Stutzfamily.com>Travel Pictures

India

Aurangabad - Bibi ka Maqbara

February 2008

The Bibi ka Maqbara is the tomb of one of Aurangzeb's wives. Built by his son Azam Shah - the one who took over after Aurangzeb - it echoed the Taj Mahal that had been built for his grandmother. Known today as the Baby Taj Mahal (or mini TM or poor man's TM depending on the source), it is indeed a much smaller and less ostentatious building. But it was still beautiful, and gave us a pleasant afternoon walk around.
Many of the design elements echo the Taj, albeit on a smaller and less grandiose scale. Prominently missing is all the inlay work that is in Agra. It doesn't appear that the stones have been stolen, simply that the building was never designed to include them.
 

Instead of semiprecious stones adding bursts of color to the walls, the baby Taj Mahal is more simply decorated with plastered designs. 


The cool interior was beautiful in its austerity.

And while there were some strange four-armed creatures to be seen in the dry fountains and some schoolgroups wandering the grounds, the relative lack of crowds made it a very pleasant place to spend some time relaxing 
The kids even found some big trees to climb in the rear gardens, as well as some friends to climb with them.

To the main India page
To the Stutz's Welcome Page