by flanges and by storied balconies, carried on Muqarnas corbels. Prior to its reconstruction and reduction, the fourth story was also decorated with semicircular pilasters. It was re-constructed in white marble and is relatively plain. The Fifth Story In 1369, the fourth story was repaired after lightning struck the minaret. During reconstruction, Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq elected to reduce the size of the fourth story and then separated it into two stories. Controversy On 14 November 2000, Delhi newspapers reported that the Hindu nationalist groups, Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, planned to host a yajna, a ritualistic Hindu ceremony related to cleansing or purification, at the Qutub Minar complex where the minaret is located. The Delhi police detained 80 activists led by Ram Krishan Gaur that were located by the Qutb Minar and were stopped from performing the yajna inside the tower. Due to a police barricade, the activists instead performed the ritual on the streets outside the mosque complex. Since the spolia of Jain and Hindu temples were used to construct the minaret, the right-wing Hindu groups believed that they needed to perform a cleansing at the complex in order to free the Hindu icons that were "trapped" in the minaret and the mosque complex. On 18 May 2022, a former Regional Director of Archaeological Survey of India, Dharamveer Sharma, has claimed that Qutb Minar was built by Raja Vikramaditya in the fifth century to observe the changing position of the sun. On 21 May 2022, The Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Govind Mohan, took the decision to conduct excavation and iconography of idols found at Qutub Minar. The Ministry has now asked the ASI to submit an excavation report. Excavation can be started in the south of the minaret at a distance of 15 meters from the mosque. Accidents Before 1976, the general public was allowed access to the first floor of the minaret, via the internal staircase. Access to the top was stopped after 2000 due to suicides. On 4 December 1981, the staircase lighting failed. Between 300 and 400 visitors stampeded towards the exit. 45 were killed and some were injured. Most of these were school children. Since then, the tower has been closed to the public. Since this incident the rules regarding entry have been stringent. In literature Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem, is a reflection on an picture by Samuel Prout in Fisher's