Charminar

The mosque of Charminar is the biggest landmark in Hyderabad - the fifth largest city in India. It is a religious temple, also known as "the mosque with four minarets”.

Charminar is the most popular mosque and monument in Hyderabad, which you should definitely visit. Indeed, once arrived in the city, one can not help, but notice the high towers of the temple. It can safely be said that the Charminar is the post card of the city, synonymous with Hyderabad. It recreates the story that the Indian city has preserved the spirit of the past and yet fits in a unique way with the modern urban environment.

In literal translation of the name of the mosque means "four minarets". The temple is built in typical Islamic style architecture.

Some say you can not imagine Hyderabad without Charminar, in the same way that it is impossible to imagine a city like New York without the Statue of Liberty, or Moscow without the Kremlin.

The mosque was built by Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in 1591. The king decided to build a unique temple shortly after moved the capital from Golkonda to Hyderabad. This beautiful colossus is built of granite, lime and mortar.

The impetus for the construction of this religious temple is as joyful as it is sad. The reason for the rise of the mosque is the end of the plague, which brought despair to the majority of the population in the Indian city at the end of the XV century. Legends say that it is the place where today Charminar stands, the ruler of the genus Quli Qutbb prayed ceaselessly for the end of the insidious disease. Today, some believe there is a secret underground tunnel connecting the Golkonda, to the ancient city of Charminar, which today is one of the landmarks of Hyderabad.

From afar the building looks solid, but closer to it, visitors are astonished by her beauty, sophistication, elegance and attention to detail.

The colossa Charminar has a square structure with four towers rising, one in each of the four corners of the temple. Minarets rise 24 meters from the roof of Charminar. Each of them has four floors, each exterior is beautifully distinct from the rest in the ring.

On top of the beautiful mosque there are 45 places of worship, where pilgrims’ untouched silence can be attributed to prayer. On the first floor, the mosque has a terrace, which reveals a great view of the seven million- strong Hyderabad.

On each of the walls of the mosque there is a huge arch, wide 11meters, and 20 meters high. Under the four huge arches passes much of the traffic of Hyderabad. From the ground to the top of the minaret of the mosque, the length is approximately 50 meters.

Anyone would have noticed that Charminar actually has much in common with the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Not accidentally, then, the mosque with four towers is often called Triumph arch of the East.

An interesting fact is that Hyderabad Muslims living in Pakistan, in 2007 built a small version of the Charminar, in the central part of Karachi.

At night, Charminar is even more impressive. Brilliant illumination leaves unforgettable memories of visitors to Hyderabad.

Near the mosque are major shopping areas, some of which are entirely separate trading beads, such as Laad Bazaar and the market Charminar. Intensive marketing of pearls of Hyderabad won the city the nickname "Pearl City”. Close to the Charminar is located also the largest mosque in the city - Makkah Masjid.