The Qutub Walk

Heritage sites have always fascinated me but I don’t know why in my four years of stay in Delhi I could never find ‘time’ to pursue my first love.

Heritage structures of all kinds -- magnificent, monumental, and dilapidated – mirror the frailties of an old era, the gloated pride, narcissism, vanity and of course, height of opulence of the rulers of that time.

It reminds me of that magnificent era which has come to not; the once royal property is under the naked glare of subaltern lot! What a sight, commoners gazing at kings’ creations.

The helplessly staring edifices long for life and vibrancy, they once were used to; but alas, loneliness and seclusion is their new reality now.

The boundaries between the kings and the subject have blurred irreversibly, the crowns are now the jewellery of the museums.

Since childhood I have been hearing about the grand structure called Qutub, read in school textbook but it eluded me for quite long.

Last week when I visited it along with a dear friend I was transported back in time, its magnificence rose high up in the sky, the perforations and designs on the minarets were simply awesome.

Qutub-din-Aibak would not have thought in his wildest dreams that the gargantuan minaret (Qutub Minar) he built on the bosom of Delhi after his victory march, will remain the pride of the city for subsequent generations for centuries.

Hardly, he would have realised, that he was mortal (not lesser at that time), and that his victory memorabilia would be subject to immense public scrutiny. Today his soul must be stirring in the grave, in that rules of the game have changed, many more victors followed him and erected their own pride, far more enormous and glorious than him, at various locations across Delhi.

Quwwatul Islam mosque, of which Qutub is a part, is nothing but a sign of a king’s rampaging victory and bequeathed to us nothing but the arrogance of an emperor of bygone era.

The entire Qutub complex is neatly maintained and the good part is that touts are almost negligible. The beauty of the intricate designs on Iltutmish’s tomb reflects the grandeur of that era. Tourists or paryataks were queuing up to get frozen in that immortal frame.

However, one of the most significant parts of this Delhi Sultanate period structure is that it lacks the near symmetry of the Islamic structure.

Many historical accounts say that several Jain temples were brought down to build the mosque, and the remnants and structures especially the pillars very clearly tell their own story. These are the sins of rulers’ accesses. The pillars have sculptures which are not associated with Islamic architecture.

My friend in a lighter vein said, the complex denotes the secular ethos of our country where mosque and temples not only co-exist together but within one another, and clearly retaining their own identity. How true it sounds.

In between we straddled across the length and breadth of the complex and tried our level best to ‘inspect’ each and every falling wall, bat infested rooms and halls. Sometimes we became Sherlock Holmes then on some other occasion William Darylimple. We were enjoying every bit of the past that was lying in front of us, a slave of our own interpretations.

Meanwhile, tourists both foreign and Indian were very liberally being (mis)guided by the guides.

But amid all these, the Qutub Minar was standing tall, fascinating and imposing; amid the ruins, and it told a very different story – touching the sky to conquer all limits but still graceful in ruins. A lesson worth learning.