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Sunday, October 14, 2007

Charminar



You've heard about it, you've read about it, you've seen umpteen photographs and sketches of it, and now it's time for the real thing! Any tourist who steps into this 400-year-old city eagerly awaits a glance of this monument, which is to Hyderabad what the Statue of Liberty is to the USA and the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. Built in 1591-92 by the Qutb Shahi king Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah, this magnificent edifice that epitomises the pride of our city is a structure of char (four) huge minars (pillars). For the etymologists, the word minaret has originated from minar, rendered by the sweet sounding Urdu zabani.
Enter the area and you can smell the fragrances of Persia, the attars of Afghanistan and the scents of Saudi Arabia as you jostle among crowds that seem to be hardly aware of this architectural splendor. You’ll also find a whole lot of pearl dealers seated in shops around the structure. It even has a small mosque located on its roof. Earlier you could have climbed up the stairs and watched the locale from a height of about 54 meters, but some unfortunate incidents have led to the stairs being sealed.
Built to a height of 56.7meters (186 feet) and on a square base of 31.5 meters (100 feet), the Charminar is said to be a prototype of Tazia, a representation of the tomb of Imam Husain. It is also said that during the Mughal Governorship between the Qutb Shahi and the Asaf Jahi rule, lightning destroyed the South Western minaret which 'fell to pieces', but it was forthwith repaired at a cost of Rs 60,000! The whole structure was plastered in 1824 at a cost of Rs 100,000. Isn't it amusing? Ah, but then the rupee isn't what it used to be...

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