horrible Bijapur

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" It's a fascinating place to explore, blessed by a wealth of mosques, mausoleums, palaces and fortifications whose grace is in complete contrast to the sculptural extravagance of the Chalukyan and Hoysala temples further the south of Karnataka" ( lonely planet)


Oh, my god, or do I haved to write " oh, Allah"... Bijapur is a dirty, ugly and unfriendly town, with ennoying riksjadrivers and creepy little kids... they got me on my nerves! we arrived by bus from Badami after a trip of 5 hours. My back was hurting and my bud became senseless. The driver was doing his best to arrive on time, but a traficjam and chaos in front of the busstation made the last 50 meters almost impossible. Oh, yes there was a police-officer, but he made it even worse... finely we reached, and riksjadrivers were shouting to ask for attention from the moment they got a glimp of us.... we tried to avoid them, by running to a restaurant.. pretty funny. We found a very nice place near the busstand with extremely friendly servants, a decent owner and delicious food.

From the first smell by arrival, we both decided to get out of the town before dark, so we booked a seat on a semi-sleeper bus to Hydrabad the same day. We had a bus at 9.30pm, so plenty of time to discover the town and to get frustrated by riskjadrivers who were pretending to speak enlish fluently (and we believed them) and ennoying kids. We saw very nice monuments, which represented a rich history. We hired a riksja and a driver who drove us through the city. But I was really happy to get on that bus at 9.30pm.

Oh, I almost forget to mention our cheap, but really good Kingfisher beers ( 60 roepees only each) and the refreshing rain...

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Photos

the interior of the Golgumbaz
A beautiful building with an enormous dome, 38 meter in diameter, said to be the world's second largest after St Peter's Basilica in Rome

The Golgumbaz
around the base of the dome is a psychedelic "whispering gallery". the accoustics are such that if you whisper into the wall a person on the opposite side of the gallery can hear you clearly, and any soun dis said to be repeated 10 times over. But when we were there it was a place to get a headache cause Indian kids didn't get the concept of whispering....

Jama Machid mosque and boys
This mosque was constucted by Ali Shah I ( 1557-1580) who was also responsible for erecting the fortified city walls and another building in the city called Gagan Mahal.

Me and Donna in front of the Ibrahim Rouza
the photographer of this picture is a little street boy... there is some talent over there! oh and he was so proud...

Ibrahim Rouza
This building was built by a King for his Queen, Taj Sultana. As it happens he died before her, so he was laid to rest here as well... oh, how romantic! Definetly one of my favoriths in this dusty town...cause of the background, but the architecture too..
It.s 24 meter high minarets are said to be inspired those of the Taj Mahal.

Jod Gumbad
This is a detail of the twin tombs, where a general and his spirtual adviser are buried. Inside is prohibited area for women

Gagan Mahal
built as a dualpurpose royal residency and durbar hall...

local
I made this picture on the way, while we made a stop in a busstation in a small village