The Qutb Shahi tomb complex is a 500-year-old cluster of grand mausoleums, graves, funerary mosques, a hammam (bath), and baolis (stepwells). The Mughal emperor Aurgangzeb’s relentless attack on the Golconda fort led to the fall of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty. Of the seven kings, six have their mausoleums at the tomb complex. After a decade-long restoration effort by the Telangana government’s Department of Heritage and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), supported by several agencies, the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park was opened to the public last month. The AKTC and its CEO and conservation architect, Ratish Nanda, believes this project is the largest conservation project effort anywhere in the world taken up by a single agency. “We set out to conserve about 40-45 monuments over the years and we now have conserved over 100 monuments, buildings and many of 169 open graves. We are very proud that our work will open a much greater understanding of the Qutb Shahi era,” says Nanda.