There is a palpable sense of excitement as the restoration of the Qutb Shahi tombs complex gains pace. “We have discovered that the Abdullah Qutb Shah’s tomb had a ribbed structure that was plastered over during restoration in the 19th and 20th century,” says Ratish Nanda, CEO of Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), which is carrying out the conservation work along with the Telangana government. “All the tombs have some uniqueness. When we began chiselling the outer layer of Abdullah’s tomb, we found originally it was a ribbed dome, not tiled like Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah or flat like Hayat Bakshi Begum’s tomb,” informs Mr. Nanda. “We had hints about it, but once we began peeling away the outer layers, we could confirm it had ribs. We will restore the ribs and the whole effort may take a year,” he says.