Mecca Masjid

This article is about a mosque in Hyderabad, India. For the Grand Mosque in Mecca, see Masjid al-Haram.

Makkah Masjid مکہ مسجد మక్కా మసీదు
Makkah Masjid
Basic information
Location	Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Geographic coordinates	17°21′37″N 78°28′24″E / 17.360305°N 78.473416°E / 17.360305; 78.473416Coordinates: 17°21′37″N 78°28′24″E / 17.360305°N 78.473416°E / 17.360305; 78.473416
Affiliation	Islam
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Mosque
Architectural description
Architectural type	Islamic architecture
Architectural style	Qutb Shahi, Asaf Jahi
Completed	1694
Specifications
Capacity	10,000
Length	67 m
Width	54 m
Height (max)	23 m
Materials	Granite

Makkah Masjid (Arabic: ‎and Urdu: مکہ مسجد, Telugu: మక్కా మసీదు) is one of the oldest mosques in Hyderabad, India and one of the largest in all of India. Makkah Masjid is a listed heritage building in the old city of Hyderabad, close to the historic landmarks of Chowmahalla Palace and Laad Bazaar. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the fifth 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. It formed the centerpiece around which the city was planned by Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah.^[1]

History and construction

Makkah Masjid was built during the reign of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the 6th 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 of the mosque. 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."^[2]

Makkah Masjid Minaret Design

Architecture and design

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.

On the four sides of the roof of the main mosque are ramparts 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 spire.

Tombs

The entrance courtyard of the mosque, a rectangular, arched and canopied building housing 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.

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.

Maintenance issue

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.

Legends

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.

A room in the courtyard is believed to house a hair of the Islamic prophet Muhammed.

Bombing

Main article: Mecca Masjid bombing

On 18 May 2007, a bomb exploded inside the Makkah Masjid at the time of Friday prayers, killing at least thirteen people and injuring dozens.^{[3] [4]}

References

1. ^ "Mecca Mosque". Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/371808/Mecca-Mosque. Retrieved 3 November 2011. 
2. ^ 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)
3. ^ "Bomb hits historic India mosque". BBC News Online. 18 May 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6668695.stm. 
4. ^ "HuJI ban takes no note of 'terror' role". Times of India. August 8, 2010. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/HuJI-ban-gives-new-twist-to-Mecca-Masjid-blast-case/articleshow/6272245.cms. 

External links

http://www.fm95pakistan.com/islamic/live-makkah-channel Live Makkah Channel] - Watch Live Makkah Channel

• Photos of Makkah Masjid on HyderabadPlanet.com