Charminar
Hyderabad offers many sites worth seeing and Charminar is one of them. In 1589, the capital of the Qutab Shahi was moved from their hilltop fort of Golconda to Hyderabad. In his new capital, Muhammad Quli Qutab Shah built several structures including the famous Charminar.
It is a massive square minaret and is therefore known as Charminar. Each minaret is 55 meters from the ground. It has spiral staircases and huge arches on each side. It stood at the entrance to the palace complex. The whole arches are plastered with lime mortar. There is a beautiful mosque on the second floor and a large water tank in the middle. Every Thursday the area gets illuminated by special market. As a matter of fact, Qutab Shahi king built it to commemorate the end of a plague epidemic in 1591. The Charminar depicts the Indo-Saracenic tradition which symbolises Hindu and Muslim traditions and has woven the magic of a rich Deccan culture. The lanes around Charminar form the centre of India’s pearl trade.
