Engaged colonettes are columns that are attached to (engaged with) walls. At Humayun's Garden Tomb engaged colonettes are carved from red sandstone and white marble. Red sandstone engaged colonettes can be found flanking dado and openings on the tomb's facades, inside the iwans, along the plinth's facades, and in the entrance chamber. Red sandstone engaged colonettes can be found lapsing up the facade corners of the plinth, the Barber's Tomb, and the South Gate. White marble engaged colonettes can be found flanking dado in the cenotaph chamber and lapsing up the corners of the tomb's facades, resolving into guldastas. The engaged colonettes bring extra shape to the wall surfaces. The engaged colonettes also define plinth and facade openings when two flanking engaged colonette door jambs combine with a white marble arch outline to created a frame. The engaged colonettes that continue up the entire height of the facades draw the eyes up to the guldastas and the dome, drawing attention to the monumentality of the structure.
Ching, Francis D.K. Architecture: Form, Space And Order. 3rd ed. Hoboken: Johnw Wiley and Sons, 2007.
Hillenbrand, Robert. "Mughal Architecture Explored." South Asian Studies 12, (1996): 105-23.
Michell, George. The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to its Meaning and Forms. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1988, 78-85.
