Qutub Minar @ Delhi, INDIA

Qutab Minar is among the tallest and famous towers in the world. The minaret is 234 feet high and the highest individual tower in the world. Other towers in the world are the Great Pagoda in Pekin, China and the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy but these towers are not as high as the Qutab Minar in Delhi.

According to history books, the minar was started by Prithviraj or his uncle Vigraharaja who won Delhi from the Tomar Rajputs. However, it is assumed and historians believe that Qutubuddib and Iltutmish finished it though the minar may have been commenced by Prithviraj or Vigraharaja. The minar was completed in 1200 A.D and since then the tall structure has been there upright and ever beautiful keeping an eye to Delhi just like a sentry. When Alauddin returned from the wars in the Deccan, he had this thought in mind that he would build a victory tower somewhat similar to the Qutab Minar. The ruins of this very initiative can be seen adjacent to the Qutbuddin's mosque because Alauddin died at the very start of the construction work and no one carried on to finish the initiative taken by Alauddin.

Qutab Minar is another great masterpiece of Mughal architecture. It has a number of floors or storeys which has beautiful carvings like the one on the tomb of Iltutmish. There are inscriptions all round the tower and these inscriptions reveal that Iltutmish finised the tower. The structure of the wall is made as such that it widens from top to bottom, just to make the minar stronger.

Qutub Minar with Imam Zamin Tomb: Imam Zamin was a saint from Turkestan, who settled in India in around 1500. He built his own tomb, and was buried in it in 1538. It is a small, sandstone structure with a dome resting on an octagonal base. The interior is finished in polished white plaster, and contains fine, perforated jalis, or screens.

Alai Minar: The unfulfilled dream of Ala-ud-din as the victory tower, Alai Minar stands 27 meters high built of red sandstone, uncompleted, originally planned to be built along similar lines of Qutab Minar. Alai Darwaza is the main gateway to the entire complex housing the tomb of Imam Zamin, the tomb of Altamish and the mosque.

Tomb of Iltutmish: Originally, this cenotaph was covered by a dome, which fell, only to be replaced by Feroze Shah Tughluq. However, even the second dome could not survive long and only its ruins can be seen now. There are three 'mehrabs' in the west that were used for offering prayers. The tomb has plain and stark exteriors, but its interiors are lavishly ornamented with geometrical and arabesque patterns in Saracenic tradition.