The vistas of Delhi have always fascinated the masses globally. The irony is that, despite the travesty in foreign invasions and colonial dispensations that ruled this nation over 800 years, it couldn’t change the basic ethos and cultural fragment of Indian-ness of these places in the modern era. The grandeur of mediaeval infrastructure in the cities like Delhi are a telling witness to the brutish endeavours and hegemonic rulers who bled its citizenry in the name of selective taxation to woo the limited aristocratic and religious minorities back in the times. From Mehrauli’s Qutub Minar to South Delhi’s Haus Khas, one can see how these places actually served as an ancient pagan place of significance be it for the Hindus or other religions indigenous to ancient India. However, one can only be curious and not thrive to find about the suppressed totems of Indian culture overshadowed in the last millennia. Here are certain pictures from the the Qutub Minar Complex that are a living testimony of attempts to re-write glorious indigenous history of that place:
On having a thorough outlook into the oblique side of the Qutub minar, we can find the famous rust-resistant Iron Pillar which is about 7.2 metres high. It is identified to have been from the Gupta era particularly of Chandragupta II as per the Sanskrit inscriptions over it. Here’s a picture below of the Hindu structure inside the Qutub Complex:
How do modern Indians feel about sites like these?
- Certainly, every Indian needs to visit these historical sites such as the Qutub Minar to understand how wonderful the ancient Indian Civilisational history has been over 5000 years. The Indian rulers were the real patriots who fought tooth and nail to relinquish the invasions and the loot of wealth from the Turkic west in the form of several waves over the last 1000 years.
- Irrespective of our present day religious affiliations and beliefs, we should not shy away from collectively acknowledging the historic wrongs of the past, rather celebrating the various Indian kings and their battles will only make our civilisational history unassailable. As modern day citizens of the greatest secular nation on earth, we need to learn from the past events and not blame any community for the past misfortunes inflicted upon us by foreign invaders of those era, instead acknowledgement of the events from the past and move on with dignity, in the future.
- We should resolve within ourselves this Delhi dilemma of – “whose heritage it really is?” It is indeed our collective heritage and we all need to make peace within ourselves for India to prosper in the long run.
The islamic architecture of the Qutub Minar is also astounding in itself, if one needs to solely look only at the particular structure, keeping the controversies at bay!
Take a peek:
Cheers