'History Revisited'-part 1: Qutab Minar

Sometimes when you want something badly and you have been waiting long for 'it' to happen. Then, the 'wait' becomes longer and time seems to move very slow. It feels as if the rest of the world is functioning as it is! but you are left in a vacuum where time is still....

To get me out of this vacuum mode I thought of sharing some pics about my visit to one of the very famous historical monuments of Delhi that I happen to go to last weekend.I needed to move out  of this stillness. So ! me and my phone headed for some phoneography after lunch. It was a weekend, Delhi was a l'll quiet on roads. Not many cars racing around so driving was no pain;)

Sun sneaking behind the Minaret-beautiful monument. Qutab Minar & its monuments are listed as UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE.

 But as soon as you reach Mehrauli, noise from tourist buses,vehicles and lot of tourists around indicated that we've arrived at our destination. Interestingly, I saw a a good set of postcards of UNESCO HERITAGE sites in India (published By ASI) and you bet! I bought some of those :)

Qutab Minar- A photographer's delight and archaeologically a beautiful monument to visit. My advise is to go to this monument preferably early mornings.'Coz during the day time there are so many people around that it becomes difficult  to get good pictures of this heritage site.

Qutab Minar was conceived by Qutub-Ud-Din-Aibak, as a tower of victory attached to Quwwat-Ul-Islam Mosque. It is the tallest stone tower in India. At a height of 238 ft and 379 steps,its height is still 5ft less than that of Taj Mahal. 

There are numerous inscriptions in Arabic & Devnagari characters in different places on the Minar that explain its history. The main mosque-Quwwat-Ul-Islam Mosque, to the North-East of Minar, is said to be the earliest Mosque built by Delhi Sultans on Indian Soil during those days.

This view was a l'll difficult to capture :)

Ruins at Qutab Minar

This Minar was made for the use of mu'azzin (crier) to give calls for prayer near the Mosque. Qutab-Ud-Din-Aibak raised the first storey. His successor & son-In -Law Iltutmish added three more to it. When this was damaged by lightening in 1326 & 1368, the fourth storey was dismantled and reconstructed by Firoz Tughlaq with an additional storey(making it a five storied structure). Later in 1503,Sikandar Lodi carried out the stone restoration in the upper stories.

These sets of corridors were almost every where. Early mornings are a perfect time  to zoom  in on these and capture light filtering through them. But alas! I went during the day time. 

The entire area consists of a rectangular courtyard enclosed by cloisters,erected with the carved columns and architectural members of twenty-seven Hindu & Jaina temples which were demolished by Qutab-Ud -Din-Aibak. This account was recorded in his inscription on the main eastern entrance.

Likewise, the Iron-Pillar in the courtyard bears an inscription in Sanskrit in Brahmi script of 4th century AD indicating that the pillar was set up as a 'Vishnudhvaja'(standard or 'dhvaja' of God Vishnu) on the hill known as Vishnupada in the memory of a mighty king named Chandra. It is said that Iltutmish shifted it from Udaigiri (MP) in 1233.