The monuments of Hazrat Nizamuddin.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

Visible from afar, the bulbous gumbad of Humayun’s Tomb symbolises the entire monument. The centuries-old dome also strives to speak for its notable vicinity. Delhi’s Nizamuddin region might be a minuscule slice of land, but the history-transforming Mughal identity was born on its soil. The area also hosts less visible but as significant domes, which give a unique character to this principal site of the Indian past.

The dome of poet Rahim’s tomb is only partly sheeted with marble blocks. (The original stones were removed and slapped on the dome of Safdarjung Tomb.) The present-day white marble blocks, put up during the tomb’s conservation by the Aga Khan Trust of Culture, are indicative of how the dome used to be.

The Subz Burj is misleadingly called Neela Gumbad because of the neela, blue, tiles on the dome. But the dome also has subz, green, tiles on its neck, which gives the relic its real name.

The monument that is actually named Neela Gumbad has Delhi’s only completely blue dome. The three more domes close to it are perched atop the so-called Barber’s tomb, the Isa Khan’s tomb, and the mosque inside Isa Khan’s tomb enclosure.

The Sunder Nursery park has its own assortment of domes—topping the Lakkarwala Burj, the Sunder Burj, and a Mughal tomb with no known name. The nearby Afsarwala Tomb and at its mosque have a dome each.

A particularly congested settlement in the area harbours domes of the following landmarks: the grave chamber of Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, the Khilji Masjid, the Atgah Khan’s Tomb, the Tilangani’s Tomb, the Kalan Masjid, and the minor monuments of Do Siria Gumbad and Chini ka Burj.

Apart from the dome of Humayun’s Tomb, the only other dome in Nizamuddin region visible from afar happens to grace a Sikh shrine. Gurudwara Damdama Sahib stands behind Humayun’s Tomb. A plaque explains the gurudwara as a memorial centered around the site of a meeting that took place three centuries ago between the 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh ji and the 8th Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah. The graceful dome is presently encased in a scaffolding, undergoing its annual cleaning, says the gentleman manning the gate. This evening, the gumbad strikes an unmissable presence in the gathering twilight. See photo.