Bidar is really like a forgotten town; its almost in the middle of nowhere (close to Andhra border, but in Karnataka). It was the capital of the Bahamani Sultans, one of the short lived Muslim empires in southern India. The Bahamani and Barid Shahi Sultans built a large fort in Bidar and a series of tombs outside the city. Our little group of friends went to Bidar because it was close to Hyderabad and is said to have marginally better weather (very true!).
The old town in Bidar is almost medieval in appearance; all short buildings, narrow lanes (save for a few main roads) and no trees. In the centre of the town was the Chabutara, a clock tower and on the way to the fort were the remains of the an old university founded by an Iranian scholar. The fort is very impressive; its huge walls encompass a large area - I believe it is one of the biggest forts in India. You can drive through the series of successive walls (since Bidar was more or less flat, three series of walls were built to hold of invaders). The fantastic walls and gateways take you towards the archaelogical museum which overlooks a series of pristine green lawns; that was the only greenery around for miles!
A downer at Bidar is that many of the monuments are supposedly under restoration and out of bounds for most visitors (there are hardly any visitors at Bidar and we barely saw a couple of groups around). Not much restoration seems to be happening, but we managed to sneak inside the 'Rangeen Mahal' which is fabulous: wood interiors and mosaic work dating back to 15th century exists and gives an idea of the grandeur of bygone era. Mean while the vast expanse of the fort is dotted with other monuments (some of which were a backdrop for a Vidya Balan number from her hit 'Dirty Picture'. The great thing about Bidar was that it was quite, free of crowds and atmospheric with its long stretches of ruins and walls.
Later we went to the derelict and even much more off-the-radar Bahamani tombs. These too are mostly closed (a feature with Bidar!). However one single tomb was open and at first though there was nothing you could see in the darkened interior, a few minutes were needed to start noticing the painted interiors of the large tomb. Though severely damaged, the entire dome and many walls were decorated with beautiful non-figurative Islamic paintings.It was wondrous to see the detail and beauty as the eye adjusted to the dark and a feeling of privilege to see ancient examples of Indian painting still alive on walls....
