Delving into the Deccan
In books, we read about kings, temples, monuments, animals, and sculptures, but when you trace your hands along the curves and cornices of a monument and breathe in the atmosphere, only then can one truly feel history in its most visceral way as it impacts you today. For 30 days, as we traversed along hillocks and prehistoric megalithic sites, immersed ourselves in the temples and markets, and listened to lectures by the foremost experts in the field, we delved deeply into the social and cultural fabric of centuries of history that seeps into the heart of the Deccan, through the inaugural Deccani Studies Program 2025.
The inaugural Deccani Studies Program, a collaboration between the Centre for Interdisciplinary Archaeological Research (CIAR) at 51茶馆, the Harish and Bina Shah Foundation, the Deccan Heritage Foundation, and the University of Mysore, was a field-based immersive program which integrated an array of disciplines, ranging from art history, architecture, history, and business studies. Both Indian and international experts from these fields conducted on-site lectures to provide a comprehensive understanding of the heritage sector as it is developing in India, with a special emphasis on reading the 鈥榟istory鈥� of the monuments that were to be visited by us. There were 13 students, from 51茶馆, Shiv Nadar University, and the University of Mysore, who participated in this pilot edition of the programme.
Driving Across the Deccan: Warangal, Bidar and Beyond
Spanning from 7th July to 7th August, 2025, we first journeyed to Warangal. The architectural exploits of the Kakatiyas greeted us as we began our month-long sojourn at the Ramappa Temple, built by Recherla Rudra Reddi of the Kakatiya dynasty in Palampet. We were fascinated by the intricate processions of musicians, dancers and elephants frolicking, carved with subtle differences clockwise around the platform, including the slender female figurines in the brackets of this temple. Our experts 鈥� Prof M. Pandu Ranga Rao, Prof GSV Murthy, and BV Papa Rao (IAS, retired and DHF India board member) 鈥� were the architects behind the inscription of the Ramappa Temple as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They explained to us about the architectural facets of the temple, demonstrating the unique sandbox technology employed here. We also saw the Thousand Pillar Temple (at Hanamkonda), the Kota Gudi (at Ghanpur), and the Warangal Fort. Over these two days, we also got a glimpse into the many bureaucratic procedures, the amount of documentation, and political interventions that work behind nominating monuments for UNESCO recognition through Mr Papa Rao鈥檚 insightful lecture.
Leaving Warangal, we journeyed to our next destination, Hyderabad. On 10th July, we took a 3-hour journey to Bidar, which lies in present-day northern Karnataka. It was interesting to note the change in milieus and linguistic landscapes as we traversed from a predominantly Telugu-speaking area in Warangal to the Kannada heartland. The language sounded unfamiliar as we went into locales most of us had never been to before, but the magnificence of the monuments and the architecture spoke to our senses. Bidar was the second capital of the powerful Bahmani dynasty (1347-1528 CE)鈥� Ahmad Shah moved the capital from Gulbarga to Bidar in 1432.
DHF founder Dr Helen Philon was our guide, taking us from the halls of Mahmud Gawan鈥檚 impressive madrasa, part of whose southern facade is destroyed but still stunning after 500 years of its erection, to an exhaustive tour of the Ashtur necropolis, which houses some of the tombs of the most prominent Bahmani kings. At the madrasa of Mahmud Gawan, we peeked into the small cell-like rooms with a window each and were regaled with Dr Philon鈥檚 illustrative accounts of a medieval interdisciplinary school where students learnt everything from astrology to Quranic studies. Passing through the impressive gateway of the Takht-i Kirmani (c.1500), we marvelled at the fortifications of Bidar Fort, especially the exquisite underglaze-painted tiles depicting foliate designs and flowering vases in the Rangini Mahal.
After exploring the Prince鈥檚 Mahal, Solah Khamba, and the Tarkash Mahal, we proceeded to the Ashtur necropolis. For most of us, the highlight was the first mausoleum, that of Ahmad Shah Bahmani鈥檚鈥� the interior of which was embellished with splendid paintings, often interspersed with Persian inscriptions. Multicoloured tiles adorned the walls, and we heard the story of Ahmed Shah Wali, a saint who was sympathetic to both his Muslim subjects and the Lingayats. This syncreticism both puzzled us and made us admire his mausoleum all the more, as we were captivated but disappointed at the crumbling state of decay in the interior of the tomb.
