Panchakki, Aurangabad city, MH - 300 year old stone grinding mill run by water!!

Panchakki, Bibi-ka-Maqbara, Aurangabad, MH Wikipedia

Panchakki, Bibi-ka-Maqbara, Aurangabad, MH Ghumakkar

Commonly known as the water mill, the name Panchakki  refers to the  mill which used to grind grain for visiting pilgrims in the by-gone era. Located in the heart of  Aurangabad city, Maharastra  close to Bibi-ka-Maqbara,  it is one of the major tourist attractions in this city.  The famous Eidgah where Muslims pray Eid's namaz twice in a year is just two kilometers from Panchakki. 

What is so unique about this grinding mill in an era when electricity  was unheard of? Believe it or not, a simple and ingenious scientific method was on display as part of  medieval Indian architecture; it was used way back in 1744 AD. Panchakki, with its own elaborate underground channel, was ingeniously designed to use the energy (hydro energy) generated by the flowing water from a nearby spring (the river Harsul) on a mountain to turn the large grinding stones of the flour mill.The cooks used to prepare food, using the flour from the ground grain for the pilgrims, disciples of saints and the troops of the garrison. The water is drawn through  specially earthen  pipes from the source, roughly six plus km away from the north of the city. Water flowing into a huge elevated masonry pillar is made to empty down into the main tank like a waterfall with enough force to turn the stone mill.

The 300-year-old Panchakki in Aurangabad nationnext.in

The cistern is in front of the mosque whose bottom forms the roof of a spacious hall. The cool chamber of the hall  helped the  pilgrims relax in the hot summer and its size is 164 feet  X 31 feet ornamented with fountains. The excess of water is let in the Kham river.  In the North-West corner of the building, adjacent to the cistern, is the water mill driven entirely by water power. It is said  that in the olden days, the stone mill ran efficiently without any physical efforts and the grain could be ground in large quantity to take care of the visiting pilgrims and others.

Mausoleum,Bibi Ka Maqbara, Aurangabad. YouTube

It is said that the place where Panchakki is located was once the abode of a Sufi saint of great repute “Baba Shah Musafir”who came to India around the 12th century. The building, a part of the dargah of Baba Shah Musafir is in a garden near the Mahmud Darvaza and consists of a mosque, a madras

Aurangabad didtt, Maharastra, India mapsofindia.com

a, a kacheri, a minister's house, a sarai and houses for zananas.

The key to this Panchakki is copious flow of water through
an underground conduit that was periodically maintained besides the force of waterfall from the tall, elevated masonry structure
 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/aurangabad/panchakki/ps50835965.cms