Charminar, Hyderabad

Charminar

The city of Hyderabad, with its delightful blend of ancient and modern, presents an interesting skyline to the visitors with modern buildings standing side by side with fascinating 400-year-old buildings.

It houses some of the finest examples of Qutb Shahi architecture – Jami Masjid, Mecca Masjid, Toli Masjid, and of course, the impressive symbol of Hyderabad, the Charminar.

The Charminar is a massive arch built by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in 1591 to commemorate the end of the plague in the city. The symbol of the city, the Charminar, is an impressive square monument with four minarets. The arch is illuminated daily in the evening, an unforgettable sight indeed.

The monument is a magnificent square granite building, built on four imposing arches, facing north, south, east, and west. These arches support the two storeys of the room and the gallery of arches. At each corner of the square structure is a minaret to a height of 24 meters, making the building about 54 meters high. It is the four (four) minarets (minarets) that give the building the name 'Charminar'. Each minaret stands at the base of a lotus leaf, a characteristic recurrent motif in Qutb Shahi buildings.

The first floor was used as a madrasa (college) during the Qutb Shahi period. There is a mosque on the second floor on the west side, whose dome is visible when standing at some distance from the road. A spectacular view of the city can be seen from the terrace of Charminar, however, due to overcrowding of the minarets, only visitors with special permission from the Archaeological Survey of India, Hyderabad circle are allowed to visit the top of the minarets. . The clocks above each of the four arches were added in 1889.

Wandering around the Charminar area, one is constantly surprised to connect the relics of the past with the present. The grand building of Nizamia Unani Hospital is situated on the south-east side of Charminar. About 50 meters to the west, the queue of shops at Laad Bazaar is interrupted by an old, crumbling brown wall that marks the entrance to the old Nizama's Jilau Khana (parade ground). The grounds are now being used for the development of a large commercial complex. Further down, a road on the left leads to the Khilafat Complex (Chowmahalla Palace). The Lad Bazar street ends in a square called Mehboob Chowk, where a large 19th-century clock tower stands atop a delicate white mosque from the same period.

Charminar is about 7 km from Hyderabad Railway Station. It is 5 km away from Hyderabad Bus Station. Excellent private transportation is available from all parts of the Twin Cities. Called the "Arc de Triomphe of the East", the Charminar is a symbol of Hyderabad. As old as the city, the building's four grand towers stand in the middle of the old city as a hallmark of the Qutb Shahi era.