Bhopal has a working Hammam The hammam is a Turkish-Muslim tradition of bathing, ritual cleansing and respect of water. The Turkish hammam has an improved style and functionality that emerged as annex buildings of mosques and quickly evolved into institutions and eventually into monumental structural complexes, the finest example being the Çemberlitas Hammam in Istanbul, built in 1584. A typical hammam consists of three interconnected basic rooms similar to its Roman ancestors: the sicaklik (or hararet -caldarium), which is the hot room, the warm room (tepidarium) which is the intermediate room and the sogukluk which is the cool room. The sicaklik usually has a large dome decorated with small glass windows that create a half-light; it also contains a large marble stone at the center that the customers lie on, and niches with fountains in the corners. This room is for soaking up steam and getting scrub massages. The warm room is used for washing up with soap and water and the sogukluk is to relax, dress up, have a refreshing drink, sometimes tea, and where available, nap in private cubicles after the massage. Usually there is a five-step progression through the hammam. First is the seasoning of the body with heat; second is the vigorous massage; third is the peeling off of the outer layer of skin, fourth, the soaping, and fifth, relaxation.

Hammam-e-Kadami as the name suggests is an old hammam of Bhopal. Built by Dost Mohammad Khan (1722-28), Hammam-e-Kadami is the only hammam that is functioning today, the nearest perhaps being in Turkey. It is a three chambered structure joined by a corridor. The entrance chamber has a vaulted roof with taqchas on all sides. The other two have domed roofing. It is however the steam chamber that is of significance. A large copper vessel is used to heat water that is stored in a tank above it. The heat is generated with the help of wooden logs inserted in arched basement. The steam is taken through copper pipes embedded in the floor and walls of the chamber. From the rooftop one can see five openings called the (naak) nose and (kaan) ears that maintain the ventilation inside. The hammam opens every year the day night of Deepawali and closes the night before Holi. The bath is open from 8 PM till 8 AM for gents and for ladies in the morning.

A masseur is assigned depending on the clients build. The client lies down on a slab that rises about one meter above the floor. The hot steam makes the limbs become soft and rubbery, and ready for a massage. The masseur start pulling, twisting, kneading and pummeling the client like lumps of dough. After this massage the body is scrubbed using some kind of body brush down the back with long sweeps from shoulders to waist. Days' accumulation of dead skin and dirt curled into the hairs of the brush. Entire body is then soaped and rinsed by pouring water over head. That is that, and it is time to relax.

Shan-e-Bhopal: A Unique Train Restaurant When you visit Bhopal, don't forget to tickle your taste buds at a unique restaurant that looks every inch like a stationary train at a platform. The rail-coach restaurant-cum-bar, Shan-e-Bhopal, has been built by converting an unused train bogie, with the backdrop of actual sights and sounds of a railway platform. The atmosphere is colonial.

The restaurant is located at Hotel Ashoka Lakeview here and was opened to the public Friday. The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (MPTDC) had come up with the idea in a bid to promote tourism. The eatery has been equipped with all the railway paraphernalia, including lights and signals. Actual sounds of a railway platform are being played for special effect. A railway signal has been installed to indicate whether the restaurant is open or closed. Its other specialties include cast iron furniture, silver cutlery and crockery, old-fashioned street lamps, lanterns and signals that were used by the Great India Peninsular Railway way back in 1849. Interestingly, many dishes served at the restaurant have been named after various parts of a bogie and the railway engine. The dishes include Indian, Chinese and Continental. This is the first restaurant in the world to be prepared on a railway theme.

Taj Mahal of Bhopal Believe it or not, apart from a Shahjehan, Bhopal also has a Taj mahal. Taj Mahal palace stretches across the entire northern side of Motia talab with its central courtyards including the grounds of Bab-e-ali. The grounds could also be approached from the west through a highly ornamental three-bayed entrance that is higher in the center with cusped arched opening topped with a pediment. The entrance gate is a strange square structure of “Palladian style” mixed with Islamic elements. Semi-circular arches, circular pillars, pediments and plain façade is punctured centrally with cusped arch opening that appears strangely foreign in the flat elevation. The entire treatment finds a parallel in the basement of the Diwan-e-Aam of Taj Mahal Place. The flat flagstone roof of the gate is supported on iron girders that rest on Lakhuri bricks. The entrance leads to a ground that was used for festivals, ladies club and other occasions. Today it is a cricket stadium with huge interventions in concrete.

