subject: Aurangabad, The City Of Gates [print this page] Aurangabad is a city in Maharashtra and has been named after the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb. Literally, Aurangabad means Built by the Throne. This city has great historical value that continues to allure tourists and explorers since ages. It is also close to the world famous Ajanta and Ellora Caves that has been declared as a World heritage site by UNESCO.
History has it that during the year 1681 when Aurangzeb became the Mughal Emperor, he used Aurangabad as his base for his campaigns. He died during the year 1707 and his tomb was built not very far away from the city of Aurangabad in a small town named, Khultabad which is also a major tourist spot.
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There are a large number of Mughal monuments in Aurangabad. Not all may be listed here but I can name quite a few. One of the most famous one is the Bibi Ka Maqbara thats situated about 3 km from the city where Rabia-ud-Durrani, the wife of Aurangzeb has been buried. The structure is similar to that of the famous Taj Mahal at Agra and is popularly known as the mini Taj of the Deccan. One of the factors that make Aurangabad unique is the fact that there are 52 gates, each of which has its own history. It may be worth mentioning that Aurangabad is also known as the City of Gates. Another one is the majestic palace called, Quila-E-rak that was ordered to be built by Aurangzeb in the year 1692. The space acquired by Quila-E-rak cave covers the whole area between the Mecca and the Delhi gates of the city. It includes about 4 or 5 gateways. Another sight of historical importance is the Panchakki Mill that dates back to the 17th century and is about 1 km away from the city. This mill is known for its underground water channel that runs more than 8 kms to its source in the mountains. This channel comes to an end forming a beautiful waterfall that powers that mill.
Another interesting World heritage site is The Ajanta and Ellora caves. There are 30 rock-cut Buddhist caves in the Ajanta Caves and is about 160 kms from Aurangabad. Five of these 30 caves are Buddhist cathedrals and the remaining 25 are monasteries. The caves are form designs known as Chaitya Grihas and Viharas. Chaityas are large, rectangular shaped chambers that are divided by rows of pillars while the Viharas are rectangular shaped halls that have a series of small cells opposite to the entrance of which is an image of Budhha. These caves depict the stories of the life of Buddha and interesting stories from Jatakas.
