QUTB MINAR

DELHI - FEBRUARY 2008

The Qutb Minar, inspired by the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan, is built on the ruins of the Red Citadel in the city of Dhillika, the capital of the Tomars and the Chauhans, the last Hindu rulers of Delhi.




"QUTB MINAR, built between 1193 and 1368 and one of the earliest examples of Indo-Islamic architecture, is the world's tallest (72 meters) brick minaret. Started by Delhi's first Muslim ruler - Qutb-ud-din Aibak - who only completed its base, was continued by Iltutmish, his successor, who added three more floors and was finished by Firuz Shah Tughluq, who built the last ones. The diameter of the base is 14.3 meters wide while the top floor measures 2.75 meters"



"DECORATION - Intricate carvings and verses from the Qur'an are visible on the Minaret"




"ALAI DERWAZA - This gateway to the complex, next to Imam Zamin's tomb, is a masterpiece of stone carving. It was built in 1311 by Ala-ud-din Khiji and is one of the earliest buildings use the Islamic principles of arched construction"


"MADRASA"


"GUPTA PILLAR - The almost seven meter high and six tons weight Iron Pillar is one of the world's foremost metallurgical curiosities. 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. However, people are no longer allowed to perform this act... It was erected by Chandragupta II Vikramaditya (375–414) of the Gupta dynasty and might have been transferred by Tomar King Anangapal, the creator of Delhi. Another interesting thing about this Pillar is that the iron has not rusted even after more than 1,500 years"



"THE QUWWAT-UL-ISLAM MOSQUE (Might of Islam) was built by Qutb-ud-din Aybak, founder of the Mamluk dynasty. The mosque construction started in the 1190s, and according to a Persian inscription, the mosque was built with parts taken out of the destruction of twenty-seven temples, including a Jain temple built previously during Tomars and Prithvi Raj Chauhan"



"ILTUTMISH TOMB - Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, who died in 1236, was the third Muslim Sultan of Delhi and the third ruler of the Mamluk dynasty"


"PILLARS reused from the former Jain temple"


"CEILING"


"ALAI MINAR - Ala-ud-din Khilji started building the Alai Minar, which was conceived to be two times higher than Qutub Minar. The construction was abandoned, however, soon after death of Ala-ud-din, when only the base - 24.5 meter high and still visible today - was completed"


"VISITORS"