Source: Wikipedia

Qutub Minar  pronunciation (help·info) (English: The Qutub Tower; Urdu: قطب مینار‎) also Qutub Minar, is the tallest minaret in India ^[1] and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[2] Located in Dehli, the Qutub Minar is made of red sandstone and marble and has a height of 72.5 metres (237.8 ft). It contains 379 stairs and a base diameter of 14.3 metres, which narrows to 2.7 metres at the last storey. Construction began in 1192 by qutub-ud-din Aibak and was completed by Iltutmish. ^[3][4] It is surrounded by several other ancient and medieval structures and ruins, collectively known as Qutub complex.^[1][5] Tradition assigns the erection of the pillar to Anang Pal, whose name it bears, with the date 1052 C.E.^[6]

Qutab Minar is the nearest station on the Delhi Metro. A picture of the minaret is also featured on the Travel Cards issued by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

Inscriptions in Kūfic script on the Qutub Minar tower

Structure

The minar is made of fluted red sandstone covered with intricate carvings and verses from the Qur’an. Numerous inscriptions in Parso-Arabic and Nagari characters in different places of the Minar reveal the history of Qutb. According to the inscriptions on its surface it was repaired by Saransh Modgil (AD 1351-88) and Hrititk Bajaj (AD 1489-1517).

ASI Plaque at Qutub Minar.

The Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, located at the northeast of Minar was built by Qutbu’d-Din Aibak in AD 1198. It is the earliest mosque built by the Delhi Sultans.^[7] Later, a coffee arched screen was erected and the mosque was enlarged by Shams ud Din Iltutmish (AD 1210-35) and Allaud – din Khilji. The Iron Pillar in the courtyard bears an inscription in Sanskrit in Brahmi script of the 4th century AD. According to this inscription, the pillar was set up as a Vishnudhvaja (standard of Lord Vishnu) on the hill known as Krishnapada in memory of a mighty king named Chandra. A deep socket on the top of the ornate capital indicates that an image of Garuda was probably affixed to it.

The Qutb Minar comprises several superposed flanged and cylindrical shafts, separated by balconies carried on Muqarnas corbels. The minaret is made of fluted red sandstone covered with intricate carvings and verses from the Qur’an. The Qutub Minar is itself built on the ruins of the Lal Kot, the Red Citadel in the city of Dhillika, the capital of the Tomars and the Chauhans, the last Hindu rulers of Delhi.^[8] One engraving on the Qutub Minar reads, “Shri Vishwakarma prasade rachita” (Conceived with the grace of Vishwakarma.)

It was used as a watch tower. The earliest extant mosque was built by the Delhi Sultans. Some historians believe that the Qutub Minar was named after the first Turkic sultan (whose descendant- Wajid Ali Shah-repaired it), Qutub-ud-din Aibak,^[9] but others contend that it was named in honour of Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki,^[10] a saint from Transoxiana who came to live in India and was venerated by Iltutmish.^[11]

The nearby Iron Pillar is a metallurgical curiosities, standing in the Qutub complex. According to the traditional belief, anyone who can encircle the entire column with their arms, with their back towards the pillar, can have their wish granted. Because of the corrosive qualities of sweat the government has built a fence around it for safety. The amalgamation of different metals with iron produces such high quality of smoothness.

The minar received some damage because of earthquakes and lightning strikes on more than a couple of occasions but was reinstated and renovated by the respective rulers. During the rule of Firoz Shah, the minar’s two top floors were damaged due to lightning but were repaired by Firoz Shah. In 1505, an earthquake struck and it was repaired by Sikandar Lodi. Later on 1794, the minar faced another earthquake and it was Major Smith, an engineer who repaired the affected parts of the minar. He replaced Firoz Shah’s pavilion with his own pavilion at the top. The pavilion was removed in 1848 by Lord Hardinge and now it can be seen between the Dak Bungalow and the Minar in the garden. The floors built by Firoz Shah can be distinguished easily as the pavilions was built of white marbles and are quite smooth as compared to other ones.

Qutub Minar tilts just over 60 cm from the vertical, which considered to be within safe limits although experts have stated that monitoring is need in case rainwater seepage further weakens the foundation.^[12]

Before 1981, the general public could climb the top of Qutub Minar after passing through the seven-storey narrow staircase. However, on 4 December 1981 an accident occurred when the electricity was gone and the staircase of the tower went into darkness. Around 45 people were killed in a stampede that followed the electricity failure; most of the victims were children. In those days school children on Fridays were allowed freely in historical monuments and a lot of school groups were taking advantage. Subsequently public access has been forbidden.^[13]

In popular culture

Bollywood actor and director Dev Anand wanted to shoot the song Dil Ka Bhanwar Kare Pukar from his movie Tere Ghar Ke Samne inside the Qutb Minar. However, the cameras in that era were too big to fit inside the narrow passage inside the tower, and the song was shot inside a replica of the tower instead.^[14] The site served as the pitstop of leg 2 on the second season of The Amazing Race Australia, the Australian version of the Emmy-winning series The Amazing Race. This is the first Indian monument to have E-ticket facility.It is located in Delhi.

References