NEW DELHI: Restoration of the two 16th-century garden tombs in vicinity of Humayun’s Tomb and part of the world heritage site belonging to Sher Shah Suri’s courtier Isa Khan Niazi and Bu Halima, a lesser-known historical figure close to the Mughal royal family, is almost complete. Isa Khan’s Tomb, where conservation work began in January 2011, will be reopened to the public on April 18, World Heritage Day.
“The complex will be thrown open on World Heritage Day in presence of minister for culture Chandresh Kumari Katoch,” an ASI official said. As part of the Nizamuddin urban renewal initiative undertaken by Archaeological Survey of India and Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the conservation-cum-landscape project was implemented to restore the two structures and co-funded by World Monuments Fund.
AKTC officials said it became necessary to accord both tombs the same care as Humayun’s Tomb. “In 1919, the British demolished portions of the enclosure of Bu Halima’s Garden to make an oval concrete carriageway. The 15-foot wide concrete pathways destroyed the character of the site. The last bits of the carriageway are now being dismantled,” said an official.
Ismailimail 