Aurangabad : Bibi Ka Maqbara

Aurangabad : Bibi Ka Maqbara

By kevinstandagehotography on May 8, 2015 • ( 5 Comments )

Believed to have been built around 1678, Bibi Ka Maqbara (Tomb of the Lady) was built by Prince Azam Shah, son of the sixth Mughal Emporer Aurangzab, in memory of his mother Rabia-Durrani.

It does of course have a striking resemblance to the world famous Taj Mahal, the mausoleum of his mother, Mumtaz Mahal.

But by all accounts the Prince was not very interested in architecture, and nor did he have access to the same level of funds that contributed to the Taj Mahal’s magnificence.

So whilst Bibi Ka Maqbara was intended to rival the Taj Mahal, Azam Shah imposed severe budgetary constraints which resulted in the architecture and proportions of the building being quite poor in comparison.

As a result, Bibi Ka Maqbara is often referred to as the “poor man’s Taj Mahal”. To put this into context, the budget for the Taj Mahal was 32,000,000 rupees. Azam Shah allocated just 700,000 rupees for the construction of this copy.

But perhaps this is an unfair comparison to make in the first place. I do think Bibi Ka Maqbara has it’s own charm and is of course well worth visiting if you have time in Aurangabad.

My visit here was all too brief due to time constraints, just enough time to take a couple of shots and quick dash around the mausoleum complex. For a more leisurely exploration, you should allocate about 90 minutes.

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Categories: Aurangabad : Bibi Ka Maqbara, India, Maharashtra

Tagged as: Islamic Sites