[jyotirmoy]

Many visitors visit Qutub minar but miss this wonderful mosque. A very intriguing thing is the presence of Hindu motifs, like tasseled ropes, bells, tendrils, cows and leaves etc. all over the mosque. On one hand there is the beautiful, curvaceous Islamic calligraphy, the arabesque designs and then there are pillars with clearly pre-Islamic Hindu motifs.  27 temples of Qila Rai Pithora, the city of the Rajput king Prithviraj Chauhan were vandalized, the pillars and canopies were removed and were used in the construction of this mosque. This had been recorded by by Qutub-ud-din himself  in his inscriptions.

Unlike other monuments the Qutub complex grew and successive rulers added their bits. The construction of this mosque began in 1192 by Qutub-ud-din Aibak, the first ruler of the Slave Dynasty. Later Altamash in 1230 and Alauddin Khalji in 1315, added their own bits to it.
As you finish climbing the steep steps leading to the entrance the intricately carved temple ceiling catches your eye. Crossing this you will arrive at the magnificent courtyard lined by the rows of profusely adorned pillars. You will be amazed looking at the elegant pointed arches with curvaceous and serpentine calligraphy of texts from Quran in Arabic crowning them, towards the west of the mosque.  The central arch which is over 20ft high is profusely carved, crowded with exquisite decorations and is one of the earliest and finest examples of the fusion of Hindu and Islamic art.
Altamash added three more arches besides the original five. If you look carefully you will find that the earlier arches were not really the 'true' arch which is the hallmark of Islamic architecture.  Altamash's arches were built by workmen from Afghanistan and are stylistically quite distinct. They use Islamic motifs such as geometrical shapes only.  The earlier arches had the Hindu influence of naturalistic designs. The clergy were not very happy about it.