"Char" means four and "minar" means minaret - so Hyderabad's most famous landmark, called the Charminar, is an ornamental structure of four minarets built by Muhammad Qutb Shah to commemorate the ending of the plague in 1591. It is in the heart of the old city and is surrounded by endless markets selling pearls (interestngly, Hyderabad, which is landlocked, is the center of the pearl trade in India) as well as bangles (glass, plastic, silver, gold, gems, you name it). We took a tour up spiral staircase within the cornet minarets and then spent some time in the observation deck above the arches before walking the short distance to the Mecca Masjid.One of the eight US teachers, Erin McGraw from Rutland, VT who is staying in Hyderabad, joined us for the day trip to the old city. She is teaching English at another regional KV school.
The Mecca Masjid, which can hold up to 10,000 people at a time, is one of the largest mosques in India amd was completed in 1694 by the Mughal Emperor Aurangazeb. It is said that some of the bricks used to construct the mosque were made from earth taken from Mecca - the holiest city in Islam and birthplace of the prophet Mohammed. One side of the mosque contains the marble graves of many of the rulers of Hyderabad, including many of the Nizam family who ruled in Hyderabad until Indian Independance in 1947 (even after which the region had to be forcefully taken from the Nizam rulers by the Indian army when they refused to relinquish their control).
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