CENTER FOR ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY

The Tomb of Sheikh Chilli is built inside his madrasa complex at Thanesar in Haryana an ancient city adjacent to Kurkshetra, another ancient locality, 160 kms north of Delhi on National Highway one. From various accounts it could be estimated that Sheikh Chilli was a learned scholar who hailed from Thanesar and was also a spiritual advisor to Dara Shikoh. The tomb is placed at the highest level in the madrasa complex, in the middle of a terrace. Another rectangular tomb believed to be that of his wife is also located on the northwest side of the terrace. The terrace is approached by stairways in the northeast and northwest corners of madrasa. These tombs stand on a terrace/platform and the walls of the platform have twelve octagonal chatris built into them. Each dome was ornamented with glazed tiles which has disappeared now but retains the traces of blue, purple, and green tiles. The tomb was turned into a gurudwara (Sikh temple) by some Sikhs who are believed to have plundered the beautiful marbles of the tomb. The tombstones were later reinstated by the British rulers. It was restored by ASI later on. The Madrasa of Sheikh Chilli is situated on a high mound inside a walled compound, similar to a fortified structure. The tomb of Shaikh Chilli also forms part of the madrasa. The madrasa is composed of a central courtyard surrounded by an arcade with nine arches to each side. This architectural plan is modeled on Iranian prototypes. The middle hall in the northern side was used for teaching rooms. The three mihrabs in the western hall indicate its use as a small mosque. The mosque room is now used as a site museum maintained by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The rooms on the northern side which are interconnected to each other and attached to small courtyards were used to house teachers and students. A hammam is located on the southeast corner which is now used as a rest house by ASI. The madrasa was approached through two gateways earlier but currently it can be only accessed through the eastern gate.

The sarai is in the compound of the Sheikh Chilli's Madrasa and Tomb complex. The sarai adjoins the northern wall of the tomb platform at its southern end; the southern wall of the sarai however doesn't exist now. The sarai structure that seems to had fallen apart at several places in past makes it difficult to understand the original design of the building. It has only one gateway as against the customary two gateway sarais. Some remains of a structure that appears to be some kind of waterworks with water chanels, terracotta pipelines and conduits, survive behind the western wall of the sarai. The location of the sarai, adjacent to the 'Madrasa and Tomb complex', indicates that originally also it might have been conceived as a part of the complex. The Pathar Masjid (stone mosque) is built of red sandstone, on a high platform. The mosque is located on the western side of the Sheikh Chilli's tomb and madrasa complex. It's a small structure with a simple rectangular plan. The ceiling of the mosque rests on pillars that are decorated with floral designs carved in low relief. The pillars are also profusely decorated with floral designs with the bases over the mouldings presenting chaitya-window motifs. The qibla in the center of the western wall is flanked on either side by two arched niches inscribed with verses from the Quran. The masonry terrace forming the front court was certainly added at a later date.

The Sheikh Musa Dargah complex is a large fortified complex comprising of a mosque, residential quarters of Sheikh Musa and a giant Gateway including many other related structures pre-dates the dargah. A madrasa is also located in the complex. The main dargah houses the grave of Sheikh Musa. The facade of the gateway has a large, recessed cusped arched opening flanked by niches in rectangular panels. Two octagonal minarets, topped with domes are located at either ends of the gateway. A small pavilion is located above the arched opening topped with bangaldar roof with two small domes on either side. . The arches and gateways (18th-early 19th century) have a late Rajput-Mughal style. It is especially known for its shaking minarets.

Sheikh Shah Baz s Tomb, Palwal

Digitization of this collection has been possible with financial support from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. 

Tirunaraiyur is called so because of the sweet fragrance of flowers growing here in abundance (narai = sweet smell). The Siva temple here is called the Siddhanathasvami temple. The Tamil saint, Sambandar (7th century) devoted a decad to the Lord of Siddhisvaram. The earliest inscription in this temple is an incomplete one but from the contents it can be assigned to Uttama Chola (971 - 988 CE). The temple is an early Chola temple, reconstructed in the days of Uttama Chola. The original temple consisted of a sanctum sanctorum (garbhagriha), the foyer (antarala) and a half-hall (ardhamandapa). Further up, there is a front hall (mukhmandapa). This temple has a Natraja bronze of the Sembiyan age. Reference: S.R. Balasubrahmanyam, 1971, pp. 178-79.