Tomb of Salim Chisti
Tomb of Salim Chisti
- The tomb of Salim Chisti is located in the courtyard of the Jami Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri, its construction beginning along with the mosque in A.D. 1571.
- Originally a sandstone structure, it was converted into a more expensive marble structure sometime during the end of Jahangir’s reign and the beginning of Shah Jahan’s reign as per the style of the period, and thus creates a contrast with the grandiose, massive and purposeful nature of the structures surrounding it with its own light and airy nature which gives an appearance of chiseled, polished and fretted exquisiteness.
- The tomb consists of a square exterior of 24’ side which contains a mortuary chamber of 16’ side, the whole covered by a low dome.
- A wide verandah is carried around the outside, its roof supported by pillars with the interspaces filled with perforated screens, the whole measuring 48’ square.
- A porch, also supported on pillars is projected from the southern side.
- There are carved brackets all around to support the extremely wide eaves.
- The building itself is low and unimpressive but depends upon the material in which it is built and the ethereal manner in which the material has been handled for its effect.
- The pillars forming the porch with their honeycomb capitals and the brackets springing from their patterned shafts are its distinctive features. The brackets or struts are unique as they consist of serpentine volutes with the spaces between the curves filled in with perforated foliations, having the appearance of carved ivory than chiseled marble. Their prototype can be seen in the temples of Gujarat.
- The struts serve no structural purpose, but are mainly decorative.