Zobia Ibrahim Sheikhani

HOADA – Final Paper

Art and architecture is majorly observed through the eye. However, art and architecture is not

only a source for the observer to stand and admire. Art and its maker are also subject to

competition, critics, comparison, and judgement. The notion that art is only considered pleasing

if it fulfills a certain criteria of aesthetic and beauty is bred by the need for visual apprehension. .

So is the mentality of competitive and comparative culture. A structure, for example, is highly

unlikely to stand by itself in isolation. It is always put up against another to be compared or

judged to match a certain mark of beauty to be considered valid. A lot of times we are made to

perceive something a specific way which builds a cultural or national narrative that begins

rooting deep in the society. This may be done by a number of entities for a number of reasons

through a number of ways. It’s here where visual culture comes in to shape a perspective into a

person’s mind. Robert S. Nelson, in his paper ‘Descartes’s Cow and Other Domestications of the

Visual’, classifies visual apprehension into two ideologies; vision and visuality. He explains that

vision is basically the mechanism of sight1 and visuality is among how we see, how we are able,

allowed or made to see, and how we see this seeing or the unseen therein.2 Through visual

culture (TV, media, film) a person’s visuality forms and a perspective is then built. Visualities

are also created around buildings and monuments which gradually build perspectives and decide

how a building is portrayed (in contrast with another) in national settings. Humayun’s Tomb and

Taj Mahal are one of the most famous Mughal monuments. In this paper, I will argue over the

way visual culture represents and compares Humayun’s Tomb and Taj Mahal to prioritize one

1
Nelson, Descartes's Cow and Other Domestications of the Visual 2000, 1.

2
Ibid.
monument way more than the other and how it impacts national perspective regarding one

monument. My correlating source will be a song, Bol Na Halke Halke from the Bollywood

movie Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007).

Humayun’s Tomb is a monument commissioned by Mughal Emperor Humayun’s first wife,

Empress Bega Begum after his death, in 1558. It is located in

Dehli, India. Its architects were Persian, Mirak Mirza Ghiyath

and his son, Sayyed Muhammad. This tomb follows a leap in

Mughal architectural style as never seen before in India with its

Figure 1: Humayun's Tomb (1565). Built
by Empress Bega Begum. Dehli, India.
Persian Gardens. It was set as paradigm for Mughal architecture

in years to come. It was also declared a UNESCO World

Heritage Site in 1993.

The famous Taj Mahal is a white marble monument commissioned by Mughal Emperor Shah

Jahan in portrayal of love for his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal,

in 1632. It is located in Agra, India. Its architect was Ustad

Ahmad Lahori. Its construction was finally completed in 1653.

The Taj Mahal is found to be incorporated with Persian designs

and earlier Mughal architecture. It also became a UNESCO Figure 2: Taj Mahal (1653). Built by Mughal
Emperor Shah Jahan. Agra, India.

World Heritage Site in 1983.

In the song Bol Na Halke Halke, Rikki, the male protagonist, takes Alvirah, the female

protagonist, to Humayun’s Tomb in Dehli. He introduces

the tomb to her as Taj Mahal. Her expressions are

sarcastic when she says that Taj isn’t made by red stones.

To this Rikki says someone scrubbed red paint on it and

that it actually is Taj. Finally, he accepts that it isn’t Taj Mahal and that he couldn’t afford to

take her to Dehli where Taj is so took her to Humayun’s Tomb. Alvirah then says that she will

consider this her Taj Mahal from now on. There were a few problematic portrayals in this scene.

Firstly, through the characters’ comments it implies that Humayun’s tomb is not a successful

monument when put up against Taj, in a derogatory manner. It is shown under a lower light than

the ‘mighty’ Taj Mahal.

However, if we are to look back in history towards the making, it is apparent that Taj Mahal isn’t

a unique design, in fact it is a culmination of an already existing, extraordinary monument built

around 80 years ago before Taj Mahal, Humayun’s Tomb itself. R.A. Jairazbhoy best describes it

in his paper on The Taj Mahal in the Context of East and West: A Study in the Comparative

