Former ASI officer claims Qutub Minar was built by emperor Vikramaditya

Amid the ongoing controversy over the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, a former officer of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has come up with an outlandish claim about the historic Qutub Minar in Delhi. 

Dharamveer Sharma has served as Superintending Archaeologist in the division of Delhi for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Dharamveer Sharma had worked extensively on the conservation of Qutub Minar and went inside the Minaret multiple times. Former Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Regional Director Dharamveer Sharma has said that Qutub Minar was actually Surya Stambh and was built to study the direction of the sun. He claimed it was not built by the Mughals but by Emperor Vikramaditya.

Dhramveer Sharam further said that the structure was not built in parts as the historians suggest. He said the tower was an observatory to count constellations. There are 27 binocular locations in the Minaret to calculate 27 constellations. He further claimed that on the third floor of the Minaret, there is a mention of Surya Stambh.

He claimed that Qutub Minar was not built by Qutb al-Din Aibak as history books had told, it was initially developed by Raja Vikramaditya in the 5th century. 

Tilt in the tower was made to observe the sun 

As per media reports, former ASI officer Dharamveer Sharma said, “There is a 25-inch tilt in the tower of the Qutb Minar. It is because it was made to observe the sun and hence, on June 21, between the shifting of the solstice, the shadow will not fall on that area for at least half an hour. This is science and archaeological fact”

As a result, the Qutb Minar is an autonomous edifice that is unrelated to the Masjid nearby. Even the Qutb Minar's entrance faces north to see the Dhruv star in the night sky.

Dharamveer Sharma’s claims came after the members of the right-wing organizations, United Hindu Front and Rashtrawadi Shiv Sena chanted Hanuman Chalisa outside Qutub Minar, demanding that the monument's name be changed to 'Vishnu Stambh.' They also demanded that the Hindu idols within the monument be removed and properly placed.

Earlier in Allahabad, a petition was submitted to open some of the Taj Mahal's basement locked rooms, claiming that there are Hindu idols inside. Many Hindutva organizations have also claimed that the Taj Mahal was constructed on the site of a Shiva temple.