Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
And know the help of God comes through patience and comfortable circumstances with distress and that difficulty is accompanied by ease.
—Shaikh Abdul Qadir Gilani (A.D. 1077–1166), Muslim cleric
When Indian ruler Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah prayed to stop the misery and suffering of his people from the plague, he vowed that if his prayers were answered he would build a masjid on the site of his prayers. His jewel in India, Charminar (Mosque of the Four Minarets), stands as an elegant sixteenth-century testament to the veracity of the sultan’s promise. The mosque’s Cazia (Indo-Islamic medieval) architectural style features four towering minarets (160 feet high) topped with bulbous domes that are embellished with petal motifs that may symbolize the first four caliphs of Islam.
If you seek spiritual rejuvenation, worship at this lovely mosque in the Old City of Hyderabad, in South India. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is about 13 miles from the city. Local buses, taxis, and rickshaws will get you there from virtually anywhere in Hyderabad.
Pray in the mosque’s open area during Friday prayers (with larger numbers of people, men and women pray in separate areas) or in one of the four upper galleries inside the carved minarets (each gallery accommodates forty-five prayer spaces).
The Charminar Mosque, built in 1591, has been called the “Arc de Triomphe” of the East. See it at its most spectacular at night when the mosque is illuminated.