UNESCO Heritage Site: Humayun's Tomb with Nizamuddin Basti Walking Tour

Your tour covers two main areas—the Humayun's Tomb complex and the Nizamuddin Basti. Your guide meets you at Humayun’s Tomb and takes you on a tour of both places. Below are the sites you will see according to the route that is followed with your guide.

In the Humayun's Tomb complex, first visit the mosque and tomb of Isa Khan Niyazi, a nobleman in the court of Sher Shah Suri. The mosque is exceptionally lovely, with incised plaster work and glazed tiles in green, yellow, and bright blue. Then head to Arab Sarai, built for 300 Arab servants that Emperor Humayun's widow Hamida Banu Begum brought back to India from Mecca, and look to the left to see the garden and tomb of Bu Halima. Finally, you'll see Humayun’s Tomb itself, commissioned by Hamida Banu Begum some years after the death of the emperor in 1556.

Continue your tour to the settlement now known as Nizamuddin Basti—a village-like tangle of alleys directly surrounding the dargah (shrine)—which has only existed in its present form for about 60 years. Walk along the 'street of flowers' (Phoolon Ki Galli) toward the baoli (stepwell), known as Chashma Dilkusha (‘Heart-uplifting Spring'). You'll see the tomb of revered 13th-century saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya of the Chishti Order, visited by thousands of pilgrims each year. Other figures from history, such as Princess Jahanara, Amir Khusro, and Mirza Jahangir, are also buried in this tomb complex. Chausath Khamba ('64 Pillars') is another tomb, which stands within a raised, walled enclosure, approached through a stone gateway.

Finally, see the tomb of Mirza Ghalib, generally acknowledged to be one of the greatest Persian- and Urdu-language poets, who lived most of his life in Delhi in the 19th century. After completing the tour, you have the opportunity to listen to Sufi devotional music, qawwali, with your guide's assistance, if you wish (Thursday evenings only).