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Humayun Tomb
Location : On Mathura road, near it's crossing with Lodhi road
Humayun's Tomb is an architectural marvel of India and a very
substantial example of the magnificence of Mughal Culture..
The tomb was built by Humayun's senior widow Bega Begam, popularly
known as Haji Begam, nine years after his death in 1565 according to
some, but fourteen years according to the manuscript of an 18th
century text. It is the first relevant form of the Mughal
architecture, with high arches and double dome, which occurs here
for the first time in India. Although some tombs had already been
sited within gardens, it is also the first mature example of the
idea of garden-tomb, which culminated in the Taj-Mahal at Agra.
The architect and the location of the Tomb
The architect, Mirak Mirza Ghiyuath, was Persian and had previously
designed buildings in Herat (now northwest Afghanistan), Bukhara
(now Uzbekistan), and elsewhere in India. The location chosen for
the building on the bank of the Yamuna river adjoins the shrine of
an important Sufi Chistiyya order saint, Nizam al-Din Auliya. The
Chistiyya was particularly venerated by the Mughals; Humayun's son,
Akbar, would build his new palace at Fatehpur Sikri next to the
shrine of another saint of the Chistiyya order.
About Humayun
The first Mughal Emperor, Babur, was succeeded by his son, Humayun,
who ruled in India for a decade but was expelled. Eventually he took
refuge with the Safavid Shah of Persia, who helped him regain Delhi
in 1555, the year before his death.
The Architecture
High rubble-built walls enclose here a square garden divided
initially into four large squares separated by causeways and
channels, each square divided again into smaller squares by pathways
('Chaharbagh') as in a typical Mughal garden. The lofty mausoleum is
located in the centre of the enclosure and rises from a podium faced
with series of cells with arched openings.
The octagonal chambers
The central octagonal chamber containing the cenotaph is
encompassed by octagonal chambers at the diagonals and arched
lobbies on the sides, their openings closed with perforated screens.
Arches
Three emphatic arches dominate each side, the central one being the
highest. This plan is repeated on the second storey, and a 42.5 m
high double dome of marble surmounts the roof with pilliored kiosks
('chhatris') placed around it. The structure is built with red
sandstone, but white and black marble has been used to relieve the
monotony, the latter largely in the borders.
Double storeyed gateways
The enclosure is entered through two lofty double-storeyed
gateways, one on the west and the other on the south, the latter now
remaining closed. A 'baradari' (pavilion) occupies the centre of the
eastern wall of the enclosure and a bath-chamber that of the
northern wall. A Homage To The Royal Dynasty Several rulers of the
Mughal dynasty lie buried in the mausoleum, although it is not
possible to identify their graves.
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