The Qutub Minar, under lights!
Qutub Minar, an icon of contemporary New Delhi is at least 800 years old. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In India, after the Taj Mahal, it is this monument that attracts the highest number of visitors from across the world. Recently, it even surpassed the Taj Mahal in the number of Ticket Sales.
The allure of this monument is its height and its unique architecture. It stands tilted due to the wear and tear time has imposed on it. No words though, can define the rustic beauty of this monument which no one exactly knows why it was built and how it came to be named Qutub Minar.
So, call it ignorance on my part or lack of regular promotion on part of the Archaeological Survey of India, I never had an opportunity to visit the Qutub Minar late in the evening when the lights were on because somehow, I was not aware that I could do that (can you believe it?).
So when the 1st nationwide lockdown was lifted from India in 2020, I made it a point to visit this place late in the evening and see the Qutub Minar and all the nearby monuments like alai darwaza, etc., collectively called the Qutub Minar Complex, under lights.
I think that visiting this place after sunset is one of the best ways to explore this monument. There are no crowds. So you can spend more time observing the intricacies of the Qutub Minar and the other monuments in the complex like quwwat ul islam mosque, alai darwaza etc. Security guards are everywhere so you are safe. Most importantly, the illuminated monuments cast a completely different impression on you in comparison to daytime.
This article had to be done in a Photo Essay form so that you would have understood, via pictures, a fraction of what I felt when I visited the Qutub Minar Complex (and the Qutub Minar) when it was dark.
The Inscriptions on the Minar, under lights!
The Minar, from a different angle, under lights!
The Quwwat ul Islam mosque is one of the oldest mosques in India. A walk through the mosque premises in the evening, while secure security-wise, felt quite eerie nonetheless. That reflected in the quality of my photographs as I found myself short of patience when I tried to click pictures, while standing in the courtyard area of the mosque.
Pictures of the Quwwat ul Islam Mosque, under lights -
The front façade of the mosque under a dark blue sky and a crescent moon, under lights!
The entrance to the mosque, under lights!
The aisles of the mosque and the engravings on the pillars, highlighted under lights!
The Mihrab of the mosque, under lights!
The mosque, from another angle, under lights!
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