Sunday 19 August 2012

Thakhte wali baoli (bawdi), Narnaul (Mohindergarh, Haryana)

Narnaul, perhaps is the only place in Haryana where you can find more monuments, built during Islamic period than anywhere else. Many of them like Jal Mahal, Tomb of Ibrahim Shah Suri, Chor Gumbaj are in very good condition but remaining others are not so lucky. These include a 13th century Dargah (Peer Turkman Dargah), 17th Century Serai (Old Court), 17th century haveli of Rai Bal Mukund, 15th Century Bawdi (Thakhte wali Bawdi) and many more. Some of these were intentionally demolished for modernization while others are crumbling under sheer negligence and encroachment. One such unlucky monument is a beautiful Bwadi known as Thakhte wali Bawdi.

A Bawdi is more like a stepwell surrounded by rooms and resting place. In modern terms its like a hotel with swimming pool in it (I may be wrong here but this is the closest modern analogy i could think of).

This Bawdi is a 5 story building with 2 below the ground level. Each floor is having long corridors on 3 sides and stairs on one side. There is an inscription on the top floor which says that it was built by some Mirza Ali Jaan. Some believes that the present building was built upon the remains of a much older building.  

Here are some of the photographs of this Bawdi-

Tank in front of Bawdi
Closer look at the Bawdi
(Inscription is on red tiles of the top floor)

Ground and sub ground floors of the Bawdi  

Sub ground floor with corridors on 3 sides

Another look at sub ground levels
View from backside

(All these photographs were taken by me while visiting this monument on 29th April 2012)

About Narnaul:- Narnaul is the district headquarter of Mohindergarh District of State Haryana. It is situated at 50 KMs from Rewari, 150 KMs from Delhi and Jaipur. 

About Monument:- This monument is located near Chotta-Bada Talab (Narnaul) just 100 meters off Narnaul-Nizampur Road.

Co-ordinates of the Monument : - 28°02’48.42” N and 76°05’56.52” E




No comments:

Post a Comment