Humayun's tomb

Humayun's tomb

Continuing on my lucky trend of visiting historical monuments , this weekend I went to Humayun's tomb with my folks.

As I mentioned earlier that nowadays I am reading "The City of Djinns" by William Darymple, which is the travelogue about his stay in Delhi for a year. So anyways I was fascinated to visit what all historical places he was mentioning in his travelogue. Although he din't mention Humayun's tomb yet but still it was one place which was on my list as as far as I remember I never been to that place (My dad doesn't agree with that and strongly stats that we have been there when we came to delhi around 15 yrs back).

Interestingly I was not planning to visit Humayun's tomb at the first place and instead last weekend itself I told my folks that we will go to India gate. But in the morning my colleague called me up enquiring about that place and on finding that it was on the way to India Gate , I made up a plan to visit it too. (Its another story that we couldn't see India Gate because of the huge crowd that descended there due to the lovely weather)

So coming to Humayun's tomb. Humayun was Babar's son and Akbar's father. He was the second of the Great Mughal rulers to have ruled India. He ruled India in 1532-40 and then from 1555-1560. While coming down from stairs, on hearing the Azan (Muslim call of prayer) as it was his habit that wherever he is ,on hearing the Azan he will kneel down in reverence ,is robe got stuck in his feet and fell down from stairs. He was succeeded by his 13 year old son Akbar, who later on became the greatest Mughal emperor to have ruled India.

View from center- Humayun's tomb

Hamida Banu Begum(Akbar's mother), his grieving widow, built his Mausoleum after his death. This building is touted as precursor to Taj Mahal. It stands on a platform of 12000 sq m and reaches a height of 47m.   

Peeking at the Emperor....

The earliest example of Persian influence in Indian architecture, the tomb has within it over 100 graves, earning it the name of "Dormitory of the Mughals".

First monument built with red sandstone and white marble.

Built of rubble masonry, the structure is the first to use red sandstone and white marble in such great quantities.

Lawn in front- built in Persian style

Like all Persian buildings , this one too had the 4 block garden structure with water channels separating each block from other.

Entrance to Humayun's tomb

Quite symmetrical

One striking thing about this monument is the symmetry. No matter from where you look at the main building, the lawn, the path to the monument etc everything has a symmetry and each half is a mirror image of the other.

Humayun's tomb - The Red Taj

I was glad that unlike last time when I clicked Taj Mahal, I learned to keep the base line horizontal to the ground and also clicked most of the pics keeping in mind the proportions.




Nevertheless a lovely and serene place to visit with your family and loved ones. :)

The Day of the Jackal

I had completed the Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. Arguably the fastest I have completed any book of substantial length.

Well I won't call it a scintillating thriller although it has an intriguing webs of twists and turns that makes you continue reading.

The book is about an attempt to assassinate the President of France , General Charles De Gaulle by the OAS which is the rebellious organisation comprising of the army rebellions who felt let down by Charles De Gaulle as he relinquished the control of Algeria and gave it its independece after he became the President of France. This act was taken as an act of betrayal by some loyal France army as they have given their blood and sweat to fight in Algeria against the rebels to whom he had now given the control.

So after 6 failed attempts themselves they plan to hire a foreigner who is a professional assasin.

The reason I was disappointed with the book was  because in the starting pages itself the author reveals that the attempt was a failure (Sorry to have revealed it but I knew anyway if you plan to read it you will get to know about it very quickly).

So the reading became more of an ordeal to find out to how such a meticulously planned attempt fails.

Well hats off to the writer for the way he depicted the planning and also the way the sleuths went about to uncover the plot. The book is like a cat and mouse struggle between the assassin and police . At one point you feel, wow how brilliantly the killer has planned his particular move and at the next the police are at his tail. Then just as you feel, oh he is going to be caught, he changes his plan and again escapes.

One thing about these writers like Frederick Forsyth , John Grisham etc is that they have a vast knowledge about the topics on which they are creating the fictitious story. They are so thorough and detailed about everything that one point you forget that its fiction and you just start beliving in whatever they are saying.

Nevertheless a nice book to read ....

Next I have picked City of Djinns from one of my favorite non-fiction/travel writer William Darymple. I know I am going to love this book as not only the writer is of my liking but even the story is also about my national capital Delhi. Its a story of his first years stay in New Delhi and what all stories he found in this city full of Djinns (Magical creatures who are invisible)

Will update how it was once I am done , which I hope is real quick :)