Mariyam's TombMajor Attractions: Mughal Mausoleum, Garden Complex, Historical Architecture, Heritage SiteTop Activities: Historical tours, photography, heritage explorationDuration: 1 HourBest Time to Visit: October to MarchNear the tomb of Sikandra lies the tomb of Mariam-uz-Zamani. Wife of Emperor Akbar and the mother of Emperor Jahangir. It displays a mingling of Rajput and Mughal architecture. Set in a garden, the ambience is tranquil and transports you back to the Mughal era. It may not be the most thronged attraction, but it does share with us the tales of the contribution of women in the royal household to art and politics. Actually, the intriguing thing is that there are three graves, even though there is only one person buried here. Mariam-uz-Zamani. The uppermost of these three, located at the very top of the monument is open to the sky in a similar fashion to Akbar’s cenotaph, and according to Catherine Asher, it is the association with the concept of light within the Mughal canon, that seems relevant, as seen from the inscription in Persian over the entrance to the gate of the Akbar cenotaph in the roof of the monument to him “May his soul shine like the sun and the moon, like the light of the Lord, and it doesn’t seem like a great leap of faith to attribute similar symbolic sentiments to his son Jahangir who was the author of his father’s monument. Of course, there’s no need for any particular inference – if not for the Mughal connection, Islamic mysticism dictates that tombs may be open to the sky, as the grave of Babur in Kabul (the paternal grandfather of Akbar) demonstrates.
