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Built like a fort, this huge and elegant building is also
called the Asafai Imambara. This building was built in a famine relief
program in 1784 by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulla.
The
structure took six years to be completed. Just as we enter the building
there is a hall almost fifty meters long and 17 meters wide.
The architecture of this 15 meter high room is very unique and
unparalleled. Here the Nawabs used to hold there ' Darbar ' or their
public hearings. It is said that this hall is the world's largest arched
room without any pillars. The upper part of this building is in shape of
honey bees comb and is surrounded by the famous 'Bhul Bhulliya'. This has
got numerous steps and there are 489 doorless galleries which are similar
in appearance. People get lost in these galleries.
The largest of these mazed rooms and galleries has a speciality that even
when a paper is torn on one of the end, it is heard on the other end. In
the courtyard of Bara Imambara is the Shahi Masjid which stands tall on a
platform, non muslims are not allowed here. Just besides the Shahi Masjid
is the bottomless well. The Bara Imambara also has the tomb of
Asaf-Ud-Daulla.