From Lalkot to Qutub Minar
Time Travel into history.
As one enters the Qutub Complex through the gated doors abreast with security guards and ticket checkers, there is a palpable, almost persistent air of history around. It is as if one is silently transported back into the era of Sultans and dancing divas.
The first few steps into the complex and one is greeted with inscriptions detailing the history of the complex, from the destruction of Lal Kot, the first city of Delhi founded by the Tomars to the rise and eventual decline of the first Muslim dynasty in Delhi. It is awe inspiring that you stand at the site of the many wars that had been fought to win this fabled city, the many lives that had been taken, the very place where once stood the Sultans and Maharajas, dreaming up the Minaret and the mosques you stand to see.
The stone edifices are perfectly preserved in their state of ruin with algae creeping up in certain places and time taking its toll on some of them. Moving forward, you get to comprehend the whole complex as the Qutub Minar rises in all its glory in the centre of the complex. Surrounding it are the many small structures from walking pavilions, courtyards, mosques and innumerable tombs. A full-fledged city it was once, inhabited by giggling ladies clad in heavy gold jewellery and silk ensembles.
A tomb of the Sufi saint, Imam Zambian is placed at the beginning of the complex as one can stop to pay homage to the saint who was placed to rest here. A peaceful calm engulfs the area; the architecture seeks for one to address one aspect of the complex at a time. The Qutub Minar itself is shrouded deep in legend and history with stories galore. The locals talk about it being an observatory built by the astrologer Varahmir of the Kingdom of Vikramaditya while the most popular story is that of Qutub-ud-din Aibak, the founder of Slave dynasty commissioning it which was later completed by his son in law and successor Illtutmish and repaired by Sikander Lodhi and Firoz Tughlaq. One can see the change in architectural style from the first story to the topmost one. As if time had decided to play in reverse.
A historian would look at the facts and the dreamer would gaze at the tower, forced into a reverie as the environment around the complex takes him back into the Dilli, as it was known then. The Minar looks like folded pages of a notebook with inscriptions all over it. All those years ago, it had been a symbol of the King’s victory, taller than any structure in the city. It had been a calling place for the daily prayers, but the practice was eventually abandoned as people could not hear the person calling from the top!
The complex houses the famed Iron Pillar from the Gupta period, with inscriptions in Sanskrit over it. Legend talks about it being a wish fulfilling pillar and archeologically showcases India’s metallurgical prowess for not rusting after so many years of being exposed to harsh environments.
The tombs of Illtutmish, Ala-ud-din Khilji and the many unknowns around the graveyard of Qutub Complex are a testimony to the fact that such people lived once. That they breathed the same air and stood at the same ground we stand at. A tourist journey we all undertake but maybe, once in a while it would do us all good to just visit the place and feel inspired and awed by the history that there was. Time Travel, they say is not possible, but in our minds we are taken back into the glory days of the empire, of elephants bellowing Victory calls, Sufi singers chanting prayers, the sun dipping to bathe Qutub Minar in a orange light as young children rush to the Madarsa and localities praying at the mosque. And all this while, the King, atop the tower of Victory, the Qutub, gazing into the horizon at Dilli, the city he conquered and the city he made.