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Amid controversy over Qutub Minar, Ministry of Culture asks ASI to conduct an excavation

The Ministry of Culture has directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to perform the excavation and iconography of idols at Qutub Minar in the wake of the ongoing dispute around Delhi’s Qutub Minar complex. After ASI’s ex-regional director Dharamveer Sharma claimed that the Qutub Minar was built by Raja Vikramaditya, not Qutb al-Din Aibak, to study the direction of the sun, a controversy erupted.

 

The ASI has also been ordered to submit its excavation report to the Ministry of Culture. At a distance of 15 metres from the mosque, excavation might begin to the south of the minaret. Govind Mohan, the Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, made the decisions on Saturday, May 21 during a site visit with officials.

 

Govind Mohan was escorted by three historians, four ASI officers, and researchers to the site. The secretary was informed by ASI officials that no excavation work had been done at the Qutub Minar complex since 1991. Earlier, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) spokesman Vinod Bansal claimed that Qutub Minar was actually ‘Vishnu Stambh,’ and that the structure was built with materials stolen from 27 Hindu-Jain temples.

 

After a 1200-year-old Lord Narsingha idol, Lord Ganesha, and Lord Krishna idols were found within Qutub Minar, several Hindu groups staged protests, chanted the Hanuman Chalisa, and demanded the renaming of Qutub Minar to Vishnu Stambh. Excavation will also take place at Lalkot Fort and Anangtal in Mehrauli, in addition to the Qutub Minar.

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