Humayun Tomb Park Home > Delhi > Attractions > Parks > Humayun Tomb Park

Humayun Tomb Park

Humayun’s Tomb Park is a park at the world heritage site of Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi. It has beautiful lawns designed in the typical Mughal architecture style. It happens to be the first garden tomb in the entire Indian subcontinent and it is famous tourist attraction along with the tomb of course. It is located between Nizamuddin Dargah and the Yamuna River. Humayun’s tomb happens to be one of the most beautiful tombs in the country and the tomb was commissioned by Hamida Banu Begum, the emperor’s wife in the year 1569 AD. The tomb is a world heritage site as declared by UNESCO.

It is a beautiful Persian styled garden and has a quadrilateral layout.

History of Humayun’s Tomb Park

The construction of the emperor’s tomb started nine years after his death on the orders of this first wife Bega Begum in the year 1565. The entire construction was completed in the year 1572 and it is said that 1.5 million rupees were spent for the construction and this included the constructed of the garden as well.

The garden was also known as Char Bagh (four-square garden) and it was spread over an area of 13 hectares. The fortune of this garden kept changing after its construction. It surrounded the tomb and was beautifully designed. However, it started losing its gleam as soon as the capital shifted to Agra. It became nearly impossible to maintain the expensive upkeep of the garden and by the 18th century, the lush green lawns of the garden was replaced with vegetable gardens made up by the people who had settled nearby.

The execution of last Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar along with his sons during the Great Indian Revolt of 1857 and complete takeover of Delhi by the British meant that the worst was yet to come. The Mughal styled garden was replaced by typical English-styled garden with the four central water pools being replaced by circular flower beds and many more things. This happened in the year 1860.

However during the early 20th century, the original garden was restored under the orders of Lord Curzon. It started from 1903 and continued till 1909. The plaster channels were lined with sandstones and later in a planting scheme, the central and diagonal axes were lined by trees. Trees were planted elsewhere as well. In report it has been claimed that the garden was used by royal descendants to grow tobacco and cabbage before the British took over.

Humayun’s tomb was a major refugee camp for the Muslims during India’s partition in the year 1947 who were migrating to newly formed Pakistan from partitioned India. This caused a lot of damage both to the tomb, the garden and all the other monuments present. This compound was later taken over by the Archeological Survey of India and the garden was restored. However, the water channels present in the complex could not be restored even after several attempts.

The tomb was declared World Heritage Site in the year 1993 and after that new interest for restoring the originality of the complex took over and finally, much of the garden and the complex were restored. The historic fountain started running again and since then, restoration has been a continuous process.

Best Time to Visit

The tomb and the garden is open all throughout the week from 7:00 AM to 7: 00 PM.

If you are planning to visit the garden, then the best time would be in the morning. It is beautiful and well maintained garden.

How to Reach

Located in Nizamuddin East, there are various options for reaching this place. If you are availing the Delhi metro, then the nearest stations would be Race Course Station and Jorbagh (both on yellow lines).

You can also hire cars or rent cabs from any part of the city to reach this beautiful garden. Delhi Transport Corporation buses are also available and you would need to get down at the Nizamuddin Bus Stop. It is near the Nizamuddin Police Station.

The nearest railway station is New Delhi Railway Junction located only 6 km from the complex.

Indira Gandhi international airport is located 14 km away. From here you can take the metro or rented taxis.

Related Image

home
home
home
home
home
home

Related Topics

Aartha Kunj

Aartha Kunj is a beautiful park located near the Nehru Palace in Delhi and it is also known as the spiritual garden. ....

Central Park

Located in Connaught Place of New Delhi, Central Park is one of the most visually pleasing locations of the city. ....

Ajmal Khan Park

The Ajmal Khan Park is situated in Karol Bagh area of New Delhi...

Buddha Jayanti Park

Buddha Jayanti Park in New Delhi is a well...