Bareed Shahi tombs in Memorial Park, Bidar

January 28, 2011
I was on a tour of Bidar, Gularga and Bijapur with my maternal uncles. We'd spent the day sightseeing monuments of Bidar, Barid Shahi tombs was the last item of the day. It was a sunny day, post lunch we were too tired to move around freely. So we'd seen only one group of tombs and missed two tombs on the other side of the road.

September 3, 2018
Pushpa and started the tour early morning. We'd covered Narasimha Jharani, Chaukandi, Bahamani tombs of Ashtoor, three gates of Bidar fort, Choubara, Mohammad Gawan Madrasa and Bidar fort. Pushpa was exhausted after the long walk in Bidar fort where we covered the main tourist spots. As we drove through the narrow streets of old city, we found a grains store where we purchased jowar. The store was situated close to Basaveshwara Chowk and our next item was about 3½ kms away.. Palm road entrance of Memorial Park. This building is a screen concealing a direct view of the tomb. This is akin to a similar building in front of Chaukandi. Gol Gumbaz and Ibrahim Rouza also have such a buildings.

Here's that tomb, unlike other tombs, this is an open building, this does not have doors. There is a twin building on the left hand side, about 170 meters away. This is supposed to be tomb of Ali Bareed Shah (1542 to 1580). The approximate dimensions of this structure: platform is  46m x 46m, tomb building is 17m x 17m x 25m and the dome diameter is 14m. The structure can be viewed as 3 parts height-wise- lower, middle and top. Lower level consists of the great arch and niches, mid level is more or less plain except for the horizontal lines creating 5 layers and the top consist of the dome. All four faces of this structure are identical.

Closer look at the mid and top levels. Unlike Adil Shahi tombs, Bareed Shahi tombs do not have minars.

Murals just above the arch. Within the outlines is text, either Persian or Arabic.

The interior is simple, just two three graves in the middle. Pigeons have taken over this building, the entire floor is littered with droppings. The building seen through the arch is the twin building.. this is Ali Bareed's tomb and that is Ibrahim Bareed's tomb.

Ceiling and dome.. the design is elegant, it matches the exterior.

Closer view of the dome base. Actually the dome is plain, its the base which has the artistic touch.

As seen from western side. It seems these 400+ years old structures were snow-white originally. Color has faded over the centuries, parts of the plaster has fallen off. The design is similar to Charminar minus the minars.

The other tomb is known as Sabbal Barid ki Gumbad which translates to Tomb of crow-bar Barid. The three graves found in this structure are said to be of Ibrahim Barid Shah (1580 to 1587) and two of his wives.

This tomb is incomplete since the walls are not covered in plaster. The finer details of this structure is slightly different compared to Ali Barid's tomb.

The dome as you see is unfinished, brick work is not covered in plaster and paint.

Bidar district seems to have received good rainfall, as a result lot of vegetation have taken over some of the monuments. Memorial Park was more like a grassland, limited scope for photographing these monuments. It is said there are graves of Barid family members scattered around in this ground.

Turning our attention towards the mosque complex next to the screen building. Where there's a Muslim tomb, there has to be mosque.

This is the mosque of three arches and two minars. Good thing archaeology department has kept these structures grilled and locked lest they become dens for drinking and gambling.

Besides the moasque is a similar sized building which could have been a madrasa or a lodge. The complex also has a water tank which doubled up as a swimming pool. Good to see a well maintained monument.

We were tired, no energy left to pay a visit to the other group of six or seven tombs. We headed back to the hotel, freshened up and went to Gurudwar Sri Nanak Jhira Sahib.
.........