Charminar


I guess being in Hyderabad and not displaying it's iconic image would be a sin. I know it is an old structure, that's why upto now I haven't taken the stairs up to the gallery (don't get me wrong). Anyway it is located in the old city and the place is like a huge market with I guess from bangles to pearls are being sold dirt cheap and maybe a lot more of other stuffs too. I have been here only a couple of times and that also to show my friends what "Charminar" looks like and below is an extract of what Charminar is from the net, however the photo was taken by me:

Hyderabad's most popular landmark Charminar is located at the center of the old city and surround by lively bazaars. It was built by Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah in 1591 in honour of his wife Bhagmati, shortly after he had shifted his capital from Golconda to what now is known as Hyderabad. It is popular as the Arc de Triomphe of the East and considered as the legendary masterpiece of Qutub Shahi's.

Charming structure define as its name from four intricately carved minarets, the four graceful minarets which means 'Four Minars'. Charminar is in square shape with four towers in the four corners of the square, each side is 20 metres long. Every side opens into a plaza through giant arches, which overlook four major thoroughfares and dwarf other features of the building except the minarets. Each arch is 11 metres wide and rises 20 metres to the pinnacle from the plinth. The minarets soar skywards by 24 metres from the roof of Charminar. Each minaret has four storeys, each looking like a delicately carved ring around the minaret. From the ground to the apex, the minarets cover a length of 48.7 metres.

Charminar is surrounded by markets and many other structures which adds to its grace. It boasts Chow Mohalla palace, Shahali Banda, Laad Bazar, Kali Kaman and Patthar Gatti and Mecca Masjid. The structure of Charminar show both Indian and Mughal architectural styles. You can see good views of all over the old city from the top of the minarets.

Comments

Sucharita Sarkar said…
I first came across the Charminar on the cover of CHARMINAR cigarette packets which my dad and uncles sometimes smoked. But I really loved in when I saw it on my visit to Hyderabad, esp. the crowd and bustle of the bangle-sellers who sell their wares at the foot of the pillars.

even I and the spouse were sad when Holland lost, esp becoz they had played so well in the earlier round.
June 23, 2008 at 5:49 PM
Sukku said…
haha...I remebered Charminar when I was doing my engineering in REC Waranagal by the Charms cigarettes, first the yellow packets then the denim packets because at that time I hadn't visited Charminar until 2003, hahaha.

Without England I had lost interest in EURO2008, and now Holland. The other team that I like was Germany.

Thanks for dropping by.
June 23, 2008 at 7:20 PM
Piscean Angel said…
I visited Hyderabad for the 1st time in Sept, 2007 just aroundthe time when that Punjagutta flyover gave way. I loved the Golconda Fort & many other places that we visited there but was a little disappointed with the Charminar. Somehow, didn't expect the hustle & bustle of the market place.
June 23, 2008 at 7:32 PM
Sukku said…
piscean angel...I bet the crowd turns you off right...that's why I don't frequent that place unless someone new comes around and I have to show Charminar to them. The traffic jam into and out of the place is terrible.
June 23, 2008 at 7:38 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Birthday Post

Image
Guess by now I would have collected one of those and it's like getting closer to "home" that is if you get my drift. Woke up pretty early in the morning and my son from Moscow wished me "Happy Birthday" on MSN chat and it was about 1.30 a.m. there (God knows what he is doing up so late). My wife just wished me ...... It's a sad day for me as I know I am getting older and nearer too....(should I say grave....) Here are some quotes that I spotted on the net and would like to share them with you, to at least cheer me up..... Emily Dickinson We turn not older with years but newer every day. Bill Clinton When our memories outweigh our dreams, we have grown old. Cherokee Expression When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice. Paul H. Duhn You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt, as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your des...
Read more

Writer's block

Seems like I am stuck on what to write and where is my tea to perk me up? I am sitting in my cabin at my office and wondering what I should write. So far nothing interesting happened to me as it has been work, work and work. I was appointed as a Director for one of our subsidiary as a corporate nominee from my company. But the catch is, I am appointed as a Director with all the liabilities minus the extra cash. Am I being foolish? I leave that as it is and now I have to unblock my writer's block. Come on ideas, flow. Looks like it is dried up and maybe I should meditate and something might creep in while I am in bliss meditating. But then again, meditating in my cabin is not a good idea as it would construe that I am sleeping on my job or they might think that I have turned into a zombie. Yeah, I got my trip to Hyderabad on 09.11.2008 approved by the Directors and I am going to be there to wind up my residence and office, I would be there for a week (aha...paid vacation). Well that...
Read more

LIQUID LIFE

Image
H 2 O In an irony worthy a Greek tragedian, the first act in the drama of water crisis is going to be a global flooding. Global warming will result in a rise in sea levels as the glaciers and ice caps melt, thereby depleting the earth's crucial reservoir of clean, non-saline water Nilakshi Sharma Frogs are being wedded to frogs in elaborate; ritually correct weddings in Assam in an effort to appease Varun, the rain god, because there has been no rain in Assam in the past few months and the ground water is drying up. Quillagua, a Chilean city that holds the distinction of being the driest place on this earth, is dying a parched death. Their lifeline, the river is dying. What the water companies have not taken away, far in excess of what they were supposed to take, the mining companies have polluted to unsustainable levels. In Chamoli, Uttarakhand, the smaller glaciers have disappeared and the largest one has retreated by many miles. United Nations Development reports are warning...
Read more