"Aaram Se" - 2 hour run down in Lucknow

It was a fine sunny morning, and Lucknow was painted in golden hues as I headed to deliver a talk at an Industry event. I was occupied with the slides and notes on “Green Hydrogen and Decarbonization” when driver’s voice broke through my concentration as he pointed towards “Rumi Darwaza”. My goodness – the towering monument looked like a portal to another age and at that moment restless vagabond jumped out through the notes and started exploring the skyline.

Driver further added that next to Rumi Darwaza is Bara Imambara, Shahi Bawli and Bhul Bhulaiya. By this time my presentation notes were back in the bag, and I asked about time required to explore all. For long I have had this habit of taking earliest possible flight and realized that I had some time before my session at the conference. Driver told me about 1.5-2 hours depending on my speed. I requested the driver if he could end the ride here. He happily agreed and said “Muskuraiye aap Lucknow mein hain”

 

The Rumi Darwaza in Lucknow is a grand gateway built in 1784 by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula. Standing 60 feet tall, with intricate floral carvings and a massive central arch, it is a shining example of Awadhi architecture. Which was once a grand entrance to the city, today is one of Lucknow’s iconic landmarks. Rumi Darwaza translates to Turkish Gate, and many locals connect with Sublime Porte a similar monument in Turkey. However, Rumi Darwaza is considered more majestic and magnificent.

Suddenly my legs had gotten equipped with springs and in next 10 minutes I was at Bara Imambara entry gate. Bags are not allowed inside the premises, but to my surprise, they had a cloak room to safely keep my laptop trolley bag. One can buy tickets only for specific monuments or can buy a unified ticket covering all monuments. I knew for sure that I wouldn’t be able to cover every monument that day. But the ever-hopeful traveler was unable to resist, and I grabbed the unified ticket, desperate to soak in as much history as possible before the time ran out grand entrance made for the perfect start. 

Without my luggage, I got supercharged and started running towards Shahi Bawli, ignoring requests from guards and caretakers “Aaram se Saahab”. But I was running against time.

Shahi Bawli is a huge stepwell type water reservoir, built between 1784 and 1794 by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula. It is a multi-story building with interconnected galleries, open-arched windows and similar looking confusing/ hidden passages across different levels with stepwell at the bottom. It is said that Shahi Bawli was constructed to help the local population during the severe famine of 1780's, provide water and respite from scorching heat.

An intriguing tale surrounds Shahi Bawli. Its treasurer, Mool Chand Rastogi chose to committed suicide to avoid revealing details of hidden treasure to greedy British Army. It is believed that only he held the key and map to the location. Despite desperate attempts to locate the treasure, British were unsuccessful, and mystery of treasure stands till today. Check out virtually, the grand monument -

Clicking through dark corridors and shuffling across the floors, I forgot for a moment about my pending engagement, till I saw Bhul Bhulaiya from a window. In the next moment, I found myself standing at Bhul Bhulaiya entrance. Guards had again suggested “saahab aaram se” and take a guide, else you will be lost. Initially I decided against the idea of a guide accompanying me, but a slight look into the internals convinced me to go with a guide. Guide charges are ₹ 100 per person and will take a group of at least 10 people. I may have lost precious 5-10 minutes in waiting for guide, but it was worth hearing the stories about the monument and Lucknow city. meanwhile standing there, I turned around to click the amazing portrait of Asafi Mosque - 

Bhul Bhulaiya is a complex and confusing set of paths and passages. The labyrinth has over 1,000 passages, some of them go nowhere, some of them take you to hidden balconies and only one arrangement to take you to next floor. Riddled arrangement of the passageways as everywhere in the world has a lot of hidden treasure tales associated and probably would have been used by then Nawab to escape potential threats. Have a look - 

Guide told that all these structures were commissioned by the Nawab to provide employment to locales, while the region was reeling under devastating famine in the 1790s. As he was taking his sweet time, I tried to expedite at times, and we were at the top to get a lovely 360 view of the Lucknow skyline and the monuments inside Bara Imambara. While the guide was concluding I quickly captured few precious pictures of the moment and hurried down. This time the guide told “aaram se”, you will lose the way and will be unable to exit. But I made a perfect exit to collect my bag and rush off to the conference venue. While coming out, a Tanga (Horse Carriage) operator offered to take me around the place, but alas I had to go by saying next time. 

We get such moments along the course of our lives. I was fortunate that I had a couple of hours for this rundown. Life is an unplanned journey - every turn brings a surprise to be discovered. 

Lucknow is anglicized version of city name Lakhnau. Legend says city was gifted to Lakshman by his elder brother God Ram and was initially known as Lakshmanpuri and subsequently over the time came to be known as Lakhanapuri and Lakhnau. 

Keep exploring Folks...