Above, Narendra Bhawan looking lovely with the blue sky, clouds and a riot of Bougainvillea flowers. On our second day in Bikaner, the hotel had planned a bunch of experiences for us, starting with a visit to Bikaji Ki Tekri.
As with a lot of Indian Heritage sites, this one clearly fell into disrepair some time ago and a patch-up job has been done to restore it but the restoration seems to have completely changed the look of many of the sections. As sad as that is, I’m glad I got to see this first hand. Not everyone has access to this location – a Policeman is on duty and needs to be informed in advance.
“Chhatris” or umbrellas were made to pay respect to rulers of Bikaner from the 15th and 16th Century. Rao Bikaji’s umbrella is made of marble. The others are made of red stone. There’s also evidence of Sati in some of the inscriptions on the stones and feet impressions of the women who were forced to commit Sati are also present in marble inside a walled room.
There were tunnels leading from this structure to other parts of the city. These have now been filled-in and sealed. Look at some of the photos above and observe how thick some of the walls were! They also contained hidden-away niches and sunk-in portions that were used to hide precious belongings. Not many tourists are aware of Bikaji Ki Tekri and the approach roads don’t make it any easier.
Read more in detail about the archaeological significance, room descriptions and even details of inscriptions at Bikaji Ki Tekri on this Indian Heritage Hub page.
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