Qutb Minar
The Qutb Minar - Tour of victory - the minaret of India is the highest, and the third in the Muslim world (after the minaret of the Hassan Mosque in Casablanca). The Qutb Minar complex is one of the most frequented tourist in Delhi. Qutb ud-Din Aibak, the first Muslim ruler of Delhi, started the construction of the Qutb Minar in 1192, but carries out only the first level. His successor, Îltutmish he adds three new levels and, in 1368, Firuz Shâh Tughlûq constructed the fifth and final floor. The evolution of architectural styles of Aibak to Tuglûk is evident when we look at the building whose destination is unclear. Some argue that it was built as a tower of victory to signify the beginning of the Muslim power in India, while others see the minaret of the mosque adjacent muezzins used by the call for prayer .
The Qutb Minar measure 72.5 meters in height - 80 meters at the origin - and includes a staircase of 379 steps to achieve the summit. However, it was banned in public after several suicides. The diameter of the base is 14.3 meters while the top floor is 2.7 meters. This is the highest stone tower in India and one of its buildings Muslims the most successful. Built in red sandstone, the top two floors of white marble, it is adorned with decorative motifs and calligraphy to the Koran. But there is controversy concerning the name of the tour, a number of historians believe that the Qutub Minar was not named after the first Sultan Qutb ud-Din Aibak, but in honor of Khwaja Qutb ud -Din, a saint from Baghdad who came to live in India and was revered by Îltutmish.
The Qutb Minar complex contains many other interesting buildings and structures, including the mosque Quwwat ul-Islam, the first built in India, the work of Qutb ud-Din Aibak. She was raised by using parts of 27 Jain and Hindu temples - according to an inscription in the mosque cited by Mircea Eliade - and shows a mixture of Indian and Islamic styles. The Qutb Minar is itself built on the ruins of Lal Kot, the Red Fort in the city of dhil, built by Rai Pithora to 1180, the capital of the Rajput Tomar, the last Hindu leaders in Delhi. The mosque is in ruins today, but we can explore some decorated with floral motifs and calligraphy. To the west of the mosque is the tomb of Îltutmish built in 1235, a novelty in India, where the tradition was that the bodies undergo cremation, and did not know until then that the cenotaphs of small dimensions.
Near the mosque stands the Iron Pillar of Delhi, a ram back in the fourth century and built by Raja Gupta Chandragupta II in honor of Vishnu. High of about seven meters, comprising 98 per cent of iron, it has stood since 1600 years to corrosion from the atmosphere before the Indian monsoon.(SONY)
Read also Ellora
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