The Humayun’s Tomb Museum in New Delhi opened to visitors in August 2024. It has since been tagged as “Delhi’s best museum”, becoming a visitor favourite in a short span of time. The Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the first garden tomb built in India. It was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor’s wife, Bega Begum. Today, its serene environs are a photographer and history-lover’s delight!
Expectedly, the museum spotlights Humayun’s life and times; it however goes beyond, situating the tomb in conversation with other historic buildings in the vicinity – the Purana Quila (Old Fort), Nizamuddin Auliya’s shrine, Chaunsath Khamba, Atgah Khan’s Tomb, and so on. A visitor can expect to learn about the architecture as well as the cultural significance of the site. Through a variety of objects – paintings, armoury, astrolabes – one learns about the Mughal world, their inspirations and pursuits. For instance, the narrative includes the Sufi practice, Mughal engagement with it and its ongoing legacy.
The museum has over 500 artefacts, sourced from the ASI, National Museum in Delhi, and AKTC’s collections, as well as commissioned pieces. Among the fascinating exhibits are – Bahadur Shah Zafar’s throne, a dagger that once belonged to Shah Tahmasp of Iran, Gulbadan Begum’s biography of Humayun (the Humayun-nama), other books and folios from the Baburnama and Akbarnama; replicas and full scale architectural reproductions ( like the wood and ivory reproduction of the Dargah canopy).
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The museum, inspired by Delhi’s baolis, is ‘India’s first sunken museum’. It accompanies a world-heritage site and is thus classified a ‘site museum’. At site museums, the narrative usually follows a traditional informational-format about the site. But this museum is different and perhaps it is the reason why visitors love it.
The spectacular effort is led by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. For years, the Trust has worked on conservation projects in the Nizamuddin precinct – the Sunder Nursery, the Nizamuddin Dargah, Basti and the restoration of the Tomb itself.