On 11th July, we visited Golconda Fort, the Qutb Shahi Tombs, and the Bansilalpet Stepwell from our base in Hyderabad. From the sleek highways of modern-day Hyderabad鈥檚 tech hubs, we reached the sprawling Golconda Fort. Climbing the steep steps of the Golconda Fort, Dr Marika Sardar informed us of the multi-dynastic legacy of the Fort鈥� from its initial construction by the Kakatiya kings (c. 1158-1323) as a defensive fort, to its occupation by the Bahmanis, and the eventual prosperity of Golconda during Sultan Quli Qutb Shah鈥檚 30-year reign.
She spoke about the transitions that the fort had undergone with its capture by successive dynasties, and as we came to the remains of what used to be the Qutb Shahi Palace, she asked us to visualise how it would have been, in all its glory and splendour. Our poor drawing skills did not suffice to create a model of the area; however, the fort left a lasting impression. Then we went to the Qutb Shahi tombs. Already worn out by the fatigue of climbing a fort, unlike our medieval ancestors, the unexpected shower of rain provided some respite as we scrambled to put on our raincoats while moving from the tomb of Sultan Quli Qutb Shah to his successors Muhammad Quli and Jamshid. Lunch was served on the lawns of the complex as the soft sunlight caressed our fatigued bodies. We ended the day by visiting a recently restored and cleaned stepwell in Bansilalpet, which had been quite beautifully preserved and was often let out to the public for ceremonial functions. I was quite inspired by the story of transformation and the admirable way in which the founder of the Rainwater Project, one of the participating agencies, Kalpana Ramesh, spoke of her journey in cleaning up stepwells and making a self-sustaining ecosystem for the surrounding residential areas to provide clean water.
Our first destination the next day was the famed Charminar, teeming with people and shopkeepers waiting to begin the day. Our lectures had informed us that the Charminar was originally the first building erected in Hyderabad when founded by Muhammad Quli. A four-sided monument with tall arches on each face, right in the middle of a huge marketplace, it reminds one of gargantuan buildings rising in the middle of modern-day cities. We climbed up to the first storey and walked across the gallery, taking in the view of the Old City and inspected the decorative calligraphic 鈥榓lams. We then went to the Jama Masjid, the Mecca Masjid, and the Badshahi Ashurkhana. Then we were taken to the former British Residency, where Mr Sarath Chandra, a conservation architect with the Deccan Heritage Foundation, shared the work undertaken by the team to restore the ceiling of the entrance hall of the Residency, along with the creation of a scale-model of the building. We walked through the Rang Mahal gardens, Rang Mahal Gate, the British cemetery, and a stepwell on the premises. We also visited the main Durbar Hall building, restored by the World Monuments Fund, which now includes an interpretation centre on the history of the Residency up to its present-day use as the Veeranari Chakali Ilamma Women鈥檚 University.
HAMPI
After a brief tour through Raichur, we reached Hospet, and our extensive travels across Hampi began with Prof Srikumar Menon at the helm. The days at Hampi saw us climbing over the hilly terrain, dotted with boulders and greenery. The landscape was unlike anything most of us had ever seen, and as we ventured into the historic terrain of the Vijayanagara empire, Prof Menon鈥檚 detailed and often funny monologues on the history and architecture of the temples enthralled us. We learned about how temple stones were quarried to create the structures of the Vijayanagara period as we entered among the throngs of people to pay homage at the massive Virupaksha and Vitthala temples. Anxious monkeys kept us company throughout, and we were delighted to meet Lakhsmi, the resident elephant at Virupaksha, who, when handed an adequate currency note, pinched the money with her trunk and caressed each of our heads, blessing us with the divine touch of her trunk! At Vitthala Temple, the stone chariot from the familiar 50-rupee currency note was quite exciting, and there was an attempt by all parties鈥� students and professors alike to capture an image with the note and the chariot, amid the consistent struggle to achieve perfect alignment. Our day ended with a small trek up the Malyavanta Hill, where the pristine landscape of cloudy skies, a boulder-streaked horizon, and ubiquitous greenery made for a perfect sunset.
