New Delhi’s Iron Pillar has long fascinated scientists both at home and abroad. But it wasn’t until 2003 that experts cracked the metallurgical mystery behind this unusual attraction.

New Delhi’s Iron Pillar has long fascinated scientists both at home and abroad. But it wasn’t until 2003 that experts cracked the metallurgical mystery behind this unusual attraction.

It’s 1600 years old. It’s made of wrought iron. It stands pristine amid the ruins of an ancient temple. And it refuses to rust. The origin of the remarkable Iron Pillar, part of the world ...

THE freedom from rusting of the famous iron pillar at Delhi has long been a subject of comment and has been attributed by some writers to the peculiar properties of the ancient iron from which it ...

The Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque complex in New Delhi is home to an ancient wonder of metal work – a 1,600-year-old iron pillar that is exceptionally resistant to rust.

Typically, iron and iron alloy structures exposed to the air or moisture oxidize over time, rendering them coated in rust unless they are protected, like the Eiffel Tower, by layers of special paint.

A 1600-year-old mystery has been discovered in ancient ruins. Schematic illustratiosn of the manufacturing methodology of the iron pillar in Delhi. Source: Applied Surface Science Advances ...

Scientists both in India and abroad began studying the iron pillar in Delhi in 1912 to try to figure out why it hadn’t corroded.