Badal Mahal

About Badal Mahal Gate

Of all the monuments in Chanderi, this is the one that has become the town's signature. The Indian Postal Department used its image on a cancellation stamp applied to post leaving Chanderi, and Madhya Pradesh Government Cottage Industries stamps the same image on the saris and dress materials it handles.

The fort town was once ringed by seven boundary walls, each with its own gates and windows, and most of those gates have been lost to time and weather. The Badal Mahal Gate survived and kept its own character. It was built in 1450 AD during the reign of Mehmood Shah Khilji at the southern end of the inner city, facing the Jama Masjid, with the fort rising behind it.

What to look for

The twin towers and arches

The gate is built as two tall towers linked by arches and window openings, which together read as a single gateway rather than two separate structures. Looking up through the opening gives a striking view of the fort on the hill above. The height of the towers is one of the explanations offered for the name.

The four carved windows

The upper portion carries four windows, each worked with a different design motif rather than a repeated pattern. Below them is an open section where sculptured forms have been set. It is worth standing back far enough to take in all four at once.

The musicians' balcony

On the other face of the gate is a hanging balcony. Musicians sat here to entertain arriving guests, and flower petals were showered from it onto people passing underneath. One local explanation holds that badal is a distortion of vadak, the word for the instruments played there.

Planning your visit

The gate stands in the inner city close to the Jama Masjid, so the two are usually seen on the same walk. It is an open structure in a lived-in part of town, not a ticketed site.

• Pair it with the Jama Masjid, which it faces directly.
• Look up through the arch for the view of the fort above.
• Walk around to the far side for the hanging balcony.
• Early morning has the least traffic through the lane.

Best time to visit

October to March gives comfortable daytime walking weather for the inner city, which has little shade. The carved windows and the sculptural panels read best in the softer light of early morning or the last hour before sunset, when the relief carving casts shadow.