No decision taken to carry out excavations at Qutub Minar: Culture Minister

A few days ago, former ASI regional director Dharamveer Sharma was quoted as saying that the Qutub Minar was actually a “sun tower” built by Chandragupta Vikramaditya of the Gupta Empire in the 5th Century.

On Saturday, Mohan had spent over two hours there, along with a team of senior officials and historians, wherein various aspects pertaining to the upkeep of monuments were discussed. In the light of a recent letter written by the National Monument Authority to the ASI on moving two Ganesha idols out of the complex, “owing to their disrespectful placement”, the team also visited the adjoining Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque, wherein the idols in question are currently placed.

A source privy to the proceedings added that the ASI has been asked to conduct the iconography of idols at Qutub Minar. It has also been recommended that visitors should be given detailed information on various Hindu and Jain idols located in the complex through appropriate signboards. Even though there has been no decision on conducting excavations, the matter did come up for consideration during the official visit, added the source.

Later, the ministry team also visited the 1,000-year-old Anang Tal lake in the vicinity, which is set to be declared a national monument by the ASI. In fact, Delhi Development Authority vice-chairman Mukesh Gupta also visited the water reservoir Saturday, announcing that the lake’s cleaning up and beautification will begin as soon as next week. The DDA also plans to remove encroachments from the Anang Tal area, the ministry officials said.