“A tomb is a monument placed on the limits of two worlds.”
Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre
Humayun Tomb Complex, Delhi
Not to cover more of Delhi’s monumental saga felt incomplete. Especially after Purana Qila. And knowing where Humayun fell and died. But the Humayun Tomb Complex is not a checkmark in an itinerary. It is limitless, in the deep history it ensconces and its dimensions. UNESCO recognises it and has inscribed the monument on its World Heritage Sites List.
So let me help you with your shoelaces and begin.
The Architecture
Nothing would have prepared me to absorb the vastness of this majestic burial place. A massive platform of 12,000 square metre (~129,000 square feet). First of its kind and inspiration for Mughal Architecture. The entire complex is 27 hectare (270,000 square metre).
The mausoleum is laid out in four gardens on a raised platform. Traversing them are four water channels, one in each direction. Char Bagh (Four Gardens) as a concept comes from the Quran. The Garden of Paradise. Where rivers of water, milk, honey, and wine break the ground into four parts. Babur, the first to embrace this style, ordered the construction of an ‘avenue garden’. It was inspired by Quranic principles. He was later buried there.
Sunken Garden is another significant architectural feature seen in this complex. The first-ever, at Isa Khan’s Mausoleum, in 1547-48 CE. Then replicated two decades later at Humayun’s mausoleum. The belief is that Mughals introduced this form. Recent excavations have disproved that.
Marble and sandstone together in its construction is also a first. You would probably remember the constraint of Qila-i-Kuhna Mosque in Purana Qila preceding this deliberate design.
Humayun ka Maqbara – ‘Dormitory’ of the Mughals
Asymmetrically octagonal, it is a double-domed structure made of red sandstone. Each side has deep vaulted arches. Their insides are decorated with six-sided stars. Marble cupola within has Chhatris around it. These canopies are adorned with blue ceramic tiles.
The raised square platform is 7 metres above the ground. The lower ground has arched windows throughout. The upper ground houses a central burial chamber of Emperor Humayun. Yellow and black marble cenotaph is aligned in the North-South direction as per Islamic tradition. With exquisite Pietra Dura motifs. But this is not where the Emperor lay buried. The ground floor of the mausoleum houses the true burial place. This tradition was started here but its finest example is The Taj Mahal.
Walls of this central hall have arched windows adorned with Jaali (Lattice Screen) work. A Mihraab (Niche facing the Mecca) also finds a place here. Instead of it being a solid wall, this niche is a window with lattice screen work letting light in. Eight vaults surround the main chamber. Each pair of vaults is a part of another ancillary cluster of eight. 124 such chambers exist on the two floors. This is the ‘dormitory’ in which the extended family and courtiers of the Mughals rest in peace. Over 150 of them.
Islamic tradition considers a burial near a Sufi saint’s grave to be holy. The sepulchre of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, a revered Sufi saint, lays just a stone’s throw from the complex. That makes the location of this dormitory of Mughals significant.
Walking Around
Isa Khan, a noble in the court of Sher Shah Suri, constructed Kotla Isa Khan Niazi (Isa Khan’s tomb) during his lifetime. Inspired by Lodi architectural style, the octagonal layout with a verandah is typical. As is the dome surrounded by small canopies covered in blue glazed tiles. Hanging eaves on the superstructure are supported by ornamental brackets. The mausoleum sits in an eight-sided sunken garden. The precinct also has a mosque bearing green and blue-tiled canopies.
Arab Sarai, a resthouse for the 300 craftsmen that Haji Begum got back from her Mecca pilgrimage, is en route Humayun’s monument. Afsarwala (Officer’s) Mosque and his burial place lie within it.
Barber’s Tomb, Bu Halima’s Tomb and Nila Gumbad (Blue Dome) are the other mausolea in this sprawling compound.
If you have the time after taking in the pièce de résistance’s splendour, go around smaller, yet important bits of history waiting to be savoured.
