NEW DELHI // For more than 600 years its red sandstone minarets and grand white onion-shaped dome have dominated south Delhi’s leafy skyline and stood as one of the finest examples of architecture from the Mughal empire.
But over the past two centuries, Humayun’s Tomb, built to honour the second Mughal emperor, has suffered from shoddy repair work, an encroaching population and general neglect.
This week however, the monument, reopened after a massive six-year restoration project.
The 16th Century tomb, a Unesco World Heritage site, which inspired the Taj Mahal and other Mughal buildings, was refurbished largely by funding from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.
In order to restore the original designs, craftsmen were brought in from Uzbekistan and Egypt to train the local artisans from nearby slums to sculpt, paint and landscape the ceilings, floors, lighting of all the structures, including the sprawling garden enclosure.
One of the tomb’s most distinctive features, small domes speckled with peacock blue tiles, a legacy of the Persian influence on Mughal architecture, has now been fully restored after disappearing for more than 200 years.
“We wanted to respect the original builders intentions,” said Ratish Nanda, the project director.
The tomb was ordered to be built for Humayun by his widow, Biga Begum, 14 years after he died. She employed the Persian architect Mirak Mirza Ghiyath and the tomb was completed in 1571 at a cost of 1.5 million rupees (Dh87,000).
Humayun is widely credited for introducing to India, Persian artists who blended local art with Islamic architecture.
“The whole point of the Humayun’s tomb was that the Mughal builders were replicating Quranic description of paradise,” said Mr Nanda “The holy Quran repeatedly promises the faithful gardens beneath which the rivers flow as the final resting place. The Mughals took that idea and created this, with gardens and channels of water.”
During the restoration, workers had to remove thousands of tonnes of concrete from the roof and thousands of square metres of cement from the walls, ceilings, and floors which had been used to keep the mausoleum from crumbling away, Mr Nanda said.
Craftsmen then worked on the main dome, filling it with the traditional mixture of lime plaster with marble dust and egg whites to make it airtight.
“The mixing is a tedious process but once used survives for hundreds of years,” Mr Nanda said.
Other members of the ruling Mughal family were later buried at the tomb and the site contains 150 graves, according to Unesco.
The son of Babur, Humayun, helped his father conquer India and ascended the throne in Agra in 1530 at the age of 23. Inexperienced in administration and ruling at such a young age, he lost the throne to Afghan leader, Sher Shah, but returned ten years later in 1556, reigning briefly for six months before his death, as a result of falling down the stairs of his library.
Almost a hundred years later, Humayun’s great-grandson, Shah Jahan would go on to use the Delhi tomb as an inspiration to build the grand marbled mausoleum of Taj Mahal in Agra, in memory of his wife.
As the Mughal rule in India fell to the British, the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar was hunted down and taken prison at Humayun’s tomb in 1857.
During the partition in August 1947, the tomb became a camp for Muslims migrating to the newly founded Pakistan.
In the book City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, published in 1993, historian and author William Dalrymple described the tomb as: “Like some elderly courtesan, the tomb tries to mask its imperfections beneath thick layers of make-up; its excesses of ornament are worn like over-applied rouge.”
The tomb was reopened on Wednesday by India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh.
sbhattacharya@thenational.ae
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final (first-leg score):
Juventus (1) v Ajax (1), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Match will be shown on BeIN Sports
Company info
Company name: Entrupy
Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist
Based: New York, New York
Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.
Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius.
Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place.
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi
Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.
Golden Dallah
For the cappuccino, luqaimat and aseeda.
Al Mrzab Restaurant
For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.
Al Derwaza
For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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