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Vol.XXXIV, 2011 The Minarets of the Hilal Khāṁ Qāzi Mosque, Dholkā is only one such manifestation and like any other, uses certain native elements, those of the sacred architecture of the Hindus in its formal make up. But ideologically the overall form, for certain, is non-Hindu: It is very definitely Islāmic. Without the knowledge of the conception of minār, a minaret cannot be built. There was a strong Islāmic tradition behind the Dholkā minaret even when it presses some Hindu elements into service in its make up.
Let us, then, analyze its components and see what the results have to indicate. We shall, for the purpose of description, use the terminology of the Maru-Gurjara brahmanical architecture, some of whose elements have gone into its make up.
As the plate 2 and the drawing (Text figure), reveal the minaret in question can be resolved from base to the finial into eight components, namely, the bhias (plinths: here two courses), the pīha (base), the first bhūmi (first floor), the prahāra (sur-entablature), the second bhūmi (second floor); the third bhūmi, the miniature minār, and finally the kalaśa (pitcher-finial).
The pīha comprises five mouldings, namely, the jādyakumbha (inverted cymarecta), the antarapaa (astragal), the karnaka (knife-edged fillet), the faceted plain paikā and the chădyaki (rooflet, faceted?). The pīha thus follows the formal organization of Brahmanical architecture of Gujarāt. Next comes the stambha or shaft proper divided into three janghās (here fluted friezes), defined with the help of distinctive mouldings such as the madhyabandha (medial band) and kapotapali (cyma awning) as also a shortened kapotāli. Then comes the kanha-necking-and next the khuracchädya, cyma-awning, of the entablature supported by madalas, consoles or strut-brackets. The lower rim of the khuracchádya above shows a row of särilambanas, knob-pendants.
There ends the first storey and the next one begins with the prahāra or entablature made up of antarapaa and kapotapāli. In the second bhūmi proper, the .. fluted jangha is replaced by a ratnapaa (here plain lozenge band) to ensure reduction
of height, and in mouldings what we get here are only the antarapaa and the kanha with, as before, madala-struts in shorter dimensions that support the cyma-awning. The third storey is further diminished in height, formed as it is by a cippikā, minor inverted cyma recta (with sawedge ornament on the astragal), and next the antarapaa followed by a small khuracchädya merging at its top with a miniature minār, the latter shaped like a cooling tower of an electrical power generating station. The minar motif pierces through an unribbed amalasaraka or myrobalan member of the Hindu temple. At minār's top is the candrikā, moon-cap, with suspended leaf decoration at its border. And finally the kalasa-pitcher finial—formed by a ghaa or pitcher proper and the bijapūraka, citron fruit, the last one rendered schematically as in the instances of the Maru-Gurjara temples of Gujarāt.
Now to the analysis of the minaret's constituent elements. The minaret's organization up to the end of the first storey more or less follows the conventions of the sacred architecture of the Hindus. The bhias and the piha for example, are where
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