Emperor Humayun's Garden Tomb

Kangura

Kangura simply means "battlements."¹ More specifically, kangura is a decorative undulating pattern found directly above the molding at the top of many Mughal facades. The kangura pattern on Humayun's Tomb's facades  is an optical illusion that plays with the mind's perception of positive and negative space by taking advantage of the contrast between red sandstone and white marble. This bold red and white kangura pattern can also be found at the top of the hammam's facades and along the roof on three sides of the baradari.

At Humayun's Garden Tomb, kangura is created with a variety of materials. The kangura at the top of Humayun's Tomb's facades was constructed with red sandstone and white marble. Brown sandstone variations of the red and white kangura can be found at the top of the West Gate, the South Gate, and the Barber's Tomb. The kangura at the tops of the baradari and the hammam is either created with incised plaster and paint or glazed tile. Both methods can be seen in photographs of the restoration work on these buildings and other buildings at The Humayun's Tomb Complex from the Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Inistiative's website.² There is also kangura ornamentation crafted with glazed tile at the base of the blue domes of the chhatri pairs that sit on Humayun's Tomb's pishtaqs.³

1. Catherine B. Asher, Architecture of Mughal India (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), xxvi.

2. "Batashewala - Mughal Garden Tomb Complex: Conservation Report 2011-2015," Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative - Aga Khan Development Network - A People Public - Private Partnership, accessed July 14, 2020, http://www.nizamuddinrenewal.org/conservation/mughal-tomb/images/batashewala-mughal-garden-tomb-complex_conservation-report.pdf, 69.

3. Annual Report 2010," Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative - Aga Khan Development Network - A People Public - Private Partnership, accessed July 14, 2020, http://annualreport2016.nizamuddinrenewal.org/docs/Annual_Report_2010.pdf, 155-58.