B-list: Safdarjung's Tomb

The other day I decided to go to Safdarjung's Tomb, which is one of the few Mughal-era tombs scattered around Delhi. Although Safdarjung's Tomb is mentioned in my guidebook it is given no love there--the entire entry is like two sentences. Also, in William Dalrymple's great travel book, City of Djinn's: a Year in Delhi, William seems singularly unimpressed and basically talks smack about the place during his entire visit there--that it's rundown, has none of the grace and detailing of the Taj, is a patch-work of second rate materials, etc.

So, I wasn't expecting much when I went to visit (and honestly, I just decided to visit because it was an attraction easily accessible from my metro line). I was pretty much the only tourist there during the hour and half I wandered around the place, though there were many of Indian couples nestled away in the nooks of the tomb on and the ground. (As I've mentioned in prior posts--young, likely illicit, Indian couples just love themselves some good ruins and a park for canoodling.)

Anyway, this is what B-list Delhi attraction looks like: an enormous, beautifully designed Mughal building, fully intact and just radiating in the afternoon sun. (And did I mention I had it all to my touristy self?)

This was the best of many awkward selfies I tried to take. What can I say, there were no other tourists I could ask to take the picture for me!

 

Safdarjung's actual tomb itself. See, glowing!

 

I enjoyed the fact that all of the graffiti on the tomb was romance-based.

 

At one point, an Indian women making out with her boyfriend/husband/lover noticed my awkward attempts to take selfies, paused her make-out session and took this picture. While I very much appreciated her good manners (though, I think her boyfriend did not!) I think she could have used some initial point and shoot pointers.

Bonus, note my cute kurta and pyjama ensemble!

The tomb from the front view.

And the back view