Makkah Masjid, Hyderabad

Coordinates: 17°21′37″N 78°28′24″E / 17.360305°N 78.473416°E / 17.360305; 78.473416
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about a mosque in
Hyderabad, India. For the Grand Mosque in Mecca, see Masjid al-Haram
.

Makkah Masjid
Hyderabad
StateTelangana
CountryIndia[1]
Geographic coordinates17°21′37″N 78°28′24″E / 17.360305°N 78.473416°E / 17.360305; 78.473416
Architecture
StyleIndo-Islamic architecture
Completed1693; 331 years ago (1693)
Specifications
Capacity10,000
Length67 m
Width54 m
Height (max)23 m
Materialsgranite

Makkah Masjid or Mecca Masjid, is a

Old City of Hyderabad,[4] and is located close to the historic landmarks of Charminar, Chowmahalla Palace and Laad Bazaar
.

Muhammad Qutb Shah, the sixth ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, commissioned bricks to be made from the soil brought from Mecca, the holiest site of Islam
, and used them in the construction of the central arch of the mosque, thus giving the mosque its name.

The complex was put by

Monuments and Forts of the Deccan Sultanate (despite there being a number of different sultanates).[5]

History

The construction of the Makkah Masjid began in the year 1617 CE, during the reign of

Qutb Shahi Sultan of Golconda (now Hyderabad). The ruler personally laid its foundation stone. Around 8,000 workers were employed to build the mosque. It was completed by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1693.[6][3] The three arched facades[dubious – discuss
] have been carved from a single piece of granite, which took five years to quarry.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a 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.[7]

Bombing

Main article:
Mecca Masjid bombing
Mecca masjid view from charminar

On 18 May 2007, a bomb exploded inside the Makkah Masjid during

Nizams
in the Makkah Masjid

Architecture

The Mecca Masjid is considered to be one of the best architectural works of the Qutb Shahis.

minarets. Each minaret is topped by a dome, and adjoined to an arcaded balcony lining either side of the prayer hall.[6]

The sahn (courtyard) of the mosque measures 108 square metres.[4] It contains a sundial, as well as the remains of a hammam. Two minarets lie on either side of the main entrance to the mosque complex.[3]

Towards the southern end of the mosque lie the marble tombs of the

Asaf Jah VII). These are housed in a rectangular, arched, and canopied building, which was added in 1914 during the rule of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Asaf Jahi ruler.[6][11][10] At both ends of this resting place for the Asaf Jahi's 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 minarets soar until arrested by a dome and a spire.[citation needed
]

References

  1. ^ "Location of Makkah Masjid". Google Maps. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  2. OCLC 268771115
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 9788193828243
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 9789047423652
    .
  5. ^ UNESCO "tentative list"
  6. ^ a b c Khalidi, Omar (2009). A Guide to Architecture in Hyderabad, Deccan, India. Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture & MIT Libraries. p. 41.
  7. ^ Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, Travels in India (English translation), Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, translated by Ball, London 1925 pg 205. Both volumes translated from Le Six Voyages of J. B. Tavernier (2 vols. 4to, Paris, 1676)
  8. ^ "Bomb hits historic India mosque". BBC News Online. 18 May 2007.
  9. ^ "HuJI ban takes no note of 'terror' role". The Times of India. 8 August 2010. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012.
  10. ^
    ISBN 9781856691895
    .
  11. ^ "Welcome to TCI".

External links

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