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Qutub Minar

Qutb Minar
قطب مینار
कुतुब मिनार
Qutb Minar - Evening photo.jpg
Qutb Minar in Delhi, India
Type Cultural
Criteria 7
Designated 1993 (17th session)
Reference no. 233
Country  India
Continent Asia

Coordinates: 28°31′28″N 77°11′07″E / 28.524355°N 77.185248°E / 28.524355; 77.185248

Qutb Minar, (also spelled Qutub Minar) at 73 metres, is world's tallest rubble masonry minaret. Qutb Minar, along with the ancient and medieval monuments surrounding it, form the Qutb complex, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tower is located in the Mehrauli area of Delhi, India. The Minaret of Jam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in western Afghanistan, is thought to have been a direct inspiration for the Qutb Minar in Delhi, which was also built by the Ghori (Mamluk) Dynasty. Made of red sandstone and marble, Qutb Minar is a 73-metres (240 feet) tall tapering tower with a diameter measuring 14.3 metres (47 feet) at the base and 2.7 metres (9 feet) at the peak. Inside the tower, a circular staircase with 379 steps leads to the top.Qutb Minar station is the closest station on the Delhi Metro.

In 1200 AD, Qutb al-Din Aibak, founder of the Delhi Sultanate, started construction of the Qutb Minar. In 1220, Aibak's successor and son-in-law Iltutmish added three storeys to the tower. In 1369, lightning struck the top storey, destroying it completely. So, Firoz Shah Tughlaq carried out restoration work replacing the damaged storey with two new storeys every year, made of red sandstone and white marble.


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