Mecca Masjid

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Coordinates: 17.360305° N 78.473416° E

Mecca Masjid - Late 19th Century

Mecca Masjid - Now

Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, India is one of the oldest and the biggest mosques in India. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the 6th Sultan of Hyderabad began building it in 1617 under the supervision of Mir Faizullah Baig and Rangiah Choudhary. The work continued during the reign of Abdullah Qutub Shah and Tana Shah and was completed in 1694 by the Moghal Emperor Aurangzeb. It took about 8000 masons and 77 years to be completed.

This mosque stands 100 yards southwest of the Charminar and is believed to be comprised of bricks brought from Mecca, which were built into the central arch and hence the name. The hall of the mosque is about 75 feet high, 220 feet wide and 180 feet long, each of the two octagonal columns on either side are made out of a single piece of granite, which took five years to quarry. The courtyard houses a large pond flanked by slab seats. Legend has it that a visitor who sits on one of these seats will definitely return to Hyderabad. The mosque is also said to contain sacred relics, one of which is the hair of Muhammad.

It is said that when the foundation stone was being laid, Sultan Muhammad Qutub Shah invited all the religious elders of the city and announced that the foundation stone will be laid by one who had never missed his prayers. None came forward, therefore Sultan Muhammad himself laid the foundation for he had never missed a prayer since the age of 12.

The Mecca masjid is a listed heritage building but lack of maintenance and ever growing pollution has withered and cracked the structure. It received a chemical wash in 1995. To prevent further damage to this beautiful structure, the Andhra Pradesh government made Charminar a Traffic Free Zone in August, 2001. Chandrababu Naidu was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh then.