By Varun Sinha / India Today
After the Gyanvapi Mosque survey, a controversy erupted over Delhi’s Qutub Minar. Idols of Hindu deities were found and claims were made that the monument was built by Raja Vikramaditya, a Hindu emperor. Now, the Ministry of Culture has instructed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct the excavation and iconography of idols at Qutub Minar.
A controversy erupted after ASI’s ex-regional director Dharamveer Sharma claimed that the Qutub Minar was constructed by Raja Vikramaditya and not by Qutb al-Din Aibak, to study the direction of the sun.
The Ministry of Culture has also asked the ASI to submit its excavation report. Excavation can be started in the south of the minaret at a distance of 15 meters from the mosque. The Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Govind Mohan, took the decisions during a site visit with officials on Saturday, May 21.
Govind Mohan visited the site with three historians, four ASI officers and researchers. The ASI officials informed the secretary that the excavation work at Qutub Minar complex had not been done since 1991.
Earlier, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) spokesman Vinod Bansal claimed that Qutub Minar was actually ‘Vishnu Stambh’ and the structure was built with materials obtained after demolishing 27 Hindu-Jain temples.
Several Hindu groups staged protests, chanted the Hanuman Chalisa and demanded the renaming of Qutub Minar to Vishnu Stambh after a 1200-year-old Lord Narsingha idol, Lord Ganesha and Lord Krishna idols were found inside Qutub Minar.
Apart from Qutub Minar, excavation will also take place at Lalkot Fort and Anangtal in Mehrauli.
This article first appeared on indiatoday.in