been taken over by ASI(Archeological Survey of India) for maintenance. There were no guides around to understand the history. I wish the government appoints few guides to keep the tales behind these monuments alive.

Apart from these two monuments there are plenty of remains of so many structures.Each of   the remains of  these structures were camera friendly with its pinkish texture and stunning  architecture, and arches.

 It was just giving us the glimpse of its glorious past. Our imagination can go non stop to build it back to its glory.

Have you already been to Bidar ? Pls share your experience...

Related posts which might be of interest to you -

Bidar - Journey to Jharani 

Bidar Fort   

Bidri art work from Bidar

Bidar fort

After my last post about Narasimha Jharni, many of my friends were asking to write about some more attractive places in Bidar. I had travelled there a few years ago. Here I am bringing back my memories about Bidar.

Bidar  is a city of domes and tombs. You will stumble upon one or the other at every 500 meters. I couldn’t visit all of them during my stay for couple of days. Most important attraction of Bidar is Bidar Fort. 

Bidar was the capital of Bhamani Kingdom. Bidar has many layers of history. It was ruled by many dynasties. Bahamanis loved it, Barid Shahi’s invaded it, Bijapur Sultanate attacked it and North India’s Mughal dynasty conquered it. All this happened in 300 years!! (1425 -1725 AD)

Who ruled it before Bahamani's ?

 As per archeological survey of India, Bidar was under the Kalayani Chalukya’s rule(977-1190 A.D), then by Yadavas of Devagiri, followed by Kakatiyas of Warangal , Tughaluqs of Delhi and finally it came in to the hands of Bahamanis. 

There are a lot of legends around it. Some say that Bidar was the ancient Vidarbha mentioned in Mahabhart and other ancient sources. Also, there is a legend that Hindu puranic character King Nala and his darling Damayanti lived here.

Bidar fort was built during the 15 century by Ahmad Shah Bahman when this 9th ruler of  Bahamanis, shifted his capital from Gulbarga to Bidar. After that it underwent as many rounds of modification and fortification as many kings who ruled it. Similar to its layers of past, Bidar fort has layers of defence walls. No wonder it was considered as well protected strong fort then. 

The fort is located very much within the present town of Bidar. You can’t miss this place. You can take a rickshaw from  bus stand, railway station or even  walk. 

I couldn’t make out the shape of the fort. It is very irregular in shape.It had  5-6 entrances when it was in use.It is surrounded by 5.5kms of defence wall. Bidar fort is an artistic creation of many architects and engineers from different countries.We can see influence of Persian architecture in these structures. 

All the structure in Bidar including fort is built with large blocks of stone and marter. Remains of these structures are sepia toned and are very photogenic. So what did I do there in fort ? Got photographed in each and every corner. I hardly have few pictures where I am not there in the frame. ( Sigh….)

  Except  few structures inside the fort, most of the parts are just a few remains. Inside the fort there are mosques, royal baths, royal kitchens, madarasa ,well and many more structures . There is a nice garden as well. Archeology department maintains inner part of the fort. There is a museum inside the fort which is worth visiting. However, I felt Bidar fort is not been given its due importance. Lot of movie in all languages have been shot here. It’s a photographers delight.

If you don’t find time to go to Bidar, watch Ishq Sufiana song  from the movie ‘ Dirty Picture’. This song was shot in Bidar fort and camera has done a good flirting  with this beautiful fort.

While coming back from Bidar fort I wonder, a fort – which was a symbol of royal power, confederacy, conspiracy and treachery then  is now just a curious place for travelers … A place which has witnessed what not is now talked about for how many movies have been shot here.Now whether it is Bollywood or tollywood or sandalwood there is a wedlock between forts and entertainment industry. While the Kings and Queens are at peace in their respective tombs the present day film badashas and begums are engaged in hugging, kissing and sometimes even extending to bedroom scences in their palaces and even at the outer sides of the palaces! And interestingly along with star politicians and star cricketers present day celluloid herores and heroines have become are getting royal treatment from every where.

 Time flows.. In its coursealong with many things of the past  it has also changed  the images and impressions about forts.Original meaning and symbols attached to a fort fades away.

Have you already been to Bidar ? Pls share your experience...

Post related to this entry which might interest you-

Narasimha Jharani