Lodi Gardens

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Bara-Gumbad and Mosque, Lodi Gardens, Delhi

The Lodi Gardens (sometimes written as Lodhi Gardens , Hindi लोधी उद्यान Lōdhī udyāna ) are an approximately 360,000 m² park with several mausoleums and other buildings from the 15th and 16th centuries in the Indian capital Delhi . It is a well-tended garden that many Indians like to use for walks and picnics.

location

The Lodi Gardens are located about halfway between the Safdarjung mausoleum , located about 1 km to the west and the Humayun mausoleum located 2 km to the east in the southwest of New Delhi at a height of about 215  m .

history

Bridge from the time of Akbar I.

After the tombs for Iltutmish († 1236) and Ala ud-Din Khalji († 1316), the mausoleums for Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq († 1325) and Firuz Shah Tughluq († 1388) were built in Delhi, the capital of the sultanate of the same name Well over 100 larger tombs of rulers, their family members as well as senior state officials and the military, which still shape the cityscape today. The sultans of the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties chose a terrain in the south-west of the city, which was also used about 100 years later by the Mughal Mughal Akbar I , who had an observatory built here - a seven-arched one with a slight center is from this time rising bridge with eight pillars (athpula) . Later two villages settled on the site, which were relocated during the British colonial rule (1936); since 1947 the site has been officially named "Lodi Gardens".

buildings

Tomb for Mohammed Shah IV.
Sheesh-gumbad
Mausoleums
The two most important tombs in the Lodi Gardens are the mausoleum for Mohammed Shah IV († 1445) and Sikandar Lodi († 1517), which are described in the individual contributions. Both buildings, with non- bulged domes (gumbads) , stand on a significantly elevated site, have an octagonal floor plan and are opened on all sides by three-arched arcades that form a triumphal arch scheme. The main difference between the two buildings lies in the missing pavilion structures ( chhatris ) on the tomb of Sikandar Lodis. While his family members are also buried in the tomb for Mohammed Shah, Sikandar Lodi rests alone in his mausoleum, which stands within a separate, fortress-like raised wall area.
Bara Gumbad
Mosque next to Bara-Gumbad
In the center of the garden is a building known as the Bara (or Bada) Gumbad (“large dome”), but its function is not clear. Its architecture undoubtedly points to a tomb, but inside there are no cenotaphs or other indications of a mausoleum. Immediately adjacent to the Bara Gumbad is the three-domed prayer hall of a mosque from 1494 - the reign of Sikandar Lodi; It is assumed that the Bara Gumbad only served as a kind of oversized gateway for the mosque courtyard, which was originally probably closed on all sides, or an even larger enclosed facility that also included the adjacent Shish Gumbad. The central portal of the mosque has an unusual four-part arched vault; They also experiment a little with the different colors of the sandstone material used. The qibla wall, oriented towards the west, ie towards Mecca , contains several wall niches, the middle one forms the actual mihrab .
Shish Gumbad
The building called Shish Gumbad ("glass dome") because of its - formerly probably existing - mirror inlays inside can be clearly identified as a grave monument due to the nameless cenotaphs inside. It also seems to be from the late Lodi period. It is identified either as the burial place of a high family of civil servants or even as the mausoleum of Bahlul Lodi . On its exterior there is a restrained play with red and light sandstones; For the first time, blue tiles can also be seen. As with the other mausoleums, the central dome has a double shell; the outer dome is raised by a jacketed tambour clad with architectural motifs . Its tip is formed by an upside-down lotus flower - an ancient element of Hindu architecture (see Gupta temple in Gop), which will later also be found on the domes of Mughal architecture and thus also on the Taj Mahal . Unlike all other buildings in the Lodi Gardens, the mausoleum closes at the top with a ring-shaped element ( amalaka ) , which otherwise only appears in Hindu temples (see the temple district of Khajuraho ). The corners of the building and the slightly protruding portal risalite are particularly emphasized by small turrets that sit on the square parapet wall.

Surroundings

Not far from the Lodi Gardens, four more mausoleums (see photos on web links) from the late 15th century rise in the immediate vicinity:

  • the completely plastered Kale-Khan-ka-Gumbad , a tomb built in 1481 for Mubarak Khan Lohani, the chief judge at the court of Bahlul Khan Lodis , the father of Sikander Lodi,
  • the likewise plastered Chote-Khan-ka-Gumbad ,
  • the only partially plastered Bhure-Khan-ka-Gumbad and
  • the architecturally particularly idiosyncratic bathing Khan-ka-Gumbad .

In contrast to the stone-faced tombs in the Lodi Gardens, the stone work in all four of the buildings mentioned is somewhat coarse and inconsistent, so that it was the plastering that created a visually uniform appearance.

literature

Web links

Commons : Lodi Gardens  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Simon Digby: The Tomb of Buhlul Lodi . In: The Bulletin of SOAS, Vol. 38, No. 3, 1975, pp. 550-561.

Coordinates: 28 ° 35 ′ 40 ″  N , 77 ° 13 ′ 12 ″  E