A labyrinth of about a thousand passageways, the Bhool Bhulaiya at Bada Imambara in Lucknow, has intrigued traveller as well as architects for around two hundred years. The fourth Nawab, Asaf-Ud-Dowhala, commissioned the structure during the drought year of 1784 AD to help the underprivileged make a living. However, from the time it was finished, it became a symbol of pride and grandeur of Lucknow.
But what does the word ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’ mean? It’s not an easy word to translate, and it sort of means ‘a place where you can forget directions and paths and get lost’!
The mystery place has more than 1,000 passages and around 489 identical doorways. If you take a guide (which is compulsory), he lets you guess which of the four doorways is the right door. The experience just gets better when you guess the right one and the guide asks you to chant with him the bhool-bhulaiya’s famous funny rant which goes something like this- “Chaar raaste bhoot. Ek rasta sach, teen raste bhool-bhulaiya.” But if you guess the wrong door, he lets you climb those stairs while he waits down and you realise that it takes you further down instead of going up. The place surprises you at each and every turn.
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