At first sight it might appear that the design of this curious and exceptional tomb was either a caprice of the monarch who built it, or an importation from abroad ([Woodcut No. 335]). My impression, on the contrary, is, that it is a direct imitation of some such building as the old Buddhist viharas which may have existed, applied to other purposes in Akbar’s time. Turning back, for instance, to Woodcuts Nos. 66 and 181, representing the great rath at Mahavellipore, it will be seen that the number and proportion of the storeys is the same. The pavilions that adorn the upper storeys of Akbar’s tomb appear distinct reminiscences of the cells that stand on the edge of each platform of the rock-cut example. If the tomb had been crowned by a domical chamber over the tombstone, the likeness would have been so great that no one could mistake it, and my conviction is, that such a chamber was part of the original design. No such royal tomb remains exposed to the air in any Indian mausoleum; and the raised platform in the centre of the upper cloister, 38 ft. square, looks so like its foundation that I cannot help believing it was intended for that purpose. As the monument now stands, the pyramid has
334. Diagram Section[549] of one-half of Akbar’s Tomb at Secundra, explanatory of its Arrangements. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
a truncated and unmeaning aspect. The total height of the building now is a little more than 100 ft. to the top of the angle pavilions; and a central dome 30 or 40 ft. higher, which is the proportion that the base gives, seems just what is wanted to make this tomb as beautiful in outline and in proportion as it is in detail. Had it been so completed, it certainly would have ranked next the Taje among Indian mausolea.[550]
335. View of Akbar’s Tomb, Secundra. (From a Photograph.)
Jehangir, A.D. 1605-1628.