Lodi Gardens
Lodi Gardens is a city park situated in New Delhi. Spread over, it contains Muhammad Shah's tomb, the tomb of Sikandar Lodi, the Shisha Gumbad and the Bara Gumbad. These monuments date from the late Delhi Sultanate, during the Sayyid dynasty and Lodi dynasty. At this time, the Delhi Sultanate's territory included parts of present-day North India and the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
As there is little architecture dating to the Sayyid and the Lodi periods still standing, Lodi Gardens is an important archaeological site, and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. The gardens are situated between Khan Market and Safdarjung's Tomb on Lodi Road and are a popular spot for morning walks for Delhiites.
Architecture
In the middle of the gardens is the Bara Gumbad, consisting of a large rubble-construct dome and is not a tomb but was constructed as a gateway to either the attached three domed or a large walled enclosure. Both the Bara Gumbad and the mosque were built in 1494 during the reign of Sikander Lodi, there is also a residence surrounding a central courtyard, where the remains of a water tank can be seen. Opposite the Bara Gumbad is the Shish Gumbad, which contains graves whose occupants are not clearly identifiable – either an unknown family of Sikandar Lodi's court or Bahlul Lodi.To the north of the garden are the remains of a stream which may once have run as far as the Yamuna River, and by its side is the tomb of Sikandar Lodi. This structure still has the battlements enclosing it. Visible from Sikander's tomb is the Bridge, one of the few monuments in Delhi that was built during the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar. The bridge contains seven arches, with the central one being the largest.
The tomb of Muhammad Shah, the last of the Sayyid dynasty rulers, is the earliest of the tombs in the garden, having been built in 1444 by Muhammad Shah's successor Ala-ud-din Alam Shah. The tomb is octagonal in shape, and is a good example of the inclusion of features from Hindu architecture into Indo-Islamic buildings. Numerous Hindu-style surround the central dome, each of them capped by a lotus finial with a decorative band around the base. Sloping buttresses at the corners are each topped with an ornamental, and a overhangs the numerous arches which open onto a veranda. The main tomb is supported by a 16-sided base. It is of a flattened type and the surrounding chhatris make it appear diminutive compared to its substantially larger base. The later tomb of Sikandar Lodi seems to have been copied from this Sayyid tomb.