The Sangeet – Nari Mahal built at Navraspur, Bijapur is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) away from Bijapur town(Karnataka,India). It is one of the important structures typically representing the Adilshahi architecture in the area. It was built in 16th century. It now has ruins of a palace building and a reservoir, enclosed by a high wall.
“Sangeet Mahal,” was constructed by Adil Shah II, known in the Indian history as “Jagadguru Badshah” for his attempts to bring cultural harmony between Shiyas and Sunnis and between Hindus and Muslims through music.
The Adil Shahi monarchs were great lovers of music; some of them attained high order. Yusuf Adil Shah played ‘’Tambur’’(Tambourine) and ‘’Ud’’ (lute). Ismail Adil Shah had high admiration for Central Asian music. Music received greater encouragement under Ibrahim Adil Shah II. He was the greatest musician of his age. He was poet and singer and maintained an inordinately a large number of musicians and minstrels (three or four thousand) at his court. The band of musicians was known as Lashkar-e-Nauras (army of Nauras) they were paid by the government regularly. At Nauraspur he constructed Sangeet Mahal and residential mansions for songsters, minstrels and dancing girls. With great pomp the festival of Nauras (musical concert) was celebrated during his time. In a number of paintings Ibrahim Adil Shah II was depicted playing musical instruments like ‘’Tambur’’, ‘’Sitar’’, ‘’Veena’’ and ‘’Guitar’’. Emperor Jahangir, and Mirza Asad Baig the Mughal envoy considerably praised Ibrahim Adil Shah II's love for music.
How to Reach :
The nearest airport is in the town of Belgaum which is 205 KM from Bijapur.
Well connected by road with Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad, overnight journey in bus or car takes you to this monument. There are 10 and 7 numbers of weekly trains to Bijapur from Bengaluru and Pune respectively. Once inside the town, tourists can avail taxis or autos or may be horse-drawn carriages (tangas) if they are feeling adventurous.
