I aways see the the onion- shaped dome of the Safdarjng tomb while driving in and out of the various cultural centres in Lodhi Road, New Delhi. But I have visited the tomb only a couple of times. And on those occasions I never got the photograph I wanted: the picture of the monument reflecting in the waters of the fountains. All year around there is no water in the four channels of the charbagh. They fill with water briefly when it rains but its quickly pumped out by the gardeners. They told me , they do this so that stagnant water in the channels don’t breed dengue and malaria mosquitoes. So one day just after it had rained, I rushed to the monument and captured these rare pictures of the tomb reflecting in the waters.
The Safdarjung tomb is distinctly flowery and therefore dissimilar to the simple elegance of monuments like The Taj Mahal or the Humayun’s Tomb. Author and historian, William Dalrymple has this to say about the Safdarjung’s tomb in his book City of Djinns- ”Like some elderly courtesan, the tomb tries to mask its imperfections beneath thick layers of make-up, its excesses of ornament are worn like over-applied rough……Despite its sad little economics, Safdarjung’s tomb exudes the flavor of an age not so much decaying miserably into impoverished anonymity as one whoring and drinking itself into extinction”.
Its interesting to note that pretentious architecture also marked the degeneration of taste and sensibility at Khajuraho as is apparent in the Duladeo Temple which has elaborate sculptures in exaggerated poses and expressions. Something very different from the poise and grace of sculptures you see in the earlier Khanjurao temples for example in the Lakshmana Temple or the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple.
Safdarjung’s tomb was built by Nawab Shuja-ud-Daulah, the son of Safdarjung (the same Shuja-ud-Daulah the British defeated at the famous Battle of Buxar). Safdarjung was the governor of Awad who later became the Prime Minister of Muhammad Shah, the Mughal emperor known more by the epithet –Rangeela for his colorful excesses.
Built in 1753-1754, the Safdarjung tomb is loosely modeled on the grander Humayun’s Tomb. Safdarjung’s tomb represents the last phase of Mughal architecture. But only barely. The Mughal Empire was in decline and this is reflected in its monuments, most markedly in Safdarjung’s tomb. This monument has a number of architectural flaws as a direct consequence of a lack of funds and imagination.
The main dome itself seems a bit out of place compared to the domes of other Mughal Mosoleums. The domb here is somewhat extended at the top giving it the ‘onion’ look. The dome and other places where marble is used has a rough patchwork look to it. Thats because most of the marble used in Safdarjung’s tomb was marble plundered from other tombs-most notable the tomb in Nizamuddin of Abdul Rahim Khan-e-Khana, Akbar’s protege,
thanks for a information,nice picture of tomb.
Thanks Farah.
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