| Alai Darwaza | |
|---|---|
| Native name علاء دروازه (Urdu) | |
 Alai Darwaza | |
| Location | Qutb Minar complex,Delhi, India |
| Coordinates | 28°31′27″N77°11′09″E / 28.5242°N 77.1857°E /28.5242; 77.1857 |
| Built | 1311; 714 years ago (1311) |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iv |
| Designated | 1993(17thsession) |
| Part of | Qutb Minar and its monuments |
| Region | India |
  Location of Alai Darwaza in India | |
The Ala'i Darwaza (Urdu:علاء دروازه,lit. 'Gate ofAlauddin') is the southern gateway of the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque inQutb complex,Mehrauli,Delhi, India. Built by SultanAlauddin Khalji in 1311 and made of redsandstone, it is a square domed gatehouse with arched entrances and houses a single chamber.
It has a special significance inIndo-Islamic architecture as the first Indian monument to be built using Islamic methods of construction and ornamentation and is aWorld Heritage Site.[1]
The Alai Darwaza was built by Delhi SultanAlauddin Khalji of theKhalji 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.[2] It serves as the southern gateway of the mosque.[1] It is located at the southern part of theQutb complex.[2]
In 1993, the Darwaza and the other monuments of the complex were designated aWorld Heritage Site.[3]The surroundings of Qutb Minar including many tombs, the mosque, and the Iron Pillar is calledQutb Complex.
The Alai Darwaza is made up of a single hall whose interior part measures 34.5 feet (10.5 m) and exterior part measures 56.5 feet (17.2 m).[2] It is 60 feet (18 m) tall and the walls are 11 feet (3.4 m) thick.[4]
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 redsandstone and whitemarble, 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 mildhorseshoe arch effect, and their internal edges are not cusped but lined with conventionalized "spearhead" projections, possibly representinglotus buds. Net, stoneopenwork screens, are introduced here; they already had been long used in temples.[5]
The height of the dome is 47 feet (14 m).[2] It is the first true dome built in India, as previous attempts to construct a true dome were not successful.[2]
The entire Darwaza is made up of redsandstone with white colored marbles inlaid on the exterior walls.[6] There is extensiveArabic calligraphy on the walls of the Darwaza. The arches arehorseshoe shaped,[4] the first time such arches were used in India. The façade has pre-Turkish carvings and patterns.[2] The windows have marble lattices. The surface decoration consists of interweaved floral tendrils and is repeated with symmetry on three doorways.[2][7]
Media related toAlai Gate at Wikimedia Commons