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One
of the most spectacular Mughal buildings, Humayun's tomb
was added to Unesco's World Heritage List in 1993. Built
by Haji Begum, the widow of Humanyun, the second Mughal
Emperor, the mausoleum is known to the precursor of world
famous Taj Mahal. Built with a cost of one and a half
million rupees, the monument heralded the construction of
garden-tombs on the Indian subcontinent. Experience the
majesty of Humayun's tomb with Hotels of New Delhi.
As soon as one enters
the massive double-storeyed gateway, the majesty of the
building becomes self-evident. High walls surrounds a
square garden which is divided into four large squares
separated by causeways and water channels.
Each square, in turn,
is divided into smaller squares by pathways. This forms a
typical Mughal garden known as charbagh. Highly developed
engineering skills were employed in the working out of the
fountains. Though made of red sandstone, black and yellow
stone was used to give variation. Humanyun's Tomb came
into the scene during the First War of Indian Independence
in 1857. When the uprising failed, Bahadur Shah II, the
last Mughal emperor, took refuge in the tomb, before he
was sent to the Rangoon jail in Myanmar.
The tomb stands
majestically at the center of the enclosure and rises from
a platform faced with a series of cells with arched
openings. The complex of Humayun's Tomb contains many
small monuments. Chief among them are black-and-yellow
marble tomb of Humayun's wife and the tomb of Humayun's
barber. Referred to as Nai Ka Gumbad, the barber's tomb is
an impressive square tomb with a double-dome
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