Delhi City’s tallest beauty!

During eighth century A.D. Turkish, Arabian and Mangolian cultures started invading into the main cultural stream of India. When these foreign cultural people started living in India during medieval period, they employed local Hindu masons for constructing their architectural marvels i.e. mosques, tombs, maqbaras, madarasas, forts & fortresses. It is because of this reason that we see the mixture of various cultural influences in these architectural works of medieval India. Thus a new Indianised style of semi-circular domes, mehrabs (conical minars which were earlier being used for temple niche of the Buddhists or Hindu deities) came into existence.

One good example of such medieval Indo Islamic architecture is Qutub minar at Delhi.

Qutub Minar.
 

(Qutub= Name of the mogul ruler who built it; Minar=Tower)

 

An exquisite example of Indo-Islamic Afghan architecture, the construction of which was started by Qutab-uddin Aibak and was completed later by his successor Iltutmish.

Qutb-Minar in red and buff standstone is the highest tower in India. It has a diameter of 14.32 m at the base and about 2.75 m on the top with a height of 72.5 m. There are 379 steps in this to reach the top. Nowadays tourists are not allowed to climb to the top thanks to modern day security!

The walls of Qutub minar are decorated by the verses of Qur’an. Besides Qur’an numerous inscriptions in Arabic and Nagari characters in different places of the minar reveal the history of Qutb. All the storeys are surrounded by a projected balcony encircling the minar and supported by stone brackets, which are decorated with honey-comb design, more conspicuously in the first storey.

This is a tower of victory, a monument that signify the might of Islam, or a tower for keeping a check for defence.

UNESCO has declared this as a World Heritage Site. Qutub minar over the years has been hit by ravages of nature like lightning and earthquake but still stands tall after minor repairs by subsequent rulers. 

 

 

The Iron Pillar in the courtyard bears an inscription in Sanskrit in Brahmi script of fourth century AD, according to which the pillar was set up as a Vishnudhvaja (standard of god Vishnu) on the hill known as Vishnupada in memory of a mighty king named Chandra. A deep socket on the top of the ornate capital indicates that probably an image of Garuda was fixed into it. Some of the motifs viz., the wheel, tassel etc., are reminiscent of Hindu designs.

Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, to the north-east of minar was built by Qutbu'd-Din Aibak in AD 1198. It is the earliest extant mosque built by the Delhi Sultans. It consists of a rectangular courtyard enclosed by cloisters, erected with the carved columns and architectural members of 27 Hindu and Jaina temples which were demolished by Qutbu'd-Din Aibak as recorded in his inscription on the main eastern entrance. (Ref: Archaeological Survey of India.)