Method, that even a slight knowledge of the subject is sufficient to confirm that the latter would

not have been possible without the former, which at the time of its construction was an entirely

new type of building in India.3

Humayun’s Tomb, a massive red-sandstone and white-marble structure built around a rubble

core4 is perhaps the most underrated form of Mughal architecture. Looking at both of the

monuments, the resemblance in the design is evident. Though Taj Mahal is a masterpiece in its

all white-marble structure, it is important to understand that the Taj did not simply appear in its

perfect form. Most people are not aware of the fact that Humayun’s Tomb is the unique

structure. The question is as to why it isn’t so popular as the Taj Mahal? It is because of how we

are made to see something, that we have built a certain perspective regarding a monument. Since

its making, due to its pearl white exterior, Taj Mahal has been in the limelight. It is also a

symbolism of love as Shah Jahan built it for his deceased favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Though
3
Jairazbhoy, The Taj Mahal in the Context of East and West: A Study in the Comparative Method 1961, 59.
4
Lowry, Humayun’s Tomb: Form, Function, and Meaning in Early Mughal Architecture 1987, 133.
looking back in history, it comes to knowledge that Bega Begum built Humayun’s tomb in his

memory. It is also a portrayal of love which isn’t famous because all spotlight has been only set

onto Taj Mahal. Another possibility of this consequence could be that in his reign, Humayun was

a weak ruler comparatively with Shah Jahan who was more powerful, and due to this fact, the

perspective of strong being better than weak takes hold and affects people’s psyche regarding

Humayun’s Tomb. Humayun was a weak ruler so the portrayal of love for him is overshadowed

by Shah Jahan’s love for Mumtaz Mahal in the form of Taj Mahal, and this is a story we hear to

date.

This outlook is also carried forward further into the song when Rikki and Alvirah are shown

making love in a field from where they could easily see Taj Mahal and its surrounding buildings,

and later Rikki asks Alvirah’s hand for marriage from the

same view. This is a standpoint for my above analysis.

The interpretation of this scene unfolds as such that even

though he had firstly taken Alvirah to show Humayun’s

Tomb, it wasn’t a good enough romantic site or worthy

enough to be standing on its own, and that priority was given to Taj Mahal. It is always put in

comparison with Taj Mahal in an inferior manner.

Humayun’s Tomb and Taj Mahal both have large domes that rise from the center. They both

have large pistaq entrances with tops that break the rest of the façade. They also have major

layout similarities. It is always to be noted, though, that Humayun’s Tomb was an original design

that had never been seen in the subcontinent before.

Referring back to my point regarding vision and visuality, we see here that even though, through

vision, Taj Mahal is mesmerizing and a beauty indeed, there are other monuments that are also
well built in their own way and can stand independently with their own beauty. It’s through

visuality that we build a certain perspective around Taj Mahal that every other monument, even

when it’s not being compared, falls short in its deserved appreciation and recognition. Since the

beginning, we are taught that Taj Mahal is extreme supremacy. We have never been exposed to

Humayun’s Tomb, that in actual is the precedent, and an inspiration for Taj Mahal.

Humayun’s Tomb is rarely ever talked about in its individuality, rather always discussed in

accordance with Taj Mahal. Despite the tomb’s size and importance, remarkably few scholars

have studied it seriously5; published work has concentrated almost exclusively on the

mausoleum’s formal qualities and relationship to later monuments such as the Taj Mahal6.

This is how a national perception is set and visual culture is the most prominent aid in this

setting. We learn what we see, and certain things we are made to see a certain way, which then

carries on towards generations. National culture is then shaped into being an overall

understanding of a concept, Humayun’s Tomb and its lack of recognition in this case. Robert S.

Nelson writes that seeing is motivated by both the seer and the seen and at times directed by

needs beyond the conscious awareness of the subject7. A lot of times how we see something has

already been influenced by our learned, socially controlled, and organized concepts that we have

grown up with.

In conclusion, I want to add, that Humayun’s Tomb does not receive its deserved recognition.

My history course encourages us to not approach buildings independently but in comparison

with another, however, even if the tomb is put up in comparison with Taj Mahal it is always in

5
Lowry, Humayun’s Tomb: Form, Function, and Meaning in Early Mughal Architecture 1987, 133.
6
Ibid.
7
Nelson, Descartes's Cow and Other Domestications of the Visual 2000, 8.
an inferior way that shuts down the tomb’s presence and highlights Taj Mahal. This represents

overall how the society thinks.

Bibliography

1. Nelson, R. S. (2000). Descartes's Cow and Other Domestications of The Visual

[Introduction]. In Visuality before and beyond the Renaissance: Seeing as others saw (pp.

1-15). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

2. Ibid.

3. Jairazbhoy, R. A. (1961). The Taj Mahal in the Context of East and West: A Study in the

Comparative Method [Abstract]. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes,

24(1/2), 59. doi:10.2307/750772.

4. Lowry, Glenn D. "Humayun's Tomb: Form, Function, and Meaning in Early Mughal

Architecture." Muqarnas 4 (1987): 133-48. Accessed December 11, 2020.

doi:10.2307/1523100.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. Nelson, R. S. (2000). Descartes's Cow and Other Domestications of The Visual

[Introduction]. In Visuality before and beyond the Renaissance: Seeing as others saw (pp.

1-15). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.