Friday, June 02, 2006

Safdarjung's Tomb

"Tombs are the clothes of the dead and a grave is a plain suit; while an expensive monument is one with embroidery."

I read this quote on the net a few days after I had just visited Safdarjung's Tomb in Delhi. Its so true. Everywhere you go in Delhi, you find these stunning old complexes and beautiful buildings - at traffic intersections, at the end of one of the many parks. And almost all of them are tombs - some for important figures in history, and others for those who may not have their names in the class 7 history books, but still had a prominence their own in their times.

Safdarjung Tomb is big and famous. Here are some snapshots.

This is what you see just as you enter the complex.



When I saw Safdarjung Tomb I felt like I was seeing the Taj Mahal, except in red sandstone. Some of the similarities are uncanny especially to my untrained eye. I'm sure any history teacher or student readng this would be having goats with that I'm saying!



The tomb is constructed with what looks like red sandstone, is usually empty, save for the occasional lovebirds, and allows you to sit quiety and soak up the atmosphere.



When I was walking out of the monument, I loved the profusion of red gulmohar trees in full summer bloom. Giving them company and competition are the yellow amaltas trees. Makes for a wonderful view. And somehow, the effect this place had on me was that had I not seen other people, I could've day dreamed that I was in this place hundreds of years ago...

6 comments:

Lalit Singh said...

N-I-C-E
reminded me of some old days... my coll was pretty close by and i ahve on numerous occasions been there...

BTW ... the blog is turning out to be a heritage site pics blog... not that i am complaining.. in fact i love it this way

If I tell ya, I'll have to kill ya said...

lalit: glad u like. my new thing is monuments. recently, i've been to so many. and i've just discovered their magic.

Lalit Singh said...

Just an observation.
Most pics (like the first three) are not centered. So indulge in a bit of post processing.. the first one could could have easily used some cropping at the left.

hope and love said...

hmmm monuments r majical..
i love visiting them.. calming touhces u deep within....

Dreamer said...

Its nice to remember our past.. Good effort..

The first thing that I saw was that the pix are not centerd, as Lalit said above.. The last one is fine, as You are picturizing something goes away from you.. but, the first three - especially the first would have been beutiful, if you had them centered.. the first pic has a slight tilt too, which spoils the look.. a warming filter would have done wonders to all these..

Loser-in-Love said...

hey all the pics are great....nice eye for the situations....i really liked the sunset...but others are not centered.