Place |
Month |
In the name of |
No of days |
Approximate attendence |
Gulbarga |
Zekhaida |
Khaja Bande nawaz |
3 |
1 lakh |
Gulbraga |
March |
Sharana Basaveshvara |
15 |
1 lakh |
Gulbarga, the district and divisional head-quarters was formerly in the Nizam's state, and was the first capital of the Bahmanis from 1347. Kannada records call the place as Katlubarige, and it was named laterby Muslims as Gulbarga, giving it a floral touch. The fort here was originally built by one Raja Gulchand, a feudatory of the Orangal Kakatiyas, and was rebuilt by Alla-ud-din Bahmani with 15 majestic towers. Inside the fort is the huge wonderful mosque built by Muhammed Bahmani in 1367 and it covers 38,000 sq. feet area. The place has a huge sprawling complex housing the tomb of Bande' Nawaz, the great Sufi saint, who came to Gulbarga in 1413. His tomb's walls have paintings and a mosque built by the Mughuls is near the tomb. The Khandar Khan's mosque and Hirapur mosque (1585) built by Chandbibi are some other monuments here, and the tomb of Sultan Hassan and Firoze Shah are imposing structures. In all there are seven mausoleums of Sultans. Sharana Basappa Appa's tomh here is highly venerated. The place has many modern temples and Gulharga University is housed here. The state Archaelogy Museum here has Buddhist plaques brought from Sannati. The City has a Municipal Corporation.
