Qutb Minar
in New Delhi, IndiaCategory: Attraction
0 views 0 shares 0 comments
set bookmark!Created/changed by:
System
Address details
Qutub Minar Complex Rd, Seth Sarai, Mehrauli, New Delhi, Delhi 110016, India Print route »Phone & WWW
Business hours
Info
The Qutab Minar (Hindi: कुतुब मिनार, Urdu: قطب مینار) is a minaret that forms part of the Qutab complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mehrauli area of Delhi, India. Qutab Minar is a 73-metre (239.5 feet) tall tapering tower of five storeys, with a 14.3 metre (47 feet) base diameter, reducing to 2.7 metres (9 feet) at the peak. It contains a spiral staircase of 379 steps. Its design is thought to have been based on the Minaret of Jam, in western Afghanistan.
Qutab Ud-Din-Aibak, founder of the Delhi Sultanate, started construction of the Qutub Minar's first storey around 1192. In 1220, Aibak's successor and son-in-law Iltutmish completed a further three storeys. In 1369, a lightning strike destroyed the top storey. Firoz Shah Tughlaq replaced the damaged storey, and added one more.
It derived its name from the Sufi saint Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Quaki whom Qutab Ud-Din-Aibak worshiped. The Minar is surrounded by several historically significant monuments of the Qutab complex, including Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, which was built at the same time as the Minar, and the much older Iron Pillar of Delhi. The nearby pillared Cupola known as "Smith's Folly" is a remnant of the tower's 19th century restoration, which included an ill-advised attempt to add a sixth storey.