The Charminar is to Hyderabad what the Taj Mahal or the Eiffel Tower is to Agra or Paris, respectively. With four minarets and open arches, this towering monument cum mosque has a 400-year history and is the best symbol of the city's historical and architectural legacy. It is a prominent attraction for visitors to Hyderabad because it is located in the heart of the city and is surrounded by a bustling market. The Charminar is undoubtedly one of the heritage monuments you must visit once you have checked out of your Hyderabad hotels for a day of sightseeing.
History of Charminar
Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah, the fifth Sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, built the Charminar more than four centuries ago. After relocating his headquarters from Golconda to Hyderabad, a newly founded city, he ordered the construction of this enormous mosque in 1591.
There are a number of explanations as to why Qutub Shah built this massive mosque in the heart of his new capital. Some historians believe the Sultan was obliged to relocate his capital due to a cholera epidemic that killed thousands of his citizens at the time. He prayed to the Almighty and promised to build a mosque if his people's suffering ended. Once cholera was eradicated from the city, the Charminar was built to honor this promise.
Another school of thought holds that Quli Qutub Shah built the mosque and founded Hyderabad to commemorate the commencement of the second Islamic millennium year, a momentous event in the Islamic world at the time. Charminar, which means 'Four Towers' in Urdu, was given to the monument because it was ornamented with four towering minarets on each of its four sides.
The edifice, which has a history as long as the city of Hyderabad, has withstood the test of time, but it has also been damaged and renovated along the way. The minaret on the southwest was destroyed by lightning under the governorships of Asaf Jahi and Qutb Shahi, although it was later reconstructed. In 1824, the monument received a new coat of plaster at a cost of about one lakh rupees. Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, put four clocks from London to the four arches in 1889.
The monument is currently under the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, which is responsible for its protection and upkeep.