The next day, we saw the Elephant鈥檚 Stables, the Lotus Mahal, and the Queen鈥檚 Bath, debating on the existing nomenclature of these sites, wondering whether these were indeed the functions and use. As we proceeded to the Mahanavami Dibba, I particularly marvelled at the processions of elephants, cavalrymen, and other animals that were carved on the lower sections of the ceremonial platform. Another exquisite temple was the Hazara Rama Temple, where our childhood readings of the Ramayana helped us identify the intricately sculpted episodes of the epic from the narrative panels that lined the many walls and interiors of the temple.
Over the next few days, we visited Onake Kindi, where Prof Menon guided us to beautiful rock art鈥� paintings of human and animal figurines dateable to maybe 1500 BCE. We crawled underneath the cave spaces to examine them closely. Afterwards, we visited the Gagan Mahal at Anegundi, a 16th鈥�17th century palace gateway that was restored and is maintained by the DHF as part of the Government of Karnataka鈥檚 鈥楢dopt a Monument鈥� scheme. Leaving Hampi, we visited Lakkundi and Sudi, where Dr Kailash Rao spoke about the construction techniques that might have been employed in these temples. Later, author Anirudh Kanisetti gave us his insights into the Chalukyan period, talking about the patronage of the elites at Sudi.
The next day involved an arduous trek up to Hirebenakal, where we spotted megalithic structures. Huge slabs of rock were balanced on top of each other, creating various megalithic structures at the top of the hill. While Prof Menon explained the site, we were curious as to the mechanics of how these came to be. We travelled southwards and after a day鈥檚 rest at Hasan, encountered the most intricately carved temples at the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura. Massive yalis greeted us at the gateways of the temples, and every inch of the exterior surface was carved ornately with large figurines of gods and goddesses. The platform was again occupied by processions of caparisoned elephants, monster-like creatures, and intricate foliate designs that dotted all its sides. The craftsmanship was stunning, and we were all quite impressed as we absorbed the narratives of the Hoysala kings.
MYSORE
Dynastic histories, religious monuments, hillocks, rocky landscapes, and conservation architecture formed the first half of our month-long journey. During the second half, we stayed in Mysore for seventeen days. On the first day, we visited Srirangapatna and examined the beautiful Daria Daulat Bagh, Tipu鈥檚 Summer Palace, including the beautiful fresco, which was being restored. The rest of our time at Mysore was spent at the impressive Jayalakhsmi Vilas Mansion in the Mysore University campus, where we interacted with the teams engaged in conservation architecture, restoration of museum objects, curation, collections, and digital imaging.
We attended online lectures by heritage management experts and museum curators, and also explored the to-be museum. Hands-on work was exciting, especially the opportunity to plaster cement on the walls, paint a portion of the wall, and get our hands in the lime mixture. The art restoration team showed us the beautiful Bhuta masks they were working on restoring. We also accessioned some items and helped in digital imaging as well by taking photographs of objects.
For my group鈥檚 final project, we selected Bidar as our site and proposed a three-phased Tourism Development Plan for Bidar, with a particular focus on the Bahmani-era monuments, which include the madrasa of Mahmud Gawan, Bidar Fort, and the Bahmani tombs at Ashtur. Both the madrasa and the tombs were selected because the Madrasa was not only regarded as a 鈥榰nique transplant of a Timurid building type to the Deccan鈥� but also the possibility of the place being a centre of innovative models of early interdisciplinary learning was especially important. We also selected the tomb of Ahmad Shah Wali as it historically served as a shared space of reverence for both Sufi Muslims and Lingayats. Our plan outlined a community-centric framework to transform Bidar into a sustainable heritage tourism destination while preserving its Bahmani legacy and artisanal traditions like Bidriware, adopting a phased implementation model over three years in collaboration with local stakeholders. Our central motivation was that tourism development can act as a catalyst for conservation, and our plans would create strong economic and administrative incentives for both the Karnataka government and the ASI to prioritise conservation efforts towards these particular monuments. We later presented a poster based on our project at the 鈥淒elving into the Deccan鈥� conference at 51茶馆 as participants of the pilot Deccani Studies Program.
