This travel article is part of the Traveling India: North to South Series.
by: Marie-Berdine Steyn
Our tour of India kicked off in the capital, New Delhi - with our first visit being to Humayun’s Tomb - a 500m walk from Nizamuddin East station.
It is a beautiful garden tomb constructed in honor of the second Mughal Emperor, Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun, who lived from 1508 to 1556.
Follow our photo tour of the Humayun Tomb Complex here: www.routes.tips.com
OUR EXPERIENCE
I had no idea of the great extend of the Muslim impact on India until visiting Humayun’s and various other Mughal sites in India.
It reminded me again of the great composition of race, culture and religions in India; making it one of the most complex, vibrant and diverse countries in the world.
The great admiration and homage extended to the emperors of old are striking.
The largeness of the project hits you between the eyes when you overlook the spacious, perfectly planned gardens with their fountains and pathways extending in synchronic alignment in mainly four directions. Each main pathway ends at a gate, in itself beautiful.
I was further amazed at the technology that existed in the 1500’s to create such beauty and attempting such large scale, complex projects whereby every millimeter had to be exact. The result is today a building that has the exact same measurements on all sides and angles, creating perfect balance as far as the eye can see.
“Worth the visit?” Yes indeed
"But it looks a little bit like the Taj Mahal?" many toursit comment once they gaze upon Humayun's Tomb. That is actually quite accurate. Humayun's Tomb was comissoned by Empress Bega Begun and King Akbar, the wive and son of Emperor Humayun, distinctively, and served as the inspiration and design of the Taj Mahal later on.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Name: Humayun's Tomb
Location: Delhi (India)
Date: 1565 - 72 A.D
Humayun’s Tomb is the tomb of Mughal Emperor, Humayun. (Mughals were members of the Muslim faith of Mughal origin who occupied territory in India, Afghanistan and Pakistan as is known today, from the 1526's to 1540's and again from the 1555's to 1857's.)
Humayun was thus also of Muslim origin and was responsible for expanding the Mughal Empire in India among the Indian Hindus and other tribes of the time. He left a prosperous legacy to his son, the famous kind Akbar, of whom I'll teach you later on.
Humayun's Tomb was commissioned by his wife, Bega Begun, in 1569, and is today one of the best preserved Mughal monuments in Delhi. It is further regarded as the precursor to the Taj Mahal, its construction and building methodology later having a great impact on the creation of the Taj.
Empress Bega Begun and Emperor Humayun drawn by the artist, M. Raza Ali.
The architecture is influenced by Persian design whereby the tomb is located at the very center of four gardens, facing in four directions. Each garden ends at a beautiful gateway, located at true North, South, West or East.
The garden is divided in four parts by walkways and flowing water, each garden having the exact measurements on all sides. (The garden is representative of the paradise garden described in the Quran.)
Children enjoy watching and feedin the squirrels living in the garden.
Today will you notice a lot of beautiful trees, large open grass spaces perfect for picnics, and various little animals, like squirrels, running around. The complex grounds are quite large, and apart from Humayun's tomb are there various other tombs and mosque to explore, but do bring a picnic basket with you to enjoy the gardens first, before continuing your explorations. Its really worthwhile.
(Travel Tip: It can take anything from 2 to 4 hours to walk through the whole complex. We thus suggest to make this a day trip, and arriving at the site around 10am. You should finish your tour around 2pm if your intend to linger and enjoy a picnic in the gardens. After visiting Humaun's Tomb, is the Gate of India close by, which is worth a visit and will fill the remaning hours of your afternoon.)
The outside of the mausoleum once you step onto the 7 m high platform on which the tomb was built. (Photo Credit: mbSteyn)
The mausoleum is constructed of red sandstone and stands on a 7m high platform. The central burial chamber being of black and white marble.
Later years, various other Mughal emperors and family were buried here, making it today a necropolis of the Mughal Dynasty, as no other mausoleum in the world contains so many tombs of the Mughal emperors.
INTERESTING FACTS
- There are about 150 tombs in and around the whole site.
- It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent and took more than 8 years to built.
- Emperor Humayun had more than five wives, but it was his chief consort, Bega Begun together with Humayun's son, Akbar, that commissioned the building of the tomb.
- The body of the emperor was buried in two different locations before being moved to his tomb.
- Humayun’s wife commission the tomb being built nine years after his death.
- The architecture of the tomb was the model for the latter Taj Mahal.
- Empress Bega Begun also constructed other structures close the the site, one is the Arab Sarai ('resthouse'), to accomdate the workers, builders and architects. These structures can be seen on the South, just outside the tomb garden complex.
OTHER NOTEWORTHY SIGHTS
Apart from the tomb garden complex, are there various other tombs, structures and a mosque and added later years. These are just as beautiful, and worth a visit while you are at the tomb complex grounds.
- The Arab Sarai Gateway and Arab Sarai (Rest house)
- The Bu Halima Gateway, tomb and garden
- The Afsarwala Mosque and tomb.
- Barber's Tomb.
PHOTO GALLERY
Follow our photo tour of the Humayun Tomb Complex here: www.routes.tips.com
REFERENCES
Archaeological Survey of India:
http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_humayuntomb_intro.asp
Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humayun#Death_and_legacy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_Empire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humayun's_Tomb
Humayun’s Tomb:
http://www.humayunstomb.com/
Overseas Attractions.com:
http://overseasattractions.com/asia/india/delhi/humayuns-tomb/
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