Alai Darwaza

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The Ala'i Darwaza (Template:Langx) is the southern gateway of the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque in Qutb complex, Mehrauli, Delhi, India. Built by Sultan Alauddin Khalji in 1311 and made of red sandstone, it is a square domed gatehouse with arched entrances and houses a single chamber.

It has a special significance in Indo-Islamic architecture as the first Indian monument to be built using Islamic methods of construction and ornamentation and is a World Heritage Site.<ref name="ASI" />

Background

The Alai Darwaza was built by Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khalji of the Khalji dynasty in 1311. It was a part of his plan to extend the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque on four sides. Although he planned to construct four gates, only the Alai Darwaza could be completed as he died in 1316.<ref name="RS1">Template:Cite book</ref> It serves as the southern gateway of the mosque.<ref name="ASI">Template:Cite web</ref> It is located at the southern part of the Qutb complex.<ref name="RS1"/>

In 1993, the Darwaza and the other monuments of the complex are designated a World Heritage Site.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The surrounding of Qutb Minar including many tombs,mosque and Iron pillar is called Qutb Complex

Architecture

The Alai Darwaza is made up of a single hall whose interior part measures Template:Convert and exterior part measures Template:Convert.<ref name="RS1"/> It is Template:Convert tall and the walls are Template:Convert thick.<ref name="OB">Template:Cite book</ref>

The gatehouse, from 1311, still shows a cautious approach to the new technology, with very thick walls and a shallow dome, only visible from a certain distance or height. Bold contrasting colors of masonry, with red sandstone and white marble, introduce what was to become a common feature of Indo-Islamic architecture, substituting for the polychrome tiles used in Persia and Central Asia. The pointed arches come together slightly at their base, giving a mild horseshoe arch effect, and their internal edges are not cusped but lined with conventionalized "spearhead" projections, possibly representing lotus buds. Net, stone openwork screens, are introduced here; they already had been long used in temples.<ref>Blair, Sheila, and Bloom, Jonathan M., The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250–1800, p. 151, 1995, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, Template:ISBN</ref>

The height of the dome is Template:Convert.<ref name="RS1"/> It is the first true dome built in India, as previous attempts to construct a true dome were not successful.<ref name="RS1"/>

The entire Darwaza is made up of red sandstone with white colored marbles inlaid on the exterior walls.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> There is extensive Arabic calligraphy on the walls of the Darwaza. The arches are horseshoe shaped,<ref name="OB"/> the first time such arches were used in India. The façade has pre-Turkish carvings and patterns.<ref name="RS1"/> The windows have marble lattices. The surface decoration consists of interweaved floral tendrils and is repeated with symmetry on three doorways.<ref name="RS1"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>