Type: Prelims Only

The Qutub Minar complex is not a place of worship and its character cannot be changed now, the Archaeological Survey of India submitted in a Delhi Court while opposing a plea challenging the dismissal of a civil suit seeking “restoration” of temples on the premises.

What is the case?

• The original suit claimed that 27 temples were demolished to build the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque at the Qutub Minar complex.
• This pleas was dismissed last year under the provisions of Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
• The Additional District Judge (ADJ) has now reserved the order.
• The petitioner said that the dismissal of the original suit based on the 1991 Act was wrong.
• The Qutub Minar complex comes under the purview of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act of 1958.

Why in news now?

• The ASI now submitted that the Qutub Minar complex was not a place of worship when it was first notified as a protected monument in 1914.
• The ASI, explained that the character of a monument is decided on the date when it comes under protection.

About Qutub Minar

• The Qutub Minar is a minaret and “victory tower” that forms part of the Qutb complex, which lies at the site of Delhi’s oldest fortified city, Lal Kot, founded by the Tomar Rajputs.
• It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mehrauli area of South Delhi.
• It can be compared to the 62-metre all-brick Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan, of c. 1190, which was constructed a decade or so before the probable start of the Delhi tower.
• The surfaces of both are elaborately decorated with inscriptions and geometric patterns.
• The Qutb Minar has a shaft that is fluted with “superb stalactite bracketing under the balconies” at the top of each stage.

Its construction

• The Qutb Minar was built over the ruins of the Lal Kot, the citadel of Dhillika.
• Qutub Minar was begun after the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, which was started around 1192 by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, first ruler of the Delhi Sultanate.
• It is usually thought that the tower is named for Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who began it.
• It is also possible that it is named after Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki a 13th-century sufi saint, because Shamsuddin Iltutmish was a devotee of his.
• Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, to the north-east of the Minar was built by Qutub-ud-Din Aibak in A.D. 1198.
• It consists of a rectangular courtyard enclosed by cloisters, erected with the carved columns and architectural members of 27 Jain and Hindu temples, which were demolished by Qutub-ud-Din.
• This is recorded in his inscription on the main eastern entrance.

Back2Basics:

What is the Places of Worship Act?

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There is controversy around a new film where some communities of Rajasthan are laying claim over the 12th century emperor Prithviraj Chauhan.

Prithviraj Chauhan

• Prithviraj Chauhan (1177–1192 CE) popularly known as a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in present-day Rajasthan.
• Ascending the throne as a minor in 1177 CE, Prithviraj inherited a kingdom which stretched from Thanesar in the north to Jahazpur (Mewar) in the south.

His legend

• He aimed to expand by military actions against neighbouring kingdoms, most notably defeating the Chandela’s.
• Prithviraj unified several Rajput clans and defeated the Ghurid army led by Muhammad Ghori near Taraori in 1191 AD.
• However, in 1192 CE, Ghori returned with an army of Turkish mounted archers and defeated the Rajput army on the same battlefield.
• Prithviraj fled the battlefield, but was captured near Sirsa and executed.
• His defeat at Tarain is seen as a landmark event in the Islamic conquest of India, and has been described in several semi-legendary accounts, most notably the Prithviraj Raso.

Prithviraj in literary works

• The image of Prithviraj as a fearless and skilled warrior that is now etched in the folk imagination can be traced back to his depiction in ‘Prithviraj Raso’.
• This was a poem in Brajbhasha attributed to Chand Bardai, which is thought to have been composed in the 16th century.
• James Mill’s ‘The History of British India’ (1817) categorized Indian history into the Hindu, Muhammadan and British periods.
• In this formulation, Prithviraj Chauhan would be the last ruler of ‘Hindu’ India.

Why is he being revived?

• To a vocal section of the Hindu right, Prithviraj Chauhan appears as “the last Hindu emperor” of India who made a valiant attempt to stop the radical invaders.
• In the popular imagination, he is the heroic figure who symbolises the exalted ideals of patriotism and national pride.
• However the historical evidence demonstrates rather different ways in which Prithviraj has been seen over the ages.

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Prime Minister in Lumbini, on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, said that his birthplace Vadnagar in Gujarat’s Mehsana district had been a great centre for Buddhist learning centuries ago.

Vadnagar’s ties with Buddhism

• In 2014, the excavation work has brought up Buddhist relics and around 20,000 artefacts, some dating back to the 2nd century.
• Among these are an elliptical structure and a circular stupa along with a square memorial stupa of 2×2 metres and 130 centimetres in height with a wall enclosure.
• It is like a platform which has a chamber in the centre that resembles a pradakshina path.
• Further, bowls said to be used by monks have been found during the excavations, which have a terracotta sealing with inscriptions of namassarvagyaya and a face-shaped pendant with tritatva symbol.
• Sacred relics of the Buddha were even found in Devni Mori in Aravalli district of Gujarat.

In travellers record

• Vadnagar is mentioned often in the Puranas and even in the travelogue of the great Chinese traveler, Hiuen Tsang (7th century), as a rich and flourishing town.
• He is believed to have visited the state in 641 AD.
• It adds how some of the names attributed to Vadnagar in history are Chamatkarpur, Anandpur, Snehpur and Vimalpur.
• It also had snippets about other Buddhist heritage sites in Gujarat, such as Junagadh, Kutch and Bharuch.

Back2Basics: Places associated with Buddha

These are three of the few holiest sites in Buddhism:

1. Bodh Gaya in Bihar, the site of the enlightenment of Gautama Buddha under a tree and top site in the list of world heritage sites in India.
2. Kesaria stupa is a Buddhist stupa in Kesariya, located at a distance of 110 kilometres (68 mi) from Patna, in the Champaran (east) district of Bihar, India. The first construction of the Stupa is dated to the 3rd century BCE. Kesariya Stupa has a circumference of almost 400 feet (120 m) and raises to a height of about 104 feet (32 m).
3. Nalanda was a renowned Buddhist University in the ancient kingdom of Magadha (modern-day Bihar) in India.Buddhist texts describe it as a Mahavihara, a revered Buddhist monastery.
4. Sarnath near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the site of the first sermon (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta), where Buddha taught about the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path.
5. Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, the site of the Buddha’s parinirvana and home of many famous meditation & prayer offering sites in India.

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