Digital Documentation and Preservation: Ahmed Shah Wali Tomb, Bidar
Since our group had done its project on Bidar, we were invited to Bidar by the Deccan Heritage Foundation in January 2026 to participate in an intensive Digital Documentation of Built Heritage project at the Bahmani Tombs of Ashtoor, Bidar. Digitisation specialists Mr Imran Khan and Ms Teresa Casado from the Factum Foundation led the initiative, carrying out LiDAR scanning, photogrammetry and colour panoramic photography at the Ahmed Shah Wali tomb. It was a surreal experience, spending two weeks onsite at the tomb. I learned about basic aspects of photography鈥� how to regulate shutter speed, aperture, and ISO to take appropriate photos on the manual settings of a camera. Their equipment consisted of huge studio flashes, set off by remotes, which constantly kept working as they captured every inch of every wall. They stood still, and their hands moved from bottom to top slowly, nudging the camera upward, careful so as not to miss any detail of the intricate paintings on the walls of the interior of the tomb. Imran was an engaging teacher鈥� he spotted the quizzical looks on our faces and explained everything in minute detail. Technicalities were often puzzling, but he would make us take the camera and tell us to do it on our own.
During that time, I climbed three tombs. It was quite exciting and thrilling to wear a belt and climb up a constructed scaffolding so that we could do the LiDAR scanning and photogrammetry of the dome of the tomb. I spent a lot of time fiddling with the software after we collected the data on the LiDAR Scanner to organise it for future processing. I also had the opportunity to use the camera to do photogrammetry. This technology uses photographs taken with high-resolution cameras, which are then processed to create digital 3D models with submillimetre accuracy.
Each inch of the interior walls needed to be captured at the highest resolution possible. I did most of the floor of the tomb, walking with a stand affixed to my stomach, my head bent with the camera simultaneously triggering the flashes and taking multiple images. The outside of the structure was recorded with a drone. We were informed that the photogrammetry would be combined with the LiDAR data to have a comprehensive recording.
Locals came every day to pray at the tomb. The tomb itself was covered with coloured cloth, and offerings of flowers were strewn over the cloth. When you went to pray with your hands joined, an old man would take a peacock feather broomstick, touch it on the tomb, and then beat it adequately on your back. It seemed to be the greatest blessing possible, because people would repeatedly come for it. Outside, planes continuously flew over our heads, deafening us momentarily each time. On weekends, the necropolis became a picnic site, drawing the locals of Bidar.
The locals were fascinated by our activities. Each day, we would come in early at 7 in the morning and start setting up all our flashes, two big and two small, moving them appropriately according to which side of the interior was going to be recorded that day. A web of wires populated the floor, entangled around which children would often run inside the tomb, going through the door to the outside. They were curious, asking questions; the most popular one was if we had come to shoot a film. Where had we come from? Why were we doing this? Some of the more educated locals who could converse in English would ask. I would try to explain, often in my broken Hindi, about heritage conservation and how the interior was so damaged that we were trying to understand the extent of damage by taking pictures of the tomb.
It was a bizarre sight鈥� the camera equipment, the heavy mirrorless cameras which needed constant changing of lens depending on which area you were photographing, the careful categorisation of the files based on the side that was photographed, and amidst all these scores of devotees passing by all day, praying. Faith and technology co-existed in the most serene way.
Throughout my travels in the Deccan, I had the opportunity to interact with conservation architects, art conservators, historians, digital imaging experts鈥� a universe which had hitherto been completely unknown to me. The Deccani Studies Program 2025 opened this world of possibilities and reshaped my perspectives in a transformative way. To know more about the program and our experience, check out:
Written By: Anusmita Bhattacharyya
