Posted on: 12 March 2013

Pavilions in Aurungzeb's pleasure gardens, Khuldabad (Rauza) - 1868

Photograph of pavilions at Khuldabad photographed by Henry Mack Nepean in 1868, from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections. Rauza, or Khuldabad, meaning ‘Heavenly Abode’ is an old walled town in Maharashtra renowned for its onion-domed tombs. The town is of religious significance to Muslims as the Emperor Aurangzeb (r.1658-1707) is interred here, together with his second son Azam Shah, Asaf Jah, founder of the dynasty of the same name, other royal figures and several Muslim saints. The pavilions in this view are carried on slender pillars surmounted by Bengali-style domed roofs.

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Aei bongiyo shoyilee'r bhongi kara okhane neeya gelo!

This doesn't look mogul at all. Perhaps they appropriated it ...

Khultabad...! Having its own original name...Ratnapur. near about 03 kilometers from ellora caves (verul leni) and 23 kilometers from aurangabad.. (Sambhajinagar). In Ratnapur there is a Temple of Bhadra Maruti. Where all your needs and good wishes come true.

Hello Mr. Kanoria. Many Mughal pavilions (Burj) and Jharokas are topped by the native "Bangla Roofs" and thus do not have the characteristic Mughal look marked by bulbous domes with flanking Chattris. Many paintings from this period show durbar thrones having such a curvilinear roof. The one in the Diwan-i-Aam of the Red Fort has exactly such a roof as depicted in the above photograph.

I suspect they were all ancient Hindu structures appropriated by the invaders.

The Bangla roof was adopted all over Rajasthan and became an integral part of the architecture excepting Mewar.

Very Common temple structure of Bengal