Read this short write up to know about the plan
and layout of the tomb of Akbar at Sikandara, Agra.
Layout of Akbar's Tomb Sikandra
The massive mausoleum complex has a square plan.
Centrally located in a vast garden, it is surrounded by high battlement
walls. There are octagonal towers at the corners and a lofty iwan
(portal), in the middle of each side of the outer enclosure wall. While
the southern portal serves as the main entrance, the other three are
merely ornamental in nature. Thus, the southern portal is most imposing
and elegant of all the four portals. It boasts of bold inlaid
ornamentation and four marble minarets over the roof of the gateway.
These minarets are believed to be the precursors of the minarets of Taj.
A broad paved causeway leads one from this daunting gateway to the main
building of the mausoleum. The main tomb rests on a white marble
platform and has five storeys sloping inwards towards the top.