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Iron Pillar aka Vishnu Dhwaja

Writer's picture: Sittun Swayam PrakashSittun Swayam Prakash

The Iron pillar, which is present in the Qutub Minar complex, was originally named the Vishnu Dhwaja.


Check the first picture, provided by Prof. R. Balasubramaniam, professor of Metallurgical Engineering at IIT-Kanpur, who specializes on the Iron Pillar. Notice how it shows a Vishnu chakra as well as a Vishnu image at the top.


The pillar was decapitated when Iltutmish looted it, and both the chakra and the image were cut off. Iltutmish then proceeded to place it as a victory memento in the Quwwatul Islam Masjid, later renamed as the Qutub Minar complex.


The second picture, which I had clicked, shows the translation of the inscriptions on the Iron pillar, which was originally in Sanskrit, in the shardulvikridita metre. It is written in the eastern variety of the Gupta script.


Notice how it mentions Lord Vishnu. It also makes a reference to a "King Chandra", probably Chandragupta II, who constructed it.


The Iron pillar is a testament to the sheer level of metallurgical skills of the ancient iron smiths of the Gupta dynasty. It has beaten corrosion for nearly 1600 years.

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