Rashed's View

I have been wanting to visit Humayun’s tomb because it is one of the first Mughal monuments. It makes extensive use of the marble and red sandstone that became their hallmark under later emperors. It predates the Taj Mahal by about 100 years, but elements of the Taj design can already be seen here such as the high arched entrances, large dome, formal geometric gardens.

There are many unmarked Mughal tombs here, graves of the royal Mughal family. Humayun’s tomb is at the center, and there are four chambers at the four corners that are tombs for other royals. Outside the main dome, on the stone platform, are some additional tombs. One of these is the grave of Dara Shikoh – Shah Jahan’s favored son and heir. The headless body is burried here. According to legend, Aurangzeb had his older brother Dara’s head sent to Shah Jahan in Agra where he was kept prisoner in a room from where he could see the Taj Mahal.

The tomb sits on a platform of red sandstone. The main tomb chamber is also made of sandstone, with inlaid black and white marbles. The geogetric garden on all sides looks beautiful with the fountain and water courses still intact. Near one corner is the tomb of the barber – supposedly Humayun’s barber. I also noticed many wells in the garden – wide and deep. And there are many, very old trees in the garden that are themselves worth looking at.

I ended with a quick tour of India Gate and Jantar Mantar.