Hashtsal Minar
Location
: 17-km rom Delhi, On Delhi-Najafgarh Road
Built By
: Shah Jhan
Another Attraction
: Hathi-Khana
Historical Significance
: Shah Jahan Used The Minar As A Shooting Tower.
The small village of Hashtsal deception at the end of the slim approach road from its junction with Delhi-Najafgarh road, 17-km from Delhi, on the bank of a lake-a vast depression, which gets filled with water during the rains.
Inside the village is a three-storeyed brick-built tapering minar, 17-m high, faced with red stone, with a narrow staircase leading to its top? It rises from a two-tiered platform, the lower one square and the upper one octagonal. The lower half of its first storey is twelve-side, the remaining height being provided alternatively with angular and semi-circular flutings as in the third storey of the Qutub Minar.
About 100m to its northwest are the remains of a double-storeyed pavilion, called 'Hathi-Khana' (elephant-stable). It is believed that Shah Jahan built the pavilion as a hunting lodge. The minar may have been planned by him to be used as a shooting-tower.
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