Impressions of Humayun's tomb.....just lovely

brownboy66

Visited this lovely monument this morning, and thoroughly enjoyed spending a couple of quiet hours walking around the complex. Its incredibly peaceful, and amazingly empty (maybe its the time of year, of maybe its just not as popular as the other tourist attractions in Delhi). The authorities have certainly done a great job restoring the site, and the information boards around the complex are the best we've come across yet.

Going backward through history.....

Having visited the red fort and Jama Masjid in Delhi two weeks ago, and then the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and the Agra Fort last week, we seem to have inadvertently started a backwards study of the era of Moghul emperors (although I somehow doubt we will be looking to visit Babur's tomb anytime soon)! We arrived at the site about 9.30am, and there would have been less than 20 people there at the time (and given it covers 30 acres, its like being by yourself). Considering how centrally located it is, its a great spot to escape the traffic and noise of Delhi for a couple of hours.

Some of the highlights

a) Great gardens. A lot of work has gone in to restoring the gardens and the results are paying off. I guess its one of those things that will only improve over time.
b) water canals. At last! A place with operational water canals! Having thought a couple of weeks ago about how fantastic the palace would be at the red fort if all the water works were going, here's a place where they have actually been restored to get them up and running (although at the time we visited - there was water in some of the canals but it wasn't running),
c) excellent information. As a starting place - Humayun's Tomb is a great choice as the information contained at the visitors centre and around the complex gives a lot of history behind the site, and the other Moghul emperors (such as Akbar and Shah Jehan who went on to build Fatehpur Sikri and the Taj Mahal respectively).
d)lots to see. Without giving anything away - there was more to see than we realised! There are a number of building on the complex dating from different periods, and we didn't realise until we read it there that the actual tomb is more of a dormitory (given the number that are buried there).
e) just one tout! and that was in the car park outside (not a biggie, it was just kind of surprising).

so yes - I thoroughly recommend Humayun's tomb. When visitors come and stay with us here in Delhi we will probably start them off at the tomb as its a nice gentle introduction to sight seeing around the city (we'll save the rickshaw ride through old Delhi for last ), plus it provides a good historical background to other sites, both in Delhi and in Agra.

himmat01

I had been there in May 2006. My wife and I really liked this place especially the well maintained gardens. In the evening you can see a lot of peafowls in the garden.

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karnail

I was there on Christmas day and believe I could not believe I was in Delhi. It is really excellent.

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capt_mahajan

Not far from Nizamuddin too- preferably on Thursdays

Nizamuddin Tomb