The most spectacular constructions of all times is the cascading waters of the three tanks, Motia Talab, Noor Mahal Talab and Hussain Baksh Ki Talaiya, built at descending heights of 15 m each. Kaiser embankment of Motia talab, was also fitted with rails that connected the Taj Mahal to Noor Mahal and on which plied the saloon of the Begum. True to their legendary nature, Bhopalis named the saloon “thela” and the road is still called “thele wali sadak” by the locals! The water tanks were part of the larger water system of Bhopal where the waters harvested went through hammams and chaddars of the palaces around it and watered the charbaghs within. The waters from the natural springs of Jharnewala bagh were transported by canals to Motia talab and after cascading into the Patra nala some distance away joining the larger water system of Betwa and Yamuna near Lalitpur.

Covering the entire north side of Motia Talab, the Taj Mahal Palace was the political center during Nawab Shajehan Begum who stayed here amidst beautiful water bodies and green char-baghs. Inward looking, the interiors consist of residential quarters around large courtyards approachable through five highly embellished double storied gateways that punctuate the external high blank wall. One of them is rectangular, the rest are octagonal. The main entrance way is however towards the east. This seven-storied structure is the grandest entrance to any structure of Bhopal. The forty-five feet clear span done acted as a porch for the alighting of Shahjehan Begum in the purdah and could accommodate the turning of a chariot drawn by seven horses within. The rectangular plan of the palace revolved around a large central rectangular courtyard with its water bodies and charbaghs. The single storied red-sandstone square, colonnade, central piece is sculpted for falling and gushing waters that is enhanced by blue ceramic tiles probably imported from England. South side of the central courtyard opens towards the Motia talab from where the cool winds were directed inside through cooling ducts of the basement of Diwan-e-Aam. The Deewan-e-Aam itself was embellished with mirror works and exquisite stucco work and roofed with stone slabs on timber rafters all polished in black.

Asia's smallest mosque: Dhai-Seedhi Ki Masjid Adjacent to the tomb of Dost Mohammad lies the Dhai Seedhi ki Masjid which is supposed to be the first mosque built in the Bhopal State. This mosque also holds the pride of smallest mosque in the country. Though the monument is plain, the two and half steps leading to the prayer hall is distinctive and gives the monument its name (2-1/2 stairs mosque). It is said that the soldiers deployed as guards to Fatehgarh fort decided to build this mosque so that they could perform namez while guarding the fort walls.

The Heritage Trail The walk to this trail will take on a journey over time-right from the days of the first ruler of Bhopal Dost Mohammad Khan to the period of late 19th century cultural efflorescence under Nawab Shahjahan Begum. The earliest Bhopal rulers carried with them the ethos of the warrior Pathan community and as such their monuments are also aesthetically simple and lack the decorative maturity and finery that emerged over time. On the other hand the monuments of the late 19th century reveal a developed perception of beauty and artistry, and seem to be much more influenced by the composite cultural styles of different regions.

Tomb of Dost Mohammad Khan and Fateh Bibi: The tomb of Dost Mohammad, the founder of Bhopal State and his wife Fateh Bibi are situated within the campus of Gandhi Medical College. These were built by their son Yaar Mohammad Khan in the year 1742. Situated on a high square platform, these are surrounded by 12 ft. high wall with minars in four corners and three entrance doors. The tomb of Dost Mohammad is supported on eight arched pillars with a dome which is not proportionate but is typical of the monuments of the early Bhopal rulers. The brackets are styled, as an amalgamation of the horse shoe and lotus buds and are a beautiful beature of this monument. The multifoil arches inbetween the pillars are proportionately balanced and add to the beauty of the monument. The graves of Dost Mohammad and Fateh Bibi are surrounded by low latticed marble screens.

Tomb of Nawab Siddique Hasan: This marble tomb of Nawab Siddique Hasan, the second husband of Nawab Shahjahan Begum, was built by the Begum in 1890. Nawab Siddique Hasan was well versed in Arabic, Persian and Urdu and was renowned as a scholar. The design of the lattice screen around the grave is of particular interest.

Gohar Mahal: Gauhar Mahal, one of the first buildings built by the nawabs of Bhopal in 1816. The Mahal is a magnificent expression of the fusion of Hindu and Mugal architecture. Gauhar Mahal is situated behind Shaukat Mahal on the banks of the Upper Lake. It is an architectural gem built by Kudsia Begum, also known as Gohar Begum.

Shaukat Mahal & Sadar Manzil: Situated at the entrance to the Chowk area in the heart of the walled city, Shaukat Mahal is an architectural curiosity. Its mixture of styles in Occidental idioms sets it apart from the predominantly Islamic architecture of the area. It was designed by a Frenchman, said to be a descendent of an offshoot of the Bourbon Kings of France. Post Renaissance and Gothic styles are combined to charming effect here. Nearby is the elegant once-opulent Sadar Manzil, Hall of Public Audience, of the former rulers of Bhopal.