HYDERABAD

Mecca Masjid

Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad is situated near Charminar. Mecca Masjid is the earliest as well as the largest of the all the mosques in the city. As many as 10,000 people are able to offer prayers here at the same time. The history of the city tells us that Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah initiated the building of the Masjid in 1617 while the Mughal Emperor Aurangazeb finished its construction in 1694. The Mecca Masjid of Hyderabad lies at a distance of only 100 yards from the very well known monument of Charminar.

There is quite a fascinating story behind thenaming of this mosque. The people say that some of the bricks with which the mosque has been made were brought from Mecca. Therefore the name, Mecca Masjid has been given to it.

You will find 15 arches giving support to the hall of the Mecca Masjid. Three walls of this huge hall have each got five arches. This massive hall has a height of 75 feet, a width of 220 feet and a length of 180 feet. This dimension clearly shows you how it can house about 10,000 people together during prayers. You will be astonished to know that around 8000 workers wereemployed to build up this beautiful mosque. It took them as long as 77years to construct the mosque.

Thousands and thousands of sermons from the holy Quran were written on the arches of the Mecca Masjid. Whenever you go to the artificial pond over there, you will have a feeling of quietness and serenity. The mosque houses a museum in the courtyard that preserves ancient and holy relics. The hair of Prophet Mohammed has been preserved here.

You can avail the local transport within Hyderabad to go to the Mecca Masjid at Hyderabad.

Makkah Masjid was built during the reign of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the 5th Qutb Shahi Sultan of Golconda (now Hyderabad). The three arched facades have been carved from a single piece of granite, which took five years to quarry. More than 8,000 workers were employed to build the mosque. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah personally laid the foundation stone. The construction was later completed by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb after conquering Hyderabad.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, the French explorer, in his travelogue observed;

"It is about 50 years since they began to build a splendid pagoda in the town which will be the grandest in all India when it is completed. The size of the stone is the subject of special accomplishment, and that of a niche, which is its place for prayer, is an entire rock of such enormous size that they spent five years in quarrying it, and 500 to 600 men were employed continually on its work. It required still more time to roll it up on to conveyance by which they brought it to the pagoda; and they took 1400 oxen to draw it

The main hall of the mosque is 75 feet high, 220 feet wide and 180 feet long, enough to accommodate 10,000 worshipers at a time. Fifteen arches support the roof of the main hall, five on each of the three sides. A wall rises on the fourth side to provide Mihrab.

At the peak of the minarets flanking the mosque is an arched gallery, and above that a smallish dome and a spire. Inscriptions from the Qur'an adorn many of the arches and doors. The main structure of the mosque is sandwiched between two massive octagonal columns made out of a single piece of granite. The cornices running around the entire mosque structure and the floral motifs and friezes over the arches remind the tourist of the great attention paid to detail in Qutub Shahi architecture. They have a close resemblance to the arches at Charminar and Golkonda Fort.

At both ends of this resting place for the Asaf Jahs and very much a part of it, are two rectangular blocks with four minarets each. These minarets have elegant and circular balconies with low ornamental walls and arches. Above them is an octagonal inverted platter from which the rest of the minaret soars till it is arrested by a dome and a spire.The Makkah Masjid is a listed heritage building, however, lack of maintenance and growing pollution has withered and cracked the structure. It received a chemical wash in 1995. To prevent further damage, the Andhra Pradesh government made Charminar a traffic-free zone in August 2001.On the edge of the pond are two stone and slab benches, whoever sits on them, according to legend, returns to sit on them again.On the four sides of the roof on the main mosque, the ramparts are made of granite planks in the shape of inverted conches perched on pedestals. From the cornice of the mosque, its minarets are not as high as the minarets on the mazaar (Nizams tombs) haven from their cornice. The octagonal columns have arched balconies on level with the roof of the mosque with an awning for a canopy, above which the column continues upwards till it is crowned by a dome and spireThe entrance courtyard of the mosque, a rectangular, arched and canopied building houses the marble graves of Asaf Jahi rulers. This structure came up during the rule of the Asaf Jah rulers. It contains the tombs of the Nizams and their family.
A room in the courtyard is believed to house a hair of the Islamic prophet Muhammed.