I am Write!

A post that comes 25 days after I did the walk, never-the-less it should be posted

A last day in Delhi before getting back on job offshore, I decided to cover one of the oldest and famous monuments in Delhi - Qutub Minar. What comes with Qutub Minar is the Ashok Pillar - famous for it’s the non-rusting iron pillar, and a mosque, a tomb and the nearby complex to check out.

A little resistance from Priya, a little coaxing on the time that we’d spend there, she agreed to come along - after all a pose is always needed here and there

A 10 rs ticket per person, and 5 Rs for the cloak room - no bags allowed!, we were into the place, with the camera. Just into the main gate, we encountered a small mosque, with a large enough garden, that I mistook it to be the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque. None-the-less some good shots down, I realised the error (that’s actually after asking the caretaker of the mosque :P) and moved on to see the Qutub Minar and other features of the complex.

A step inside, and the minar towered over us, and in the quest to get closer, didn’t notice when we passed the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque. The mosque, with all the domes down in dust, is not noticeable but for the main gate - with stairs going down, and then up again - a feature around all the staircases in the complex! Not sure as to why this is done, considering that a possible moat with stairs is not what I’ve seen around any other piece of masonry. Further, why have a moat kind depth around a mosque, a gate - Alai Gate and other parts of the complex?

The minar in itself is huge (obviously - being the tallest brick minar in the world) and has a lot of engravings around the body, making it a lovely sight from near and far. Right next to the main attraction is the Alai Gate, made by the same chap who dared to beat Qutub Minar in height by building the Alai Minar. The Alai gate is one of the beauties in the complex. The Alai Minar is one of the ego bashings

The Qutub complex also houses Iltumish’s tomb, and that also has a considerable level of architecture - and definitely worth spending time in. Small, but good. White marble inlaid in red sandstone background - lovely. Also noteworthy - and obvious to the common eye are the pillars that hold up the galleries around the ashoka pillar - they are non islamic. It’s believed that they belong to Jain & Hindu temples of Lal Kot fort - Prithviraj Chauhan’s quila - the last Hindu ruler of Delhi.

Other than these, the sprawling lawns, the many broken gates, and the occasional - non red sandstone masonry - are the major highlights that we captured.

3 hours down, we moved out of the place, and managed to get food at a restaurant in Saket. What must be noted is that though the place is well connected by busses, autos may be a problem, considering that the complex is off the main road. Hence a walk ~ 500m to the main road may be nothing new, if one’s in the lookout for an auto