HUMAYUN

TOMB
CONSERVATION

MITAKSHI CHOUHAN
M.ARCH
CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
OVERVIEW REFERENCE

CONSERVATION

01 02 03
INTRODUCTION

LOCATED IN THE HEART OF

DELHI, THE NIZAMUDDIN
HERITAGE PRECINCT
COMPRISES THE AREAS OF
HAZRAT NIZAMUDDIN
BASTI,HUMAYUN'S TOMB.
 01.
OVERVIEW
MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE BUILT IN DELHI.
BUILT IN THE MID 16TH CENTURY.
DESIGNED BY MIRAK MIRZA GHIYATH .
● THE MONUMENT HAS
BEEN INSCRIBED IN
THE UNESCO WORLD
HERITAGE LIST IN 1993
● MONUMENT CANNOT
BE LIMITED TO THE
TOMB ITSELF
● IT EXTENDS TO THE
GARDEN, SUNDER
NURSERY , HAZRAT
NIZAMUDDIN BASTI
● AGA KHAN HISTORIC
CONSERVATION
PROGRAM
● THIS TOMB WAS THE FIRST
STRUCTURE IN WHICH THE SLIGHTLY
BULBOUS AND DOUBLE DOME , A
FEATURE BORROWED FROM PERSIA
AND SAMARKAND WAS INTRODUCED
IN INDIA
● TOMB IS SET WITHIN A CROSS AXIAL
GARDEN.
● ITS ENORMOUS SCALE AND RADIALLY
SYMMETRICAL PLAN MAKE THE
BUILDING STAND OUT
● GREAT EXAMPLE OF MUGHAL ROYAL
MAISOLEUM BUILDING STYLE
● THE TOMB STAND ON A LARGE PLINTH , 6.5 M
HEIGHT AND 99M WIDTH
● THE TOMB IS IN SQUARE STRUCTURE, BUT
APPEARS TO BE OCTAGONAL IN SHAPE
● TOPPING OF THE MAUSOLEUM IS THE 42.5 M HIGH
● THE EXTERIOR DOME IS PURELY WHITE MARBLE ,
WHILE THE REST OF THE BUILDING IS OF RED
STONE , WITH WHITE AND BLACK MARBLE AND
YELLOW STONE DETAILING .
● A CENTRAL DOMED CHAMBER WITH THE
EMPEROR'S TOMB IN THE MIDDLE AND FOUR
CORNER ROOMS COMPRISES THE FIRST FLOOR
● THE SECOND FLOOR CONSISTS OF A COMPLEX
SYSTEM OF HALLS AND PASSAGEWAYS
SURROUNDING THE TOMB’S CENTRAL CHAMBER.
● PERSIAN STYLE IS EVIDENT IN
CHAR BAGH(FOUR GARDENS),
A QUADRILATERAL GARDENS
LAYOUT INSPIRED BY THE
GARDENS OF PARADISE
MENTIONED IN THE HOLY
QURAN.
● CAUSEWAYS DIVIDE THE
GARDEN INTO FOUR SECTION,
WITH SHALLOW WATER
CHANNELS CONNECTED TO
POOLS,LOCATED AT THE
CENTRE OF EACH CAUSEWAY
● EACH OF THE FOUR SECTIONS
IN THE 30 ACRE GARDEN
 02.
CONSERVATION
CONSERVATION ACTION NEEDS TO BE
BASED ON EXHAUSTIVE
RESEARCH,ARCHITECTURAL
DOCUMENTATION,UNDERSTANDING THE
STRUCTURAL SIGNIFICANCE,BUILDING
TYPOLOGY AND AGE ,CONDITION
ASSESSMENT OF THE STRUCTURE.
● 2007 -08 , architects prepared
measured drawing .
● Engineering team estimates the
conservation work.
● The architectural and photographic
documentation was supplemented
with a high definition survey using 3d
laser scanning
● Allowed detailed assessment
including a stone by stone inspection
of the entire facade
CONDITION ASSESSMENT CARRIED
OUT USING 3D LASER
 LASER I ASSESSMENT
CARRIED OUT OF THE ENTIRE
STRUCTURE
 FINIAL

● 18 FEET TALL FINIAL , WITH A CORE OF A 22 FOOT

TREE LOG COMPRISES 11 VESSELS OF PURE
COPPER CROWNED BY A BRASS INSCRIPTION
● ON 30TH MAY 2014 , DURING A THUNDERSTORM
FINIAL OF THE TOMB SNAPPED AND THE ENTIRE
FINIAL COLLAPSED ONTO THE ROOF
● LABORATORY ANALYSIS OF THE FINIAL
REVEALED THAT IT WAS BUILT OF ALMOST PURE
COPPER AND GILDED WITH PURE GOLD LEAF
● THIS WAS PAINTED IN GOLD COLOUR
● THE BRASS INSCRIPTION , AS WITH THE COPPER
VESSELS WAS GILDED
● A TREE LOG OF 22 FEET HEIGHT WAS
PRODUCED AND CARVED TO THE ORIGINAL
OCTAGONAL PROFILE
 DOME

