Aurangabad, Feb 16:
Chand Minar (the Moon Tower), also known as the Victory Tower, is one of the few landmarks of the Daulatabad Fort, which catches the attention of tourists from a faraway distance. It is standing tall, like a Light House, for the last six
centuries. The vertical heritage, however, will be getting a new lease of life as its custodian, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI, Aurangabad Circle), has proposed to revive its fading beauty by restoring it in its original 'white' colour.
The present Ochre (geru) colour would be a thing of the past in the year 2022-23!
The superintending archaeologist (Aurangabad Circle) Milan Kumar Chauley said," We have proposed to undertake various conservation and restoration works, including the upkeep of Chand Minar, in the next financial year. The Minar is built in basalt stone. The peeling of its plaster reveals that the original colour of the tower is not Ochre, but White. I do not know when the colour got changed. We have proposed to restore its beauty in its original colour to our headquarters.
The lime plaster will be done and the blue-coloured Persian tiles will have to be found out to fix them at the missing spots. This band of tiles were used as decoration and glorifies the beauty of Minar. The new-look will provide a pleasant
experience for the domestic and international tourists."
The author of a book titled 'Fort of Daulatabad' and historian Dr Dulari Qureshi says, " Chand Minar is second tallest Minar after Qutub Minar in India. A beautiful inscription is also available in the mosque near the tower mentioning its
history. The decoration of blue tiles gives a pleasant feeling to the eyes. A crescent-shaped hip knob make's visitors stretch their eyes. It is an extraordinary feat of engineering. Meanwhile, I am unaware of its original colour but will refer to the records to know whether it was White or Ochre. The 'Padshahnama' or 'Badshahnama' (the official chronicle of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan), authored by Abdul Hamid Lahori, has published a photo of painting with the caption Mughal Army captures Daulatabad Fort in the year 1633. The two minars (one is Chand Minar and
the other one is a small tower) in the painting attracts attention. The second tower would have collapsed in natural disasters in past as it does not exist today."
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According to sources, " It is a three-storeyed structure, therefore, the ASI will have erect scaffolding for workers so that they could climb up till the vertex. Few cracks which have emerged in the balconies will be sealed before the lime plaster.
The ASI is going through old records, books and thesis in this regard. However, the experts have some apprehensions as according to them the visibility of the white tower will be low during the daytime. The present colour is in contrast, therefore, it attracts attention from a long distance."
" The Minar has been closed by the ASI for tourists and researchers since the 1980s. It was coloured till two balconies for the last time in 2004-05 with Hirmunji (also called as red oxide powder). The tower was the cynosure of the eyes of the
visitors when it was illuminated with tri-colour by ASI to mark the 100 crore vaccination figures in October 2021," said the sources.
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Features of Chand Minar
- Built by Alauddin Bahmani (of Bahmani Dynasty) to celebrate the victory in 1435.
- The tower with 210 feet (30 metres) height and a girth of 70 feet has 24 chambers and a small mosque on the ground floor.
- The Ochre coloured tower is built on the arched plinth (raised above the surface) of height around 5 metres. Its interior is painted white.
- Former Director of the Department of Archaeology (Nizam Dominion), Ghulam Yazdani, has reconstructed the two top storeys in 1914-16. The storeys were damaged due to lightning. Later on, a lightning arrestor was installed.
- Daulatabad Fort has been declared as Adarsh Smarak (Ideal Monument) by the union Government in 2014.