My TripAdvisor Review No.672: Bidar Fort, Karnataka.

Historic Fort. 

Bidar is a small town in the northernmost tip of Karnataka state. It is about 135 km driving distance from Hyderabad. The Bidar Fort is the most impressive and historic monument in Bidar. Sultan Alla-Ud Din Bahman of the Bahamani Dynasty built this fort when he shifted his capital from Gulbarga to Bidar in 1427. The fort compound is protected by a moat and a wall. There are about 30 monuments inside the fort compound.

When we visited the fort in October-2020 there were very few visitors due to the restrictions on travel during the pandemic. There is a parking lot next to the entrance. There were some security guards posted at the entrance gate and we had to enter our details even though the parking and entry was free. We were quite impressed with the imposing structures, though they were in a decaying condition, and the wide moat which was surrounded by the fort walls. There were well laid out gardens and parks and the monuments are being taken care of by the ASI.

The main monuments to visit inside the fort are the 1) Rangin Mahal (Painted Palace), 2) Takht Mahal (Throne Room), 3) Jami Masjid (Great Mosque), and 4) Sola Khamba Masjid (sixteen pillar mosque). One can easily spend a couple of hours browsing at the fort and admiring the ancient and imposing Persian style of architecture. A song from the hit 2011 hit Bollywood movie ‘The Dirty Picture’ was filmed inside the fort premises.

Date of experience: October 2020

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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC

My TripAdvisor Review No.671: Gurudwara Nanak Jhira Sahib, Bidar, Karnataka.

 Bidar is a small town in the northernmost tip of Karnataka state, and it is about 135 km driving distance from Hyderabad. The road to Bidar is along NH65 till Zaheerabad, and then there is a right turn to Bidar for about 35 km along the state highway. It took us about 3 hours from Hyderabad.

Divine Experience.

The Gurudwara Nanak Jhira Sahib is located in a large well planned campus, and is a beautiful place of worship for the Sikhs. The main Gurudwara is a beautiful building in white marble in the centre of the campus. There is a large satsang hall nearby. There is also a huge 500 room pilgrim’s inn, and engineering college and a 100 bed hospital in the campus.

Since we were visiting during the pandemic there were some restrictions in moving around. We visited the main gurudwara, and then went to the ‘Amrit Kund’, which is the perennial spring (Jhira) discovered by Baba Guru Nanak Dev himself, more than 500 years ago, and tasted the refreshing sweet water emerging from the spring. Free langar is distributed during normal times.

It was a spiritual experience to visit the Gurudwara.

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Date of experience: October 2020