With the communal game played by the miscreants and opportunists recently, they have tried to belittle the historic and iconic Charminar, although the miscreants and the whole world know very well that there was no controversial structure abutting Charminar until 1960.
According to Archeological department Charminar is a masjid and madrasa. But since the department took its possession in 1958 the masjid was closed for musallis and the madrasa for students. Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah, the fifth ruler of the Qutub Shahi dynasty built Charminar in 1591 AD. He built this famous structure to commemorate the elimination of a plague epidemic from this city. He is said to have prayed for the end of a plague that was ravaging his city and vowed to build a masjid (Islamic mosque) at the very place where he was praying.
The brochure distributed by Archeological survey of India to the tourists states that the Charminar is a two storied building. The building stands with four arches each 11 metres wide and 11.5 metres long. The tomb built on the arches reaches to 2nd floor. According to archeological department the first floor was used as madrasa and the 2nd floor has a beautiful mosque.
The GHMC also endorses this by mentioning in its website that ‘Unique to Hyderabad, this square structure has delicate stucco ornamentation, four tall minarets and a mosque on its top floor……The upper levels of the Charminar were used as a madrasa and mosque. The beautiful mosque is situated on the western section of the top floor facing the holy city of Mecca. The rear wall of the mosque is indicated by blank niches framed by petalled ornamentation. There are 45 open-air prayer spaces, to accommodate more people during Friday prayers. (http://www.ghmc.gov.in/hyd/visitplacesnew.asp?status=6).
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