Qutub Minar

Qutub Minaar or Qutb Minar, I visited this place recently in the month of May 2009, when one of my friend wanted to see the place. I had visited the place when I was kid and I never included this place in my list to explore. When I went there and saw the place I wondered on my decusion. By chance that day was awesome, the temperature at May at Delhi was quite good. Very exceptional :)

This is worlds tallest brick Minaret. It is situated in the Qutb complex, amidst the ruins of ancient Jain temples which were destroyed & their stones used to build the Qutb complex & minar. [3] Constr uction commenced in 1193 under the orders of India's first Muslim ruler Qutb-ud-din Aibak, and the topmost storey of the minaret was completed in 1386 by Firuz Sha h Tughluq. The Qutb Minar is notable for being one of the earliest and most prominent examples of Indo-Islamic architecture.

The Qutb complex, also spelled Qutab or Qutub, is an array of monuments and buildings at Mehrauli in Delhi, India, the most famous of which is the Qutb Minar. It i nitially housed a complex of twenty-seven ancient Jain temples which were destroyed & their material used in the construction of the Qutb complex by Qutb-ud-din Ai bak, the first ruler of the Slave Dynasty, and his successor Iltutmish (aka Altmash) on the ruins of Lal Kot and Qila-Rai-Pithora (Prithivraj Chauhan's city). The complex was added to by many subsequent rulers, including Iltutmish and Ala ud din Khilji as well as the British.

Let me now try to paste some specs of Qutub Minar, followed by a good shot I was able to take :). The Qutab Minar is 72.5 metres (238 ft) tall with 379 steps leading to the top. The diameter of the base is 14.3 meters wide while the top floor measures 2.75 meters in diameter. Surrounding the building are many fine examples of Indian artwork from the time it was built in 1193. A second tower was in construction and planned to be taller than the Qutb Minar itself. Its construction ended abruptly when it was about 12 meters tall.The name of this tower is given as Alau Minar and construction of recent studies shows that this structure has been tilted in one direction. It is made of red sandstone all the way except for two stories at the top. This part is of white marble and was made by Firoz Shah Tughlaq.He had decided to put a more prominent finish to the magnificent minar.

This is the second tower mentioned above (Alai Minar). Its in ruins now. Here is the cool shot I was able to take. Its a cool comparative shot :) When I saw this one I just thought of a well known idiom. "Man Proposes, God Disposes".

Then we went to Jain Temple. A nice piece of architecture and a mixture of Aryan and Islamic art. Look at the image below. These pillars are from Jain Era and the persian work is much after. These looked very very gongeous in live!! These pillars from the Jain temples were actually reused in the Quwwat ul-Islam Mosque.

Here comes the famous iron pillar. The iron pillar is one of the world’s foremost metallurgical curiosities. The pillar, almost seven metres high and weighing more than six tonnes, was erected by Chandragupta II Vikramaditya (375–414 CE). It is the only piece of the Jain temple remaining, which stood there before being destroyed by Qutb-ud-din Aibak.

One more cool shot of Minar below. Its a must visit place and best ime is from September to March. Place for nice weekend :)