Qutub Minar

Why is in news? Intervention plea in Qutub Minar row dismissed

• The Saket district court on 20, sep, 2022 dismissed the intervention plea of Kunwar Mahender Dhwaj Pratap Singh who claimed that the Qutub Minar was built on land that belonged to him and hence he should be made party to the main suit filed in the court that demands worship rights in the temples built inside the ASI-protected monument.
• The original suit, claiming that 27 temples were demolished to build the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque at the Qutub Minar complex, was dismissed last year under the provisions of Places Of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
• The building process of Qutub Minar took about 75 years. Its construction was started by Qutub-ud-din Aibak (1206-1210) in 1193 and finished by Iltutmish (1211-1236).
• Why Qutub Minar is called? - Construction of the Qutub Minar "victory tower" in the complex, named after the religious figure Sufi Saint Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki.
• It is a five-storeyed red sandstone tower (72.5 m high) built by Muslim conquerors in the thirteenth century to commemorate their final triumph over the Rajput rulers of Delhi (Qutub means victory), while also serving as a tower from where muezzins (criers) call for prayer at the Quwwatu’l-Islam mosque.
• A 7 m-high iron pillar stands in the courtyard of the mosque.
• Its surrounding contains Alai-Darwaza Gate, the masterpiece of Indo-Muslim art (built in 1311).
• In 1368, it was repaired by the rulers of the day, Muhammad-bin-Tughluq (1325-51) and Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351-88).
• The minar (tower) is engraved with fine arabesque decorations on its surface, mainly verses from the Quran.
• Qutub Minar and its monuments were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.