Page 216 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

214  CENTR AL INDIA

The creeper-covered ramparts of Allahabad Fort, built by the Mughal emperor Akbar
k Allahabad prosperous provincial centre, the princess from Jaipur, distraught
broad, tree-lined avenues of the by the war between her husband
Allahabad district. 204 km (141 miles)
SE of Lucknow. * 5,954,391. £ @ Civil Lines area contrasting with the and her son, took an overdose
UPSRTC, (0532) 240 7257. n Tourist congested bustle of the old city. of opium. The chhatris on her
Bungalow, 35 MG Marg, Civil Lines, Allahabad Fort was built in 1583 tomb show Rajput influence.
(0532) 210 2784/8374. _ Kumbh Mela by Akbar, who had a 3rd-century Anand Bhavan, ancestral
(every 12 years), Magh Mela (every year). BC Ashokan pillar brought here home of India’s premier political
from Kausambi. The pillar, dynasty, the Nehru-Gandhi
Allahabad’s sacred location unfortunately, is in a part of family, now houses a museum
at the confluence (sangam) the fort that is not open to of Nehru memorabilia and
of three rivers – the Ganges, the public. On the fort’s chronicles the high points
the Yamuna and the mythical eastern side, is a temple of the Independence
Saraswati – has given it a cultural, complex with an Movement. Close by, in the
political and religious importance undying banyan tree, Civil Lines area, is
for nearly 3,000 years. Hiuen the Akshaivata. the fantastically
Tsang, the Buddhist monk and Legend has it that arched and turreted
scholar (see p223), visited the anyone who leapt Muir College (now
town, then known as Prayag, in from its branches part of Allahabad
AD 643, and wrote in great detail will achieve salvation University) built in
of its prosperity and fame. from the endless Gothic façade of the 1870, and regarded a
In the 16th century it was cycle of rebirths. All Saints’ Cathedral fine example of Indo-
captured by the Mughals, who After too many such Saracenic architecture.
renamed it Allahabad. Later, attempts, the tree was fenced Some glazed blue-and-white
the British maintained a large off, and a special permit is tiles still cling to the dome and a
military presence in the city and required from the local tourist single tower soars to a height of
established the law courts and office to view it. 60 m (197 ft). Across the road is
the university. Jawaharlal Nehru Khusro Bagh, a tranquil the Allahabad Museum, which
(see p61), India’s first prime Mughal garden on the western has an interesting collection of
minister, was born here in 1889, edge of town, is named after terracottas from Kausambi and
and the city later became a major Emperor Jahangir’s eldest son, some 10th-to 13th-century
centre of the Independence who led an unsuccessful rebellion sculpture from the Chandela
Movement. Today against his father and was later era. Across Civil Lines to the west
Allahabad is a quietly murdered during the battle over stands the All Saints’ Cathedral.
succession with his brother, Shah Constructed in 1877 and
Jahan, in 1622. His tomb lies designed by William Emerson,
next to those of his sister and architect of the Victoria Memorial
his mother. The latter, a Rajput in Kolkata (see pp278–9), it is lined
with Jaipur marble inside.

T Allahabad Fort
Closed to the public.
P Anand Bhavan
Tel (0532) 246 7071/7096.
Open 9:30am–5pm Tue–Sun. &
E Allahabad Museum
Tel (0532) 240 7409.
The tombs of Prince Khusrau and his sister, Khusro Bagh Open 10am–4pm Tue–Sun. &
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p696 and pp708–709

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