ASI might excavate Qutub Minar Complex; Centre clarifies "no such decision taken".

Qutub Minar is said be built originally by Indian King Raja Vikramaditya.

On Sunday, Union culture minister GK Reddy clarified that no directions for excavation at the Qutub Minar complex in Delhi has been issued by the government. Asked if the ministry of culture had issued directions to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Reddy reportedly said, “No such decision has been taken."

On Saturday, Govind Mohan – Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, had visited Qutub Minar along with three historians, four ASI officers and researchers. ASI officials have informed him that the excavation work at Qutub Minar complex had not been done since 1991.

As per some unclarified reports, the cultural ministry had directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), to conduct excavation and iconography of idols at the Qutub Minar complex.

• This comes after the Gyanvapi Mosque survey, when a 1200 year old idol of Lord Narsingh was found in one of the pillars of the mosque inside Qutub Minar's complex. As per several claims, the place was earlier said to be one for Hindu and Jain temples.

• International working president of the United Hindu Front, Bhagwan Goyal, claimed that the Qutub Minar is the ‘Vishnu Stambha’, which was built by the “great king Vikramaditya".

“But later, Qutubuddin Aibak claimed credit for it. There were 27 temples in the complex and those were destroyed by Aibak. Proof of all this is available as people can find idols of Hindu gods kept in the Qutub Minar complex. Our demand is that Qutub Minar should be called as Vishnu Stambha," he told PTI. 

Two weeks ago, members of a right-wing group recited the Hanuman Chalisa outside the Qutub Minar complex and staged a protest demanding that the iconic monument here be renamed ‘Vishnu Stambha’. At least 30 demonstrators have been detained and taken to a police station, from where they will be released later, police said.

“They were detained because they cannot protest in the middle of the road causing traffic snarls, thereby creating inconvenience for commuters," a police official said.

The protestors chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’, recited the Hanuman Chalisa and displayed placards reading “Qutub Minar should be called Vishnu Stambha", after the Hindu God Vishnu.