Aurangabad
About the city
The city of Aurangabad is known for its medieval monuments and cultural heritage. It was the seat of the Mughal Empire for a short period.Clay and mud huts and depressing acres of empty sunburnt land lie along side spanking new-cemented buildings, industrial estates, and luxury hotels. Yet, few buildings rise above three storeys, the streets remain sparingly filled, and traffic jams do not exist. It would appear to be a city sleeping in the sun, though, in fact, this is not so. It is an industrialized, competitive city, and within the walls of various structures, men work towards ambitious goals.Aurangabad cannot be called green, in spite of the several gardens. Its ambience is earthy, a blend of dust and brown soil and warm sunshine, accented by brilliant gulmohar (Delonix regia) blossoms in scarlet and orange.
Aurangabad was an important seat of the Mughal Empire during the Mughal rule in India. The town holds a good number of Mughal architectural marvels making it an important historical destination of Maharashtra. The town is situated on the banks of the Kham River. The medieval monuments and cultural heritage, the silk and cotton textiles and its proximity to the famous world heritage sites of Ajanta and Ellora attract a good number of tourists towards it every year. Though the city looks calm and quiet with not much humdrum on the streets, it is an industrialised, competitive city making its own mark on the tourist and industrial map of India. It is also interesting to note that Aurangabad was formerly known as Khirki (meaning window) because of its strategic position that provided a window view of the Deccan plateau.
Aurangabad, like most Mughal-trodden spots on the Indian map, is two-faced. The old wrinkles of a bygone era enhance the youthful flush of this tourist-driven economy, like the rambling fort wall of the city or the sun-bleached dargahs that promise to be the keepers of more of the prodigious history that sustains this city. The age-pocked walls of the old city, erected by Aurangzeb, can be sighted from the car itself by lazy archaeologists. Aurangabad's strategic position in the Deccan earned it the name of "Khidki" meaning window, serving as it did, as an opening through which North India could look into the Deccan.
Best known as a stopover city named after the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Aurangabad has much more to offer than the Ajanta and Ellora Caves that lie in its vicinity. A city with a distinct character and history of its own, it leads curious tourists to its very own group of caves --the relatively unexplored Aurangabad Caves. A wonderful mix of the ancient and the modern, of the Buddhist and the Islamic, Aurangabad has its own unique culture. A culture that has produced its traditional Himroo shawls and exquisite Paithani sarees. A culture that celebrates Shivaji Jayanti with as much fervour as it does Id, and showcases its art and heritage at the Aurangabad festival. Its continual tourist traffic has augured well for the hospitality business and it is advisable to extend your stay here to discover this unusual city's sights and sounds.