QUTUB MINAR AND TOURISTS IN THE FORE FRONT
Qutub Minar is the tallest brick minaret in the world, and an important example of Indo-Islamic Architecture. The tower is in the Qutb complex in South Delhi, India. The Qutub Minar is metres high ( ft) and requires 399 steps to get to the top, although it has not been possible for visitors to ascend the tower for some years, due to safety reasons. The diameter of the base is metres wide while the top floor measures metres in diameter. Inspired by the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan and wishing to surpass it, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, the first Muslim ruler of Delhi, commenced construction of the Qutub Minar in 1193; but could only complete its basement. His successor, Iltutmish, added three more stories and, in 1368, Firuz Shah Tughluq constructed the fifth and the last story. The development of architectural styles from Aibak to Tuglak are quite evident in the minaret. Like earlier towers erected by the Ghaznavids and Ghurids in Afghanistan, the Qutub Mahal comprises several superposed flanged and cylindrical shafts, separated by balconies carried on Muqarnas corbels. The minaret is made of fluted red sandstone covered with intricate carvings and verses from the Qur'an. The Qutub Minar is itself built on the ruins of Lal Kot, the Red Citadel in the city of Dhillika, the capital of the Jat Tomars and the Chauhans, the last Hindu rulers of Delhi.
Size: 3426px × 5120px
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Photo credit: © Devinder Sangha / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: art, brick, minar, mughol, mughul, qutub, tourism
