Image: Ustad's Tomb Nakodar, Punjab

Description: The Tomb of Mohammed Momin was erected over the mortal remains of Ustad Muhammed Momin also known as Ustad Ustad Muhammed Husseini alias Hafizak, a tambura player in the service of Khan-I-Khanan, one of the Mavaratnas in the court of Emperor Akbar in AD 1021 (AD 1612). Standing on an octagonal platform and approached by a flight of steps on two sides, it is square from inside and octagonal on outside. Surmounted by a pinnacle, the hemispherical dome sits over a low cylindrical drum and is relieved by four cupolas. Each of the longer face is pierced by deep recesses while the shorter by half octagonal recesses placed one over the other, all covered by pointed arches. The entrances are on the northern and southern recesses while the other recesses are blocked with pierced tracery screens. The middle portions of the panels on the exterior and the arch spandrels are decorated with geometric design in glazed tile work. The upper and lower panel, framed in lines of red plastered bricks, contain painted designs showing guldastas. Originally within the burial chamber are two elegent sarcophagi of sienna coloured marble inlaid with white marble inscription , which are now lost. Tomb of Haji JamalNakodar Tomb is close to the tomb of Muhammed Momin. This tomb was raised over the mortal remains of Haji Jamal, a pupil of Ustad Muhammed Husseini, the tambura player, towards the close of Emperor Shah Jahan’s regin. The two lined inscription engraved on the entrance gate of the tomb refers to its bing the tomb of Haji Jamal and gives a date of AH 1067 ( AD 1657). It stands in the middle of the square platform, paneled on all sides with deep recesses concealing two flight of steps on each side. Each of the four faces have octagonal recesses covered by pointed archs. The southern one gives access to the burial chamber while the remaining ones are closed with pierced tracery screens. Its inner chamber is octagonal where as the outer plan is square having octagonal turrets surmounted with domed cupolas added to the corners. A bulbous dome crowned with pinnacle sits over a high drum and is balanced by the four cupolas crowning the turrets at the cornor. The façade is divided into red stucco covered brick framed panels and painted with white lines. The larger panels are filled with flower pots and the smaller with geometrical designs. The broad belts between the panels are ornamented with diper designs in tiles of different colours. The octagonal towers and the battlements as well as the pinnacles of the domes are ornamented with glazed tiles. (Notification no. 4687 dated 18-02-1919 Archaeological Survey of India, Chandigarh Circle) On the west of the tombs is a gateway said to have been built in A.D.1667. There is another smaller gateway on the east, now in ruins. To the north is a tank, the bricks of which were largely used in the building of Nakodar Cantonment, on one side of it is a summer house, now used as the Sub-Judge-cum-Judicial Magistrate's Court. Beyond the tank is Baradari containing the shrine of Bahadur Khan who died during the reign of Jahangir, and also an old mosque which is now in a dilapidated condition.
Title: Ustad's Tomb Nakodar, Punjab
Credit: Own work
Author: Gaurav Madhopuri
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
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