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A heritage site steps into the future
Summary
The Humayun’s Tomb museum aims to help visitors understand the historical and cultural significance of Delhi’s Nizamuddin locality
At the Unesco World Heritage Site of Humayun’s Tomb, there is as much history to take in above the ground as below. The 16th century mausoleum—the first gardentomb of the Indian subcontinent—looms large against dark, frothy monsoon clouds on a recent Saturday. And beneath the gardens, lies a repository of history, art and culture—the first such contemporary, sunken museum built within a heritage site in India. Spread across 100,000 sq. feet, the Humayun’s Tomb World Heritage Site Museum opened on 29 July. It marks the culmination of 25 years of conservation efforts in the area by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), backed by a multidisciplinary team of engineers, historians, landscape designers and architects.
The museum was first conceptualised as an interpretation centre, following Unesco guidelines that all World Heritage Sites should include such a facility, preferably near the entrance. The project underwent several iterations to finally become a sunken museum inspired by the architecture of stepwells and baolis that once populated Delhi. Inside, it feels like you are walking through time as a map showcases Delhi’s 2,500-year-old history. Visitors can see architectural models of monuments such as the Nila Gumbad, which sits in the middle of a busy traffic intersection a few yards from the Humayun’s Tomb complex. There are details about unknown Mughal buildings, including Humayun’s mystic palace of which no trace remains.
The permanent collection has 500 rare Mughal miniatures, manuscripts, coins, astrolabes, glazed tiles, and more, from the collections of the National Museum, Archaeological Survey of India and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. “The idea of this museum is to enable people visiting the World Heritage Site to have a deeper understanding of the area before they leave," says Ratish Nanda, conservation architect and CEO of AKTC.
Around two million visitors throng Humayun’s Tomb every year and over a million come to Sunder Nursery next door. A similar number make their way to the dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in the same precinct. The museum hopes to help visitors understand the historical and cultural significance of the entire area, and not just the mausoleum. “This entire neighbourhood is home to an ensemble of buildings, created from the 14th century onwards, 60 of which have been conserved by AKTC. This is where the pluralist Hindustani culture— the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb—took root," explains Nanda. “Sufi Saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya imparted teachings on universal love, Amir Khusrau Dehlavi created the qawwali genre of music, and Rahim, known for his dohas, built a mausoleum for his wife close to Humayun’s Tomb. Dara Shukoh translated the Upanishads into Persian. Eight of the 18 Mughal emperors are buried here."
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The museum acts as a conduit, a physical bridge, between Humayun’s Tomb, Sunder Nursery and the dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, thus integrating these segregated sites. “Through exhibitions, artefacts, narratives and stories, the facility, hopefully, will inspire people to visit all three," says Nanda. One of the highlights is the display of different architectural and craft techniques used in the monuments in the area such as stone carving, pietra dura and mother-of-pearl inlay.
“[Also] the original finial or Kalash, 18 feet tall made of 3000 kilos of copper covered with gold, that once crowned the dome of Humayun’s Mausoleum is one of the ‘star’ artefacts," states the museum note. “The finial, that had fallen hundred feet below had been seriously damaged; to most experts—damaged beyond repair. The repair- by traditional coppersmiths continuously working alongside conservators for over two years is also conveyed here in a film."
A film showcasing 500 years of building activity at the dargah complex helps visitors understand how successive emperors provided additional buildings to the complex. A separate block with a 100-seat auditorium, temporary galleries, cafes, meeting rooms and a library is planned. According to Nanda, Austrian historian Ebba Koch served as principal adviser for the exhibition, and the landscape masterplan was prepared by the late Prof. M. Shaheer and his Delhi-based Shaheer Associates. Vir Mueller Architects of Delhi were consultants on the project till 2018, while firms, December Design and the New Black Design, also based in the Capital, worked on the permanent exhibition.
Rooted in the people
The new museum and the Sunder Nursery park are deeply rooted in AKTC’s urban regeneration project in the adjoining basti and the dargah in the Nizamuddin locality of Delhi. According to Nanda, the team ended up working at Humayun’s Tomb only because there was potential to improve the quality of life for the people living in Nizamuddin. “This has been done in a variety of ways and not just through employment creation. In the coming months, the museum will have a shop where the people from the basti as well as craftspersons who worked on sandstone marble and pietra dura at the tomb will create works for sale," says Nanda. “The people at the dargah have been closely involved in the exhibition design, especially of the displays related to Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and Amir Khusrau. So, there is a sense of ownership and pride among the people of Nizamuddin."
Farid Ahmed Nizami, the custodian of Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, first engaged with AKTC two decades ago when they started work here. “Back then, the team was requested to clean the baoli in the dargah, which seemed a daunting task. They not only cleaned it but also rejuvenated the stepwell," he says. When the museum was planned, the AKTC team spoke to Nizami, taking his suggestions and advice. Nizami had observed that people visited Humayun’s Tomb but not Sunder Nursery or the dargah. Similarly, those who came to the dargah were often unaware that a site of such historical importance was a short walk away.
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“For both sets of visitors, it is important to know the cultural significance of this area—that Humayun’s wife, Hamida Bano Begum, chose this place for the mausoleum as it was close to where Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya would distribute food and spread his message of brotherhood. We hope that the museum will create awareness about the culture and tehzeeb of Sufis. Sufiyon ki jagah aisi hain jahaan har mazhab, har kaum ka aadmi aa sakta hai bina bhed bhaav ke (The place of the Sufis welcomes people from all faiths and communities, there is no discrimination)," he says.
The architecture of the museum is particularly interesting, combining age-old craftsmanship with modern technology. Delhi-based Vir Mueller Architects, led by Pankaj Vir Gupta and Christine Mueller, were mandated to divide the museum functions into two distinct and interlinked zones: a primary entrance plaza with amenities, situated adjacent to Sunder Nursery, and a subterranean museum near the entrance to the tomb.
The design of the museum is inspired by the Mughal approach to architecture, in which geometry manifests a cosmic order. “The architecture of the museum was not to be an iconographic object... The structure was to be presented as a series of spatial sequences, which drew inspiration from Mughal architecture and Humayun’s Tomb," says Mueller. Though the museum took inspiration from the baolis, which were subterranean monoliths of stone masonry, this was to be a cultural institution for the future. Working closely with the structural engineer Himanshu Parikh, the architects designed pleated concrete forms for the ceiling, expressing structural load as an ornament. “It was also thermally efficient to excavate down into earth, thus lowering the cooling load in the building," says Gupta.
At a time when history is so contested, a centre that brings forth the message of a syncretic culture might be what the city needs
