Bhubanswar/ New Delhi: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) spokesperson Vinod Bansal claimed that Delhi’s famous monument, the Qutub Minar, is actually a ‘Vi`@u Stambha’. This comes a day after the VHP demanded that the government rebuild the Hindu structures in the Qutub Minar complex. Mr. Bansal also said that the structure was built with materials obtained after demolishing 27 Hindu-Jain temples, that was done to humiliate the Hindu community. Mr. Bansal said, “It is alarming to see broken idols and inscriptions that attest to the fact that this was a complex of Hindu-Jain temples”.
VHP leaders, including Mr. Bansal, visited the compound of the monument, which was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993. “We demand that all the 27 temples, which were demolished at the site in the past, be rebuilt and Hindus be allowed to offer prayers there,” Mr. Bansal said. The building of the Qutub Minar, a tower with carvings and detailing, possibly one of the most visited monuments in Delhi, was started in 1199 by Qutubuddin Aibak and finished by his successor Shamsuddin Iltutmish, and stands 72.5 metres in height.