India Guide
Delhi
Qutb Minar Complex
Address: off Aurobindo Marg, 13km south of Connaught Place
Price: Rs250
Opening time: Daily sunrise to sunset
Known as the Qutb Minar Complex, the first monuments of Muslim India stand atop the eleventh-century foundations of Lal Kot, the "first city of Delhi". The fluted red-sandstone tower of the Qutb Minar tapers upwards from the ruins, covered with intricate carvings and deeply inscribed verses from the Koran, to a height of just over 72m. Work started on Qutb-ud-Din Aibak's victory tower in 1202, to celebrate the advent of the Muslim dominance of Delhi (and much of the Subcontinent) that was to endure until 1857. For Qutb-ud-din, who died four years after gaining power, this marked the eastern extremity of the Islamic faith, casting the shadow of God over east and west. It was also a minaret, from which the muezzin called the faithful to prayer.
Adjacent to the tower lie the ruins of India's first mosque, Quwwat-ul-Islam ("the Might of Islam"), commissioned by Qutb-ud-din and built using the remains of 27 Hindu and Jain temples. Steps lead to an impressive courtyard flanked by cloisters and supported by pillars unmistakably taken from a Hindu temple and adapted to accord with strict Islamic law forbidding iconic worship – all the faces of the columns' decorative carvings have been removed. Especially fine ornamental arches, rising as high as 16m, remain of what was once the prayer hall. Beautifully carved sandstone screens, combining Koranic calligraphy with the Indian lotus, form a facade immediately to the west, facing Mecca.
In complete contrast to the mainly Islamic surroundings, an Iron Pillar (7.2m) stands in the precincts of Qutb-ud-din's original mosque, bearing fourth-century Sanskrit inscriptions of the Gupta period attributing it to the memory of King Chandragupta II (375–415 AD). Once topped with an image of the Hindu bird god, Garuda, the extraordinarily pure but rust-free pillar has puzzled metallurgists.