Syed Altamash Ahmad

This ringing rock is situated at the Jhunjhuna pahad, Pawai, Aurangabad, Bihar. The whole mountain is named after this rock. Because of its unique sound, a lot of people come here for picnics on weekends and struck it with stones and enjoy its melodious sound. Which is still a matter of debate among scientists. Well, It is not the only place you can find this unique geological experience. Ringing rock garden in America is full of these kinds of rocks. And not only in America but some places in India also have these mysterious rocks including this place Bihar and lots of places like Goa, Junnar, Khurda, Krishnagiri etc. Stones do not usually ring, but when these particular stones are struck lightly with a hammer, they will vibrate and make a sound, not unlike that of a bell. Why they do this is still a mystery to science.  However, there are some theories behind this mystery. Some scientists say the "ringing rocks" were under high pressure when they formed.  When the lava soli...

    The Fort of Pawaigarh, Aurangabad, Bihar A few years ago the Biju Janata Dal (regional political party in the Indian state of Odisha) demanded that the Centre must declare the ‘Paika rebellion’ as the first war of the Indian independence struggle. As the Paika Bidroha (Paika Rebellion) of 1817 took place nearly 40 years before the 1857 revolt. But the Union Minister of State for Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal refused this demand for obvious reasons. But is the 'Palika rebellion' the first war of independence? Let's find out. We have always been told that the first war of Independence was fought in 1857. It is true though this rebellion started a fire in Indians and encouraged them to fight for their independence. But there were many wars fought by the kings of pricey states before 1857. And among these kings, one name comes at the top, Raja Narayan Singh. He lit the fire among the Indians against the British years before that of the great soldier Mangal Pandey. He had made...

  Surya Temple, Deo, Aurangabad, Bihar The Deo Sun temple of Aurangabad, Bihar, is located 14 km from the district headquarters. This temple is a solar shrine dedicated to the god Surya. It is popular across the country for its Chhath puja. The temple follows the traditional style of Nagara architecture. It is one of the few west-facing Sun temples. When we enter the temple premises we can see two huge Shivlangas and some unique shaped square stones craved like flowers below the giant bell. The sanctum santorum of the temple features idols of the lord Surya, Vishnu and Avalokiteshvara. The temple pavilion is now filled with colours hiding its actual beauty. If you want to see the real beauty of the entrance you can see this in the painting of Daniells and the photographs by Peppe.  The main attraction of this temple is its main structure which is 100ft tall with beautifully carved Amalika and Kalash on the top. The stones used in the temple are the same used in the Umga temple...

 Tomb of Shamsher Khan At a distance of 12 km from Daud Khan's fort, there's a tomb on the east of the Sone river of Shamsher khan. This tomb is situated in Shamshernagar, Aurangabad, Bihar. The Village Shamshernagar itself has historic values. When you enter the village you'll find some amazing multi-storeyed old mud houses and some antiquated houses. And among all these, the centre of attraction is the tomb of Shamsher Khan. There's not a much-written history about Shamsher Khan or the Tomb of Shamsher Khan. According to the locals, Shamsher Khan was the nephew of Daud khan (Former Governor of  Bihar appointed by Aurangzeb).  Prof. S. H. Askari has written that Shamshir Khan was governor of Bihar and was the cousin of Daud Khan in his journal "Bihar in the 1st quarter of the 18th century".  However, we can see the difference between Shamsher Khan and Shamshir Khan. Perhaps It's just a spelling mistake or Shamshir Khan was a different person. But it is fo...

The fort of Daud Khan located in Daudnagar, Aurangabad, Bihar After conquering the fort of Palamu in 1659, Daud Khan established a town in Aurangabad district and named it after him, Daud Nagar. He was the first governor of Bihar during the rain of Aurangzeb. Later he built a Sarai known as Daud khan's fort, situated on the eastern bank of the Sone river in Daudnagar, Aurangabad, Bihar. It was mainly built with bricks. There's a 3-domed mosque in ramshackle condition inside the fort. The fort has 2 entrances on the western and eastern sides. Each gate has 4 large minarets with 2 domes in the centre, surrounded by turrets. The gates are beautifully carved which can still be seen today. 2 rooms can be seen in the southern and the northern part of the fort which have 3-arched gates, and 4 domes on each corner of the fort. The government has taken some initiatives and built roads inside the fort for morning walks and some benches on the lawn for tourists and some rooms on the eas...

  Manjhar Kund waterfall, Sasaram, Bihar is said to be one of the finest waterfalls in India. Everyone knows its beauty, but do you know about the historical fest of the Sikh community associated here? For centuries there used to be an annual fest of the Sikh community near this waterfall. People used to come to this place with Jhulte Nishan Saheb (holy flag of Sikhs) and Shri Guru Granth Sahib (holy book of Sikhs).  This fest was held on the first Saturday and Sunday after Shravan Purnima. People from all over the country used to spend two days here with their families and friends. Near these beautiful waterfalls, people used to enjoy Kirtan and Langar for 2 days. With time, this fest became more popular among the people and the crowd of tourists started increasing. People started consuming meat and alcohol here. Because of this people stopped taking Shri Guru Granth Sahib there. Later people started coming only with the Nishan Saheb and after 1998 this tradition also stopped...

  Badshahi Pul, popularly known as the Besahi pul, is located less than 1km west of the Sher Shah Suri's tomb, Sasaram, Bihar. It was built by Sher Shah Suri between 1540 to 1545 AD. It is believed that it was connected to the Badshahi Sadak or Sadak-e Azam later known as Grand Trunk road.  There is a huge gate of medieval times known as Dilli Darwaza around 800m east of this bridge. The presence of these two heritage sites in front of each other is proof that Badshahi Sadak must have passed from here during the reign of Sher Shah Suri.  This bridge is about 15 feet wide And it has guardrails of about 1 foot on both sides. The bridge was made very firmly so that the elephants can easily cross over it. At its base, there are 3 arch-shaped structures for rainwater to pass through.