Pari Bowli - Fairies Well, Ashtoor, Bidar

As I was scanning the area around Bahamani tombs of Ashtoor, I happened to discover a spot marked as "Pari Bowli" which was recognizable as a water-body. It was situated west of Dargah of Hadrat Khalimullahullah commonly called as Chaukandi. I was curious about the spot but there wasn't any description of the place. I added to the list of places to see during our trip.

September 3, 2018
We started our tour of Bidar early morning. Originally our plan was to see the fort and then other monuments. However a security guard's rude behavior made me change the itinerary. So went to Narasimha Jhira first. The place had changed so much in 8 years, too much concrete. I showed Pushpa the cave entrance, she took pictures and shot a video clip. Then we headed towards Ashtoor and first stopped at Chaukandi. We spent about 45 minutes at the white octagonal structure with Kalil Shah who claims to be a descendant of Bahamani dynasty. From Chaukandi, Pari Bowli is about a kilometer, we could've walked but decided to take the car for a tiny off-road drive.

So that's the well local people lovingly call Pari Bowli. On the top-right corner of this picture is a glimpse of Chaukandi. The common thing between these two is their octagonal shape.

That's Chaukandi, as seen from the mound next to Pari Bowli.

The well reminded me of Taj Bowli at Bijapur which is much larger. Water looks clean, its green because of its depth. Whoever made this well also made a room on its eastern side.

The room can be accessed from a narrow passage on the side, along the well's perimeter. A shrub grown out from the wall is home to a group of weaver birds, about a dozen nests here. Pushpa and Kalil stand in the shelter.

Two partially done nests. The owner sits watchfully on its nest. I watched it for a minute or two to take pictures then left it alone to carry on  with its work.

This is the shelter's ceiling, stones are arranged to form a star. The circular stone is the center pin - which is the key to the arrangement. I don't quite remember seeing another star like this anywhere else.

The serene spot. We sat under the Neem tree and had breakfast- biscuits and water. Kalil had filled a bottle from this well, water was as clear as filtered water, it took a mouthful, it was mildly sweet. Kalil said that locals believe this water has medicinal properties, people with health issued consume it or bathe with this water. Coming to its name, its a belief that fairies live in these waters and they come out only during nights.

Isn't it amazing that Nature provides us everything we need, ready to consume. We humans instead of enjoying life in a simple way, complicate everything, creating trouble for fellow creatures. Anyway, lets enjoy the peaceful ambiance for now.

On the left is a platform where one can stand and draw water from the well. This spot is slightly higher than Chaukandi, I'm guessing that water was supplied from this well. It seems like a pipeline existed, probably still there buried in the ground.

Water as seen from the drawing platform, this platform is exactly above the open hall seen earlier. I'm guessing this well to be 60 feet deep. We can see one level submerged here, probably there's another level below.

A bare Jaali Mara trunk. Wondering what caused the tree to get that curvy form.

It was happy to have seen this well. Had I come here by dawn, I might have seen few peacocks. In fact we saw one at Chaukandi, a young male. Also, Pushpa spotted a pair of owls resting in a niche high up in the wall. They seem like husband-wife.

From here we drove down to Ashtoor to see the Bahamani tombs.

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