Briefly About Nila Gumbad
The Nila Gumbad, or the blue dome, stands at the far-east of the Humayun tomb complex. It is the earliest Mughal period monument in Delhi and is a UNESCO world heritage site today.
According to some historians, the Blue Tomb existed much before the Humayun’s tomb was constructed and it stood on an island, surrounded on all sides by the river Yamuna.
Historians are also unsure about the identity of the person who has been buried. Some claim that it houses the tomb of an attendant of a Mughal noble and was buried during the reign of Jahangir.
The mausoleum is built of plaster and rubble. At the time of construction, the dome was entire covered with blue, green and white tiles. Turquoise blue was the dominant amongst the other colours. The dome originally contained 1,50,000 blue Timurid brick tiles, out of which 20,000 had disappeared.
The restoration project – executed by Aga Khan Trust for Culture in partnership with the Archaeological Survey of India – included compensating for these missing tiles.
Recently the Nila gumbad has been made accessible and people can visit it using the same ticket for the Humayuns tomb complex.