January 19 , 2005



The cultural affection for embellishment shows up in the art and architecture of India as well. The Laxmi Narayan Temple in Delhi was burgundy and yellow, with patterns painted in white on the outside. It had almost as many towers and separate rooms as it is possible to fit on one building. The idols inside were draped in jewelry and clothing and offerings. So much so, it was hard to tell the male figures from the female. Temple-goers were standing, sitting, kneeling, and laying down. Organized worship is not part of

Hinduism; it is a decentralized, personal religion. You may worship in any position, at any time. There are, according to our mildly sarcastic guide Rashid, “thirty-three million gods,” and several massive epics. More is better, says Hinduism.
The columns taken from an ancient Hindu temple at the Qutb Minar complex were covered in details. Women, demons, animals, shapes of doors and vessels were all carved into the stone. Each column was unique. The one quality they shared was that there was not an inch of stone left blank. Each column had a stone bisecting it, but the height of these stones in the column varied considerably: Consistency and order were not priorities to the people who built the temple.

This relaxed attitude about organization contrasts with Islamic design, which is perfectly ordered. There are no figures allowed in Islamic art, so geometric patterns and calligraphy replace them. The Islamic architecture at the site of Qutb Minar and elsewhere was just as intricately detailed as the stolen Hindu columns. The Qutb Minar complex does not merge Hindu and Islamic architectural styles. It forces them together. It is the art of conquest, of Islam dominating Hinduism. Qutb defaced the figures in the Hindu carving and