Bara Lao ka Gumbad (Mission for Indian History and Archaeology)

New Delhi, India

1959-62 Survey

Located approximately 500 m west-northwest of Munīrka village. Grid ref. E-11

This is a domed building with a square plan, a miḥrāb on the west, and entrances on the other three sides. No tombstones can be verified as the building is currently used as a barn by farmers, but ASI writes of four tombs. This building is characterized by the designs and inscriptions covering the miḥrāb inside and the wall surfaces surrounding it, as well as by the decorative cross vaulting on the exterior of the dome. It stands upon a high plinth encircled by blind arches and underground rooms. The west side of this plinth is a wall mosque with fifteen miḥrābs, side walls, and turrets on each end as well as on each side of the central miḥrāb. This tomb is said to have been called Baṛā Lao kā Gumbad. There is another plinth adjoining this plinth to the south, on which a domed tomb structure stands. Period III.

IOC: VII-23; ASI: IV-120

ムニールカ部落の西北西約500メートルに.ある。附図.E-11

ドームをいただく四角平面の建物で,西にミヒラーブをもち,他の三方に入口を開いている。現在では,農罠によって納屋として使われているので,墓石については確認できないが,ASIは,4塞の墓の存在を記している。内部のミヒラーブとその周辺の壁面は,文様と碑文とによって一面におおわれており,また,ドームの外面が,交叉アーチによって装飾されているのが,この建物の特徴である。この建物は,周囲に龕と地下室とをめぐらす高い基壇の上に立っている。この基壇の西の部分には,15のミヒラーブと袖壁とをもつ礼拝壁があって,その両端と中央ミヒラーブの左右とには,小塔が立っている。この墓は,バラー=ラーオ=力=グンバッド(Bara Lao ka Gumbad)とよばれていたらしい。この基壇の南に接して,ドームをいただく墓建築をのせた,別の基壇がある。第Ⅲ期。

東研.Ⅶ-23;ASI.Ⅳ-120

2015-18 Survey

In 1959-62, this was used as a farmer’s barn, but today it is a park monument and has undergone drastic changes. The center arch of the wall mosque has fallen and is thought to have been destroyed intentionally. The same can be said of the neighboring T106, and there is no trace of the eight-pillared tomb architecture. Though T52 has been repaired, the turrets above the walls are not in good condition, and the elaborate stucco decoration of the mihrab inside barely remains. The corbels below the curved surfaces of the squinch arches have been repaired but with a different design.

[現状]1959-62年には農家の納屋として使われたが、現在では公園のモニュメントとなり、建物には大きな変化が認められる。壁モスクの中央アーチ部分は崩壊し、意図的な破壊が行われたように思われる。隣り合うT106も同様で、8本柱の墓建築は跡形もない。修理はされているものの、壁面上部のタレットの残りは悪く、内部のミフラーブの念入りのスタッコ装飾はほとんど残らない。また、スクインチ・アーチ曲面の下部の持送は、異なる形に修復される。

[平面]Monuments of Delhiによると、基壇が4.4m高、東西34.5m南北30.5mで、墓建築の外形13.2m四方。一辺35mほどの広い方形の高い基壇上に立ち、西側には15のミフラーブと袖壁をもつ壁モスクを備える。壁モスクの両端にボルジュ、中央ミフラーブ両脇にはタレットが立つ。現在は南側から階段で東に回ってアクセスするが、1959-62年の写真から正面入口は東側であったと推定される。基壇には小室が設けられ、隣り合うT106も同様な基壇をもち、東側に基壇上層への入口を設ける。墓建築自体は、西にミフラーブをもち、3方を開口する壁式ドーム建築。

[外観]4面の中央を突出、高く立上げ、中央突出部両端と壁面4隅にタレットをたてる。中央突出部の両側は、壁面に2層2列のアーチを重ねて分節する。西面は、他の3面と同じ分節ながら開口部はない。他3面の開口部アーチ内には持送付の梁柱入口を設け、上部にアーチの小窓を開ける。壁面上と16角形ドラムに頂部飾をまわす。ドラムの頂部飾は多弁形で、一部にタイルが残る。外側はスタッコ仕上で、外観ドームにも交差アーチの文様が線状に穿たれ、おそらくタイルが挿入されたと思われる。

[内観]スクインチ・アーチで8角形を導き、16連のアーチで16角形とし、16連のアーチ上に5層の帯状の部分を介してドームをのせる。ドームの星形交差文様はT33と同様にドームに垂直なアーチを用い、中央メダイオンと星形の外側に涙型メダイオンを挿入する西面はスクインチ・アーチの高さがミフラーブとなり、スプリンギング・ポイントの下部にもアーチが挿入される。また内部壁面両脇にはミフラーブや中央開口部よりも小型のアーチ型を分節し、アーチとする。中央アーチと両脇アーチの間には小型のアーチが挿入される。南面の開口部西側に屋上への階段が穿たれる。内装はスタッコを主体とする。

(Paragraphs 2nd, 3rd, and 4th from the 2015-18 Survey is translated using Google Translate)[Plan]

According to the Monuments of Delhi, the base is 4.4 meters high, 34.5 meters east to west, and 30.5 meters north to south, with the tomb's exterior dimensions being 13.2 meters square. It stands on a high, rectangular platform with sides of approximately 35 meters, and on the west side is a walled mosque with 15 mihrabs and side walls. There are borj structures at both ends of the walled mosque, and turrets on both sides of the central mihrab. Currently, access is via stairs from the south side around to the east, but photographs from 1959-62 suggest that the main entrance was on the east side. A small chamber is set atop the base, and the adjacent T106 has a similar base, with an entrance to the upper level on the east side. The tomb itself is a walled dome structure with a mihrab to the west and openings on three sides.

[Exterior] The central protrusion on each of the four sides is raised high, with turrets at both ends of the central protrusion and at the four corners of the walls. Both sides of the central protrusion are segmented by two rows of arches on two levels. The west side is segmented like the other three sides, but has no openings. The opening arches on the other three sides have corbel-mounted entrances with beam columns, and small arched windows at the top. The top ornament surrounds the walls and the 16-sided drum. The drum's top ornament is multi-lobed, with tiles remaining in some areas. The exterior is finished in stucco, and the exterior dome also has a linear pattern of intersecting arches carved into it, likely with tiles inserted.

[Interior] Squinch arches form an octagon, followed by 16 arches to form a 16-sided polygon, with the dome resting on five layers of bands. The dome's star-cross pattern uses arches perpendicular to the dome, as in T33. The west side, which has a central medallion and teardrop-shaped medallions inserted outside the star, forms a mihrab at the height of the squinch arch, and an arch is also inserted below the springing point. Additionally, on both sides of the interior walls, arches smaller than the mihrab and central opening are segmented and used as arches. Smaller arches are inserted between the central arch and both side arches. A staircase to the roof is carved into the west side of the opening on the south side. The interior is primarily made of stucco.

Map Reference: Grid ref. E-11

IOC Reference: T052, VII-23

ASI Reference:  IV-120

Archived IOC Site Record: https://perma.cc/2BJP-H7VB

Mission Credit Line : Mission for Indian History and Archaeology, University of Tokyo, in 1959-60 , 1961-62: the Resurvey of the Delhi Monuments, Research and Information Center for Asian Studies, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo in 2015-18.