. Indika. The country and the people of India and Ceylon . othe present column, and then surmount it by a cupola, we shallhave nearly its original proportions. But the abruptness of the upper part does not diminish thegrandeur of this remarkable shaft. It is the loftiest piece ofMogul architecture which has ever been reared, or of which anytrace exists. Its great charm is in the variety of its is not one unbroken surface, but with its five stories, each ofa style peculiar to itself, it forms a shaft singularly symmetrical,and at once majestic and graceful. The first three stories a
. Indika. The country and the people of India and Ceylon . othe present column, and then surmount it by a cupola, we shallhave nearly its original proportions. But the abruptness of the upper part does not diminish thegrandeur of this remarkable shaft. It is the loftiest piece ofMogul architecture which has ever been reared, or of which anytrace exists. Its great charm is in the variety of its is not one unbroken surface, but with its five stories, each ofa style peculiar to itself, it forms a shaft singularly symmetrical,and at once majestic and graceful. The first three stories are ofgray graiiite, faced with red sandstone. The remaining twoare of the same material, but with bands of white marble. Theflutings are a remarkable feature of this gigantic work. Thebase is a polygon, of twenty-four sides, and on this, and in har-mony with it, rests the first story. Here the fluting is semicir-cular, alternating with the rectangular, the combination produc-ing a most pleasing effect. It is a wonderful union of straightlines and SECTION OK KlTAli MINAK. DKLIII. THE ELDKli 647 The second and third stories reproduce, in the fluting, the styleof the first—the second having only the semicircular fluting, andthe third only the rectangular. The fourth Btory has no fluting,but is plain and circular. In the fifth story the semicircular flut-ing reappears. Around the top of cadi story there is a deli-cate balcony, which, instead of interfering with the genera] ef-fect, adds to the beauty and impressiveness of the whole greatstructure. If this great shaft were designed for a minaret, it certainlydiffers from all others known to Mohammedan art. The mosquehere is not of such kind, or in such a place, that this could haveserved as a minaret to it. It has no defensive significance. Itseems to be simply a great and noble shaft, which combines allthe qualities of Mohammedan art, and serves as a memorial ofthe splendor of the Delhi of the twelfth century, lon
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Keywords: ., architecture, bookcentury1800, bookdecade, delhi, india, qutubminar
