Humayun’s tomb garden

Humayun’s Tomb stands within a complex of 21.60 ha. that includes other contemporary,
16th century Mughal garden-tombs such as Nila Gumbad, Isa Khan, Bu Halima, Afsarwala,
Barber’s Tomb and the complex where the craftsmen employed for the Building of
Humayun’s Tomb stayed, the Arab Serai.
While the main tomb took over eight years to build, it was also placed in centre of a 30-acre
(120,000 m2) Char Bagh (Four Gardens), a Persian-style garden with quadrilateral layout and was
the first of its kind in the South Asia region in such a scale. The highly geometrical and
enclosed Paradise garden is divided into four squares by paved walkways (khiyabans) and two
bisecting central water channels, reflecting the four rivers that flow in jannat,
the Islamic concept of paradise. Each of the four square is further divided into smaller squares
with pathways, creating into 36 squares in all, a design typical of later Mughal gardens. The
central water channels appear to be disappearing beneath the tomb structure and reappearing
on the other side in a straight line, suggesting the Quranic verse, which talks of rivers flowing
beneath the 'Garden of Paradise'.
The entire tomb and the garden is enclosed within high rubble walls on three sides, the fourth
side was meant to be the river Yamuna, which has since shifted course away from the structure.
The central walkways, terminate at two gates: a main one in the southern wall, and a smaller
one in the western wall. It has two double-storey entrances, the West gate which used now,
while the South gate, which was used during Mughal era, now remains closed. Aligned at the
centre on the eastern wall lies a baradari, literally a pavilion with twelve doors, which is a
building or room with twelve doors designed to allow the free draught of air through it, finally
on the northern wall lies a hammam, a bath chamber.