● A DOUBLE DOME IS ONE COMPOSED OF

TWO SHELLS, WITH A GAP BETWEEN THE
TWO LAYERS TO GIVE THE BUILDING AN
IMPOSING EXTERIOR HEIGHT AND
KEEPING THE INTERNAL PROPORTIONS
ACOUSTIC FRIENDLY
● OUTER DOME WAS LEAKING AND THE
PLASTER ON ITS INNER SURFACE HAD
BEEN COMPLETELY LOST .
● MARBLES JOINTS WERE CLEANED WITH
WATER SPRAY
● CAVITIES WERE IDENTIFIED
● LIME MORTAR WAS USED FOR THE
PROTECTIVE LAYER
● SCAFFOLDING HAD TO BE ERECTED
THROUGH SMALL OPENING OF 0.8 X 0.6 M
 UPPER PLINTH

● PLINTH WERE FACING WATER LOGGING THUS

CAUSING STRUCTURAL CRACKS
● RESTORATION OF THE SANDSTONE PLINTH REQUIRED
MANUALLY LIFTING RED STONE PAVING, AND
REPLACING THE DECAYED STONES WITH SLAB OF
SAME SIZE - HAND CHISELED, PROVIDING A LIME
MORTAR BASE AND LAYING THEM IN ORIGINAL
PATTERN
● 3D LASER SCANNING , RECORDING THE STONE
PATTERN WAS DONE
● 4725 sq.m PAVING AREA WAS THE TOTAL AREA
● 70% OF OLD STONE AND 30% OF NEW STONE HAVE
BEEN USED FOR THE PAVING
 LOWER ARCADE
RESTORATION
● THE RED WHITE CONTRAST OF THE FACADE IS
THE PREDOMINANT ARCHITECTURAL
FEATURES OF HUMAYUN'S TOMB
● ALL 68 LOWER CELLS WERE PLASTER WITH
LIME MORTAR WITH THE HIGHLY ORNAMENTAL
PLASTERWORK RESTORED TO ALL CELLS
● THIS COVERED ROUGHLY 1.6 % OF THE FACADE
AREA YET HAD A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE
APPEARANCE OF THE BUILDING
● 1 mm THICK LAYER OF LIME MARBLE DUST
PLASTER NOT ONLY SERVED AS A PROTECTIVE
LAYER FOR THE UNDERLYING PLASTER BUT
THE MUGHALS HAD USED IT TO MIMIC WHITE
MARBLE
 MAIN HALL

● THE WALL SURFACE WITH BALCONIES

LOOKING INTO THE TALL TOMB CHAMBERS
ARE THE PREDOMINANT ARCHITECTURAL
FEATURES OF THE TOMB CHAMBER
● THESE WALLS HAD BEEN COVERED WITH
LAYERS OF PAINT APPLIED AT REGULAR
INTERVALS, THUS ALTERING THE WHITE
MARBLE LIKE APPEARANCE DESIRED BY THE
MUGHAL BUILDERS TO A DUSTY , DIRTY
BROWNISH HUE.
● THE DECORATIVE CEILING OF THE ENTRANCE
CHAMBER WAS CLEANED USING WATER
BASED TECHNIQUES USING SOFT BRUSHES TO
REVEAL THE ORIGINAL SURFACE
 ENCLOSURE
WALLS
● the lost original architectural integrity of
the mughal tomb garden complex
● 42 arches of the enclosure wall were
reconstructed as part of the project
● 550 cubic metre of delhi quartzite stone
masonry reconstructed to complete the
missing wall portions
● the completion of enclosure walallows the
complex to be managed better in terms of
security .
● master craftsmen have used traditional
materials and building techniques, as
practiced by the original builders
 CONCLUSION

● IT TOOK FIVE YEARS OF INTENSIVE AND

PAINSTAKING RESTORATION WORKS, 200
CRAFTSPEOPLE, AND 200,000 WORK DAYS TO
RESTORE THIS MONUMENT TO ITS ORIGINAL
GLORY, THAT WAS CONSTRUCTED BY EMPEROR
AKBAR IN HIS FATHER’S HONOR.
RESOURCES
● Lowry, Glenn D. “Humayun's Tomb: Form, Function, and Meaning in Early Mughal Architecture.”
Muqarnas, vol. 4, 1987, pp. 133–148. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1523100.
● Lowry, Glenn D. “The Tomb of Nasirud-Din Muhammad Humayun.” Harvard University, 1982.
● Ruggles, D. Fairchild. 1997. "Humayun's Tomb and Garden: Typologies and Visual Order." In
Gardens in the Time of the Great Muslim Empires: Theory and Design, edited by Attilio
Petruccioli, 173-186. Leiden; New York: E.J. Brill.
● Fazl, Abul (1907). Akbar Nama, Volume 1. The Asiatic Society. p. 340
● World Heritage Sites- Humayun's Tomb. http://asi.nic.in
● The Tomb of Humayun: The Garden Tomb that Inspired the Taj Mahal.
http://www.ancient-origins.net
● https://www.nizamuddinrenewal.org/