Qutub Minar is an example of _____ architecture.

The correct answer is Indo-Islamic.

Key Points

• Qutub Minar (or Qutab Minar) is a minaret and "victory tower" that forms part of the Qutb complex.
• It is an example of Indo-Islamic architecture.
• It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mehrauli area of New Delhi, India.
• The height of Qutb Minar is 72.5 meters, making it the tallest minaret in the world built of bricks.
• The tower tapers, and has a 14.3 meters (47 feet) base diameter, reducing to 2.7 meters (9 feet) at the top of the peak. ​
• Between 1199 and 1503, Qutub-ud-Din Aibak and Shamsu'd-Din Iltutmish built a minar (minaret) near the southeast corner of the Quwwatu'l-Islam, drawing inspiration from their Ghurid homeland.

Additional Information

• The Nagara or North Indian temple style
  • Became popular in northern India.
  • The entire temple is generally built on a stone platform with steps leading to it.
  • No grand boundary walls or gateways (unlike the Dravida style).
  • Earlier temples had one shikhara whereas later temples had many.
  • The garbhagriha is located directly beneath the tallest shikhara.
• Dravidian Style of Architecture – South Indian Style
  • The temple is enclosed within a compound wall.
  • Gopuram: The entrance gateway in the centre of the front wall.
  • Vimana: The shape of the main temple tower. It is a stepped pyramid that rises up geometrically (unlike the Nagara style Shikhara that is curving).
  • In the Dravida style, shikhara is the word used for the crowning element at the top of the temple (which is shaped like a stupika or octagonal cupola).
  • At the entrance to the garbhagriha, there would be sculptures of fierce dvarapalas guarding the temple.
  • Generally, there is a temple tank within the compound.
  • Subsidiary shrines could be found wither within the main tower or beside the main tower.
  • Example in the Sriranganathar Temple at Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli, there are 7 concentric rectangular enclosure walls each having gopurams. The tower in the centre has the garbhagriha.
  • Famous temple towns of Tamil Nadu: Kanchipuram, Thanjavur (Tanjore), Madurai and Kumbakonam.
  • In the 8th to 12th centuries – temples were not confined to being religious centres but became administrative centres as well with large swathes of land.
• The Vesara Style is a hybrid temple architecture. It has features of both the Nagara and Dravidian style of temple architecture.
  • In particular, the shape of the superstructure over the sanctum is usually pyramidal in profile, and shorter than the northern shikhara tower.
  • In plan, the walls and superstructure are broadly circular, or a straight-sided cone, though its geometry is based on rotating a square imposed on a circle.