Monday, December 10, 2012

Sunehri Mahal Museum in Aurangabad

Located within Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University Campus, Soneri Mahal lies on foothills of Satara mountain range. It is close to the Hanuman Tekri, Aurangabad Caves and Bibi ka Maqbara.


Now converted into museum, the mahal is a small building which is said to have been constructed by the Bundelkhand Chief of Aurangzeb, Paharh Singh between 1651 and 1653. 



Pahar Singh and his family resided in the building but now it houses a variety of ancient Indian pottery, dresses, statues excavated from nearby sites and remains of local palaces and antiques of daily use. 



As you enter the main building, you will see a number of 18th century paintings on wooden planks on display. Inside the building, the walls were once painted with frescoes made from natural colors with a heavy usage of golden paint from where the building gets its name "Soneri Mahal" - "Golden Palace". 





Very few of these frescoes can now be seen on the wall. ASI has done a very shoddy job of recreating some of the frescoes after having white washed all the walls.



The palace is also a venue for the annual Ellora Ajanta Aurangabad Festival held at the end of November.

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