-excerpt- The training project is run by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), which preserves Islamic buildings worldwide. In India, the AKTC has won plaudits for its 2003 restoration of Humayun’s Tomb, the bulbous-domed 16th-century precursor to the Taj Mahal, which is one of Delhi’s biggest tourist attractions.
This project is different, because unlike Humayun’s tomb, which stands in its own gated garden, the basti is densely populated.
The AKTC started working in here when part of a large 14th-century step-well, over which a concrete house had been built, collapsed. Other examples of neglect abound. A 14th-century mosque has been refaced with concrete. Several tombs, that have not yet been dated but are thought to be hundreds of years old, are inhabited by extended families.
Ismailimail 