Sahebganj
Rajmahal, near Sahebganj, a historical city built by the Emperor Akbar way back in the 15th century. It was made the capital of Bengal in 1592 by Raja Maan Singh, Akbar's legendary general. Rajmahal stood witness to several battles and the accession of Shah Shuja, the second son of Emperor Shah Jahan. It was here that Dr. Gabriel Boughten cured Shah Shuja's daughter of an ailment, and the British were quick to establish their trading empire in Bengal.
The Jami Masjid in Hadaf at Rajmahal was built in 1592 AD, during the reign of Raja Maan Singh. The mosque originally consisted of a large prayer hall to the west and a spacious
courtyard in the front. A high compound wall encloses it with arched recesses inside. The Jami Masjid was once considered the most beautiful building in Gaur (Bengal) of which only the southern portion exists today, suggesting what it once was.
Nearby is Bara Darwaza, what used to be a fort built almost at the same time as the mosque. Situated on top of a hillock facing the river, this unique fort had 12 identical doors, built purely on an artistic imagination. The remains of the fort have been declared a heritage site by the Archaeological Survey of India and hopefully it will soon regain its lost glory.
On the way to Sahebganj stands Sangi Dalan, part of what was a marble palace built by Raja Maan Singh sometime between 1580 and 1 600 AD. The Ganga flows eternally just next to this edifice. There is a popular theory that in those early times a hollow pipe ran below the Sangi Dalan connecting different forts in the area and was used for 'communication' between them. In Sahebganj district near Kanhaiyasthan the foot impressions of Sri Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu have been preserved. The saint is believed to have stayed here on his way to Vrindavan. Somewhere else in Jharkhand, you will come across a 2000 year old temple at Madhuban in Giridih district. There are many other old temples in Saranda, the land of '700 hills' and home to the stately Sal forests.
