Charming Charminar

I love to travel, that's the reason why I enjoy my journey. Most of the time I spend in journeying, but never took a chance to take some pictures and make a travel post.

Why not do this, so here I am coming with my recent visit to the monumental icon of Hyderabad, India. It is Charminar. As the name came from the two different words in Urdu language with different meaning. 'Char' means four and 'minar' means tower. So, Charminar is a 'four towers' in the translated meaning.

Charminar is the global icon to represent the greater city, Hyderabad. It is built by the then fifth ruler of Qutub shahi's, Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah. The construction is completely finished in the year 1594. This monument is built with the architectural style of Islamic architecture.

Design and building :

The design and the building plan of Charming Charminar is very ancient one and it depicts the perfection of the engineering.

There are four arches in the construction of the Charminar, each of them opens in four new streets. Charminar is situated on the east bank of Musi river.

Charminar contains minarets, each height is 48.7 metres (160 ft). There are four minarets and because of these minars the name is Charminar.

There are four clocks on all the four faces of the Charminar, they are set up in the year 1889. And these clocks are still in good working conditioning, they ring the bell for every hour. These clocks are not from the beginning, but are added later.

There is a water cistern in the middle of the construction. It is a round form of fountain.

History behind the construction of Charminar :

Every historical monument has it's own story to tell us, so does the Charminar. History is something that must be accepted by majority of local people and supports the universal truth.

Here in Charminar's history there are many folklores. And also many theories related to its construction. Two of them are prevailing in the mouths of folks. One is, when Quli Qutub Shah saw his future queen, Bhagmati, he decided to build a monument there since he sighted her.

Second is, the theory which is the real one, as it supports the base of the history. There was a dreadful disease spread in the then capital city and took many lives. The disease is plague. And Quli Qutub Shah made a vow to build a monument there, where he first prayed. This is what I heard from many people too and it also got roots in the history.

Some more interesting facts about Charminar :

This globally recognized monument, being at the centre of the city glitters in the nights with shiny looks in the decorative lights. To experience an amazing view of Charminar, night is the best time. When the sun sets then the beauty unveils.

To the people who are local guys, it is no wonder, because they enjoyed this view from many years. To a new guy, it is full of amusement.

Now, Charminar is  in the state of  Telangana. As Andhra Pradesh and Telangana got separated a year ago with Hyderabad as the common capital for ten years. Telangana state claims the honour of the epic structure.

Charminar is undergoing some minor repairs (you can see in the pictures). Although the design remains as it is like before.

Clocks are perfectly working well and there is a cistern with water too. Now, the current government is running the visitors by a ticket to visit. It is only ₹10/- in Indian currency.

Tight security is maintained here and no baggage or any weapons allowed into the monument premises. There are also guards in the upper floor(s), who will keep an eye on the visitors.

Top most floor is closed and no visitors are allowed there. Because many people in the past committed suicide by jumping from the top. I guess this is the strong reason to ban the people to climb there.

Photography is allowed here, it's free (if you are with a camera).

We have to go through the 149 binding steps to reach the top, these steps are high to climb and a room like structure is surrounded. Some entrances into other rooms are locked here, it may be due to the present condition of the monument, it is old and may be not a good thing to allow the visitors in.

If you are 6'ft height, it is hard to climb these 149 steps, you have to bend down every time while stepping up, otherwise you may hit the top of the structure.

It is said that there is an underground tunnel below the Charminar which leads to the Golconda Fort. But, it is not officially found yet. There are many chances of existence of the secret tunnel passage, since rulers in those days used these tunnels to save themselves from the foreign invasions and sudden seize.

Within two hours or short you can explore the Charminar completely. It is worth to visit and great to see and enjoy the constructional talent of the engineers.

Do not forget to point those people who actually labored to build this. They may be slaves/labourers, their hard work also taken into the consideration in my point of view.

Surroundings of Charminar :

Hyderabad, being the very rush city in terms of traffic. Surroundings of Charminar also the busiest places. Markets are crowded with people, if it is a Friday then the traffic and public doubles because of the assembling of Muslims for Namaz.

Roadside shops and other sellers on roads are plenty in the surroundings of Charminar. All the four sides of roads are busy 24/7.

Being the centre of attraction and iconic building, Charminar is the oldest work, it didn't lost it's charm even after taking many strikes of the furious lightings and may be a bit of land also shook. It experienced all the good and bad on its journey from ages and ages. It is the witness of many wonders and thunders. Still standing there, at the centre of the city and sending a message to the world about its glory.

These are the things about the Charming Charminar, do share your valuable thoughts on this :)