REMNANTS OF ANCIENT VISHNU TEMPLE AT HUMAYUN TOMB SITE, NEW DELHI

A photo taken some time before 1893 is reproduced here from page 78-79 of  the book 'The World of Ancient India' which indicates that the site where the Humayun Tomb stands today was the site of an ancient Vishnupada Temple. The book, 'The World of Ancient India' is the English version of Dr. Gustave Le Bon's original French work titled 'Les Monuments de L'Inde' which was published in Paris in 1893. The English translation was published by David Macrae, Tudor Publishing Co., (New York) in 1974.

'Vishnu Pada' (विष्णुपद) or 'Vishnu Charan' (विष्णुचरण) temples are significant in the context of the legend that Vishnu, in the avatara of Vamana, strode across the world and planted his feet at three sites on earth. These sites are unknown but many temples in India commemorate this legend of Vishnu. 'Pada' and 'Charan' both mean 'feet'. The destroyed Vishnupada temple at the site where Humayun Tomb stands today was one such site.

Oblivious of this fact, the Hindus still believe that the only significant Vishnupada temples that ever existed were the one at Gaya in Bihar located on the Niranjana river now known by the meaningless name 'Falgu', and the other, which too was destroyed by the Slave Dynasty rulers of Delhi, at the Kutub Complex in Delhi.

However, there is evidence of a third site of a Vishnupada temple which was built in antiquity on the original course of the Yamuna river. The tract of land that connects the site of present day Humayun Tomb and Purana Kila is more or less accepted as the site of the Indraprastha city of Mahabharata.  The Yamuna river course has of course since then shifted. 

Here is the evidence in the form of a photograph of the Vishnu footprint slab, or Vishnu-pada taken at the Humayun Tomb site in Delhi which appeared in Dr. Gustave le Bon's English version of the French book Monuments De L'Inde. The slab had survived at least until 1893 when the picture was taken. The photograph was captioned in the English version of the book 'The World of Ancient India' as 'Vishnu's "Footprints", Tomb of Humayun'.

Vishnu's Footprints from the ancient temple at Humayun Tomb, photographed around the year 1893 at the Humayun Tomb.
From Gustave Le Bon's  book 'Les Monuments de L'Inde'

Above is the caption from the English version of Le Bon's book
titled 'The World of Ancient India'

A page from Le Bon's book

There are other indications that the Humayun Tomb was constructed by the Moghuls on the site of an ancient Hindu temple. Some remnants of those ancient structures still remain.

Ancient Temple Pillars were used as construction material.

Here we see eroded carvings of elephant trunks on the pillars of Humayun Tomb rampart.

Another view of the pillars taken from destructed Hindu Temples
and used for construction of Humayun Tomb. In the background
is a section of a typical Moghul fortress wall at the Isa Khan Tomb within the Humayun Tomb Complex.

Notice the 'elephant head' engravings at the bottom of the pillar -
a characteristic of Vedic and Hindu art.

A closer view of a less eroded
'elephant head' engraving.

Ancient Temple Pillars were used as construction material at Humayun Tomb. Notice that the pillars were placed upside down in this 'canopy structure' by the artisans in Moghul times.

The white quartz structure which is a remnant of the ancient temple is far more eroded than the red-sandstone rectangular structure dating to Moghul times. Sandstone erodes faster than quartz. The fact that the sandstone piece is in better shape than the quartz structure proves that the quartz pillars
are much older than the sandstone piece.

Eroded engravings on Temple Pillars which were used for construction
of tomb of Isa Khan at the Humayun Tomb Complex indicates that they belong to a different era.

That Humayun Tomb was built over the site of a Hindu temple is beyond doubt. But as Gustave Le Bon states in his book 'The Crowd', " The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste. preferring to deify error, if error seduce them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master, whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim."