The west face of the quadrangle, in which the tower stands, formed
the church, which consisted of eleven large arched alcoves, the
centre and largest of which contained the pulpit. In size and beauty
they seem to have corresponded with the Minar, but they are now all
in ruins.[27] In the front of the centre of these alcoves stands the
metal pillar of the old Hindoo sovereign of Delhi, Prithi Raj, across
whose temple all the great mosque, of which this tower forms a part,
was thrown in triumph. The ruins of these temples he scattered all
round the place, and consist of colonnades of stone pillars and
pedestals, richly enough carved with human figures, in attitudes
rudely and obscenely conceived. The small pillar is of bronze, or a
metal which resembles bronze, and is softer than brass, and of the
same form precisely as that of the stone pillar at Eran, on the Bina
river in Malwa, upon which stands the figure of Krishna, with the
glory around his head.[28]
It is said that this metal pillar was put down through the earth, so
as to rest upon the very head of the snake that supports the world;
and that the sovereign who made it, and fixed it upon so firm a
basis, was told by his spiritual advisers that his dynasty should
last as long as the pillar remained where it was.
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