Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, May 22: 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 developed.
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 authorities.
Govind Mohan was accompanied by three historians, four ASI officers, and researchers to the site. The secretary was informed by ASI officials that no excavation activity 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 monument was constructed with materials salvaged from 27 Hindu-Jain temples.
After a 1200-year-old Lord Narsingha idol, Lord Ganesha, and Lord Krishna idols were discovered within Qutub Minar, several Hindu organisations organised protests, recited the Hanuman Chalisa, and urged the renaming of Qutub Minar to Vishnu Stambh.
Excavation will also take conducted at Lalkot Fort and Anangtal in Mehrauli, in addition to the Qutub Minar.
