CHARMINAR MEANING “Masjid of the Four Minarets” and “Four Towers”is the most famous and important monument in the city of Hyderabad, capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The great monument is a synonym for Hyderabad and the foundation around which the glory and history of the city has developed. To imagine this 400-year-old city without Charminar is to imagine New York without the Statue of Liberty or Moscow without the Kremlin. Many Westerners refer to Charminar as the Arc de Triomphe of the East.
History
Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah,the 5th Qutub Shahi ruler built Charminar in 1591 shortly after he had shifted his capital from Golkonda to what now is known as Hyderabad[1]. 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 at the very place where he was praying. In 1591 while laying the foundation of Charminar, Quli prayed: Oh God, bestow unto this city peace and prosperity.
Let millions of men of all castes, creeds and religions make it their abode, like fish in the water. Today one can see the city as evidence of the prayer being answered. The masjid became popularly known as Charminar because of its four (Farsi and Udru char = four) minarets (Minar (Arabic manara) = spire/tower), which was possibly was to honour the first four caliphs of Islam.
This beautiful colossus in granite, lime, mortar and, some say, pulverised marble, was at one time the heart of the city. Initially the wonderful monument with its four arches was so proportionately planned that when the fort was opened one could catch a glimpse of the bustling Hyderabad city as these Charminar arches were facing the most active royal ancestral streets. There is also a legend of an underground tunnel connecting the palace at Golkonda to Charminar, possibly intended as an escape route for the Qutub Shahi rulers in case of a siege, though the exact location of the tunnel is unknown.
Construction
Charminar has the signature style of Islamic architecture. This great tribute to aesthetics looks sturdy and solid from a distance but as one moves closer, it emerges as an elegant and romantic edifice proclaiming its architectural eminence in all its detail and dignity. Charminar looks equally spectacular at night when it is illuminated.
Apart from being the core of the city’s cultural milieu, it has become a brand name.
Charminar is a beautiful and impressive square monument. Each side measures 20 m, and each of the corners has a tall, pointed minaret. These four gracefully carved minarets soar to a height of 48.7 m above the ground, commanding the landscape for miles around. Each minaret has four stories, marked by a delicately carved ring around the minaret. Unlike the Taj Mahal, Charminar’s four fluted minarets of Charminar are built into the main structure. Inside the minarets 149 winding steps guide the visitor to the top floor, the highest point one can reach, which provides a panoramic view of the city.
The actual masjid occupies the top floor of the four-storey structure. Madame Blavatsky reports that each of the floors was meant for a separate branch of learning – before the structure was transformed by the Imperial British administration into a warehouse for opium and liqueurs..
Each side of the structure opens into a plaza through giant arches that overlook four major thoroughfares, which once were royal roads. The arches dwarf other features of the building except the minarets. Each arch is 11 m wide and rises 20 m to the pinnacle from the plinth, which is a large table raised seven or eight feet from the ground with steps that go up to it. Today, the four arches each have a clock, which was installed in 1889. This monument is equally graceful on the inside having intricate designs. The painstaking details result in a graceful and quite elegant look.
The main gallery has 45 covered prayer spaces with a large open space in front to accommodate more people for Friday prayers.
It is said that, during the Mughal Governorship between Qutb Shahi and Asaf Jahi rule, the south western minaret “fell to pieces” after being struck by lightning, but “was forthwith repaired” at a cost of Rs 60,000. In 1824, the monument was replastered at a cost of Rs 100,000.
The monument overlooks another beautiful and grand masjid called Makkah Masjid. The area surrounding Charminar is also known by same name. A thriving market still lies around the Charminar, attracting people and merchandise of every description. In its heyday, the Charminar market had some 14,000 shops.
-Agencies