The decoration of the Qutab Minar is consistently Islamic
in character from base to top; though the somewhat hybrid style of Firoz
Shah's later additions is noticeably distinct. Numerous inscriptions
in Arabic and Nagari characters are seen as wide encircling bands in the
plain fluted masonry of the Minar. This inscriptions reveal the history
of Qutub, from its commencement in AD1199 to its repairs in between.
There is a door on the northern side, leading inside the tower to a spiral
stairway with 379 steps that winds its way up to the balcony in each floor
and culminating in a platform at the top. The intricate balconies held
together by stalactite vaulting technique and patterned with honey combing
is a special feature of the minar.
The minar has survived a series of lightening bolts and earthquakes during
the past centuries. After the first lighting strike way back in AD1368
knocking off the top storey and two floors replaced instead, by Firoz Shah Tuglaq, inscriptions indicate
that further repairs were done by Sultan Sikander Lodi in 1503. Later
in 1803, the cupola on the top was thrown down and the whole pillar was
seriously injured by an earthquake.
 It was repaired by Major R. Smith of the Royal Engineers who restored
the Qutub Minar in 1829 replacing the cupola with a Bengal style chhattri.
The chhattri was removed in 1848, by the Viceroy Lord Hardinge as it was
criticized as not keeping in with the architectural style of the rest
of the minar. Now it stands to the left of the entry path and is known
as Smith's folly.
Today, this impressively ornate tower has a slight tilt, but otherwise
has worn the centuries remarkably well. The staircase inside the tower
to the balconies has been closed following an accident in early 1980's
when a party of school girls panicked when the lights failed and a stampede
led to a number of deaths.
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Monuments 
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