Of Un-fulfilled Desires

Ala ud din Khilji started building the Alai Minar, which was conceived to be two times higher than Qutub Minar. The construction was abandoned, however, after the completion of the 24.5 meter high first storey; soon after death of Ala-ud-din. The first story of the Alai Minar still stands today.

Ala-ud-din conceived a very ambitious construction programme when he decided to build the second tower of victory when he returned in triumph from his Deccan campaign. However, the Sultan died before even the first storey was finished and the project was abondoned. Ala-ud-Din, felt compelled to increase even further the size of the Quwwatu'l Islam mosque. His scheme called for increasing the size of the enclosure four times, providing ceremonial entrance gateways on each side, and a great minar, twice the size of the Qutub.

This is the unfinished base of the mammoth tower begun by Alauddin Khilji intended to give competition to Qutub Minar. With an arched entrance and spearhead of fringes, identified as lotus buds by scholars, the Alai Minar is a gigantic rubble structure. A short distance west of the enclosure, in Mehrauli village, is the Tomb of Adham Khan who, according to legend drove the beautiful Hindu singer Rupmati to suicide following the capture of Mandu in Madhya Pradesh. When Akbar became displeased with him he ended up being heaved off a terrace in the Agra Fort. There are some summer palaces in the area and the tombs of the last Mughal kings of Delhi. An empty space between two of the tombs was intended for the last king of Delhi, who died in exile in Rangoon, Burma, in 1862, following his implication in the 1857 Indian Mutiny.

And The Desire which came true: Qutb Minar is the tallest brick minaret in the world, and an important example of Indo-Islamic Architecture. The Qutb Minar is 72.5 metres (239 ft) high. The diameter of the base is 14.3 metres wide while the top floor measures 2.7 metres in diameter. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with surrounding buildings and monuments.