Qutb Minar complex
in New Delhi, IndiaCategory: Attraction
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Qutab Minar, Seth Sarai, Mehrauli, New Delhi, Delhi 110016, India Print route »
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The Qutb complex is a collection of monuments and buildings from the Delhi Sultanate at Mehrauli in Delhi in India, which were built on the ruins of Lal Kot, which consisted of 27 Hindu and Jain temples and Qila-Rai-Pithora (Prithviraj Chauhan's city, whom Muhammad Ghori's Afghan armies had earlier defeated and killed in the Second Battle of Tarain). The Qutub Minar in the complex, named after Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, was built by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who later became the first Sultan of Delhi of the Mamluk dynasty. The Minar was added upon by his successor Iltutmish (a.k.a. Altamash), and much later by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, a Sultan of Delhi from the Tughlaq dynasty in 1368 AD. The Qubbat-ul-Islam Mosque (Dome of Islam), later corrupted into Quwwat-ul Islam, stands next to the Qutb Minar.Many subsequent rulers, including the Tughlaqs, Alauddin Khalji and the British added structures to the complex. Apart from the Qutb Minar and the Quwwat ul-Islam Mosque, other structures in the complex include the Alai Gate, the Alai Minar, the Iron pillar, the ruins of several earlier Jain temples, and the tombs of Iltutmish, Alauddin Khalji and Imam Zamin.Today, the adjoining area spread over with a host of old monuments, including Balban's tomb, has been developed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, and INTACH has restored some 40 monuments in the Park. It is also the venue of the annual 'Qutub Festival', held in November–December, where artists, musicians and dancers perform over three days. The Qutb Minar complex, which drew 3.9 million visitors in 2006, was India's most visited monument that year, ahead of the Taj Mahal (with 2.5 million visitors).
