In this blog, I will tell how I got attracted to history and its heritage. It was the Sunday morning of 18 August 2019, I took the nearest metro from my home and reached the Qutb Minar metro station. From the metro station, I covered the distance of 1km barefoot. After a long wait in the ticket queue, when I entered the Qutb complex I felt lost inside the historical monuments. It was this visit to Qutb Complex that sparked my interest in heritage. It made me fall in love with history, heritage, art, and architecture. The first thing which I saw in the Qutb complex was the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque. It is located in the center of the quadrangular court, which measures 65.2 metres by 45.4 metres. The mosque embodied in itself a definite portion of a demolished Hindu temple up to the plinth level, the extent of which appears to coincide with that half of the mosque around the west of north and south gateways. The courtyard is surrounded by pillars with steps on three sides, i.e. the north, east and south sides that have the porches, noteworthy for their resplendently-carved temple ceilings.
(Image: Quwwat – ul – Islam mosque pillars)
On the pillars, I noticed that Brahminical motifs like the overflowing kalasa spouting flowering creepers, bells, and the lotus flower are repeatedly seen. On observing closely I found large numbers of Savaite, Vaishnavite, and Jaina images.
(Image: Hindu and Jain remains)
The pillars to the right of the east entrance may have come from a Vaishnava temple, while those in the aisles to the left of the east gate may be of Jain origin. The latter is less elaborately carved and there are some easily discernible figures of Parshvanatha. Then I saw the Qutub Minar, the main attraction of the Qutub complex The inscription near it gives the complete history of it I.e from its commencement of the building into its repair during the reign of Sikandar Lodi. The tower has a diameter of 14.32 metres at the base and about 2.75 metres at the top with red and buff sandstone on the first three storeys while the storeys added by the Firoz Shah Tughlaq make free use of marble. Compared with that of the Quwwat-ul- Islam Mosque, the decoration of the Qutb Minar is consistently Islamic in corrector from base to top. The Feroz Shah Tughlaq hybrid style could be seen as distinct.
(Image: Qutub Minar)
What I liked most about the Qutub Minar is that it had projected balconies at every stage. This balcony is held up by a technique called Stalactite Vaulting. Nearby Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, there is an Iron Pillar set in the inner Court. The inscription mentions king Chandra, Vishnu devotee, as a “lofty standard’ (Dhwaja Stambha) of that divinity on the Hill of Vishnupada’. This king has now been identified as Chandragupta II (AD 375- 413) of the Gupta dynasty, who was also known as Vikramaditya. There is a probability that this pillar was brought here from some other place. This is confirmed by the fact that there are no other relics from the same period on this site. The local tradition says that it was brought here by Anangpal, the Tomar king from an unspecified place. The base of the pillar has small pieces of iron tying it to its foundations, and it is covered by a lead sheet around the portion concealed below the floor level. The total length of the pillar is 7.2 metres and around 93 cm is buried underground. The metal used in the pillar is an almost pure malleable iron, which shows very little signs of rust, and even that below the ground. This Iron Pillar is a standing testimony to the metallurgical skill of ancient Indians as it has not deteriorated much in the sixteen hundred years of its existence.
(Image: Iron Pillar)
When I moved towards the East, I found the Iltutmish Tomb. It is a square chamber, covered originally by a circular dome that was carried on a form of squinch-arch, which has the difference in shape between the square plan below and the circle above. On observing the ornamented interior of the tomb, I found the whole interior surface, both walls, and roof (except the lower walls on all but the west side which were probably plastered) is intricately combined with a diaper of arabesque designs, and Quranic inscriptions in both Naskh and the combined Kufic and Tughra characters.
(Image: Iltutmish’s tomb)
On moving further south I found the Alai Darwaza. It is 17.2 metres square and pierced by arched openings that echo the contours of the covering dome. The arch to the north is semi-circular while the others are of the pointed horseshoe shape. These are all true arches built with radiating voussoirs and these lead into the central chamber. Towards the south side of the court, there is a large square structure that was once covered originally by a dome which has now fallen. It is supposedly the tomb of Sultan Alauddin Khalji. Parts of a boldly projecting portico still exist. Alai Minar, which is 24.5 metres in height, adores the whole complex. Its construction was abandoned after Alauddin’s death.
(Image: Alai Darwaza; and Alai Minar)
On moving southwest of the Quwwat-ul Islam Mosque, I saw Alauddin Madrasa. A simple quadrangular court surrounds the Madrasa. I entered on the north side through a triple gateway. It has been suggested that this madrasa was built by Iltutmish, but according to J A Page, the balance of probability rests with Alauddin. He decided so because of the high-drummed domes and the more advanced tie beam pendentive shape beneath them. These are different from the flat conical Hindu type of dome that supposedly covered the Iltutmish’s Tomb originally, and the primitive hunch arches which carried that dome across the corners of the tomb.
(Image: Alauddin’s Madrasa)
On moving east of the Alai Darwaza, I saw the Imam Zamin’s tomb. The 7.3 metre square tomb is constructed following the Lodi style. A sandstone dome rises over an octagonal drum and it is decorated with marble paneling above the chajja and kanguras row. A geometrical jali of red sandstone fills the spaces between the pilasters supporting the superstructure in all but the central bays of the west and south sides. These contain a mihrab and an entrance doorway, both inscribed in marble. Above the doorway is an inscription in beautiful Naskh characters recording the saint’s name.
(Image: Imam Zamin’s tomb)
These facets of art, architecture, and history made me love heritage. Every single stone in the complex told a thousand stories of the past. From the lofty Qutub Minar to ruined Quwwat al Islam, from the unbreakable Iron Pillar to the unfinished Alai Minar and so on, every monument had its own history. This triggered my curiosity and I started reading more about the heritage sites. Today, I am an intern at India Lost & Found. This has given me the opportunity to bring out the heritage lover in me.
Reference:-
Image and Information source – World Heritage series Qutub Minar and Adjoining Monuments Travel Guide
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Hi, I’m Mehak Takkar…
Hi, I’m Mehak Takkar…ILF Look and Feel Ambassador As a student of history, for me, heritage is not merely the ruin of the past but as a way of representing ideological, aesthetical, historical, cultural, and social values. I believe in the supremacy of the Indian chisel that has carved the most beautiful structures ever built.
