A EUROPEAN MOSQUE IN HYDERABAD!

Called as “Spanish Mosque” it is an architecturally different kind of Mosque, which you can see in Hyderabad, India. This mosque stands out as a solemn testimony to a glorious past in an area where concrete structures now overshadow everything. A flyover, an over-head water tank and many other concrete buildings have submerged the mosque into the modern man made jungle!

After Viqar-ulUmra returned from his European tour, being the personal guest of Queen Victoria, he wanted to leave a mark of his own in Hyderabad. The architectural splendor of the monuments of Europe inspired him so much that he set out to build the most beautiful palace in the world ¬ Falaknuma Palace and a mosque in a very different style. Both the palace and the mosque were built during 1891 and 1904! Although he started the construction of Spanish Mosque, it was completed by his successor Nawab Sultan-ul Mulk Bahadur.

The mosque proper comprises of a main prayer hall, two rooms in front of it and a central corridor for entering the hall. An octagonal dome caps the central corridor with a perforated screen. The roof is of Jack arch type on iron girders with brick and lime concrete. The main roof is pointed and topped by two octagonal domes and four minarets.

 

Inside Charminar

This post is for those of you who have not visited Hyderabad!

I am sure many of you would have seen the picture of this Iconic structure of Hyderabad.  Once you go inside you would realize how awesome this structure is!

The best thing is that they allow you to climb up to the first floor of this monument.  This monument is more than 400 years old. Recently various agencies have come together and a big renovation work is in progress.  Here are few pictures taken inside the Charminar.

 

 

 

 

 

Another post of mine on Charminar: http://vgopalan.blogspot.in/2010/06/charminar.html

India Gate

India Gate is at the centre of New Delhi, which almost resembles “Arc-de-Triomphe” of Paris. It is 42 meters tall and commemorates the 70,000 soldiers who lost their life fighting for the British Army during the First World War. This memorial bears the names of more than 13,516 British and Indian soldiers killed in the Northwestern Frontier in the Afgan war of 1919. 

The foundation stone of India Gate was laid by the Duke of Connaught in 1921 and it was designed by Edwin Lutyens. The monument was dedicated to the nation 10 years later by the then Viceroy, Lord Irwin.

The entire arch stands on a low base of red Bharatpur stone and rises in stages to a huge molding. The cornice is inscribed with the Imperial signs while both sides of the arch have INDIA, flanked by the dates MCMXIV (1914 left) and MCMXIX (1919 right). The shallow domed bowl at the top was intended to be filled with burning oil on anniversaries although it is rarely done.

When India got its independence another memorial was added to India Gate. It is called Amar Jawan Jyoti. Here an eternal flame burns day and night for the entire year as a mark of respect to those soldiers who laid down their lives in the India-Pakistan war of December 1971. The Amar Jawan Jyoti is made up of black marble and has a gun and a soldier’s cap on top of it.

During nightfall, India Gate is dramatically floodlit while the fountains nearby make a lovely display with coloured lights. India Gate stands at one end of Rajpath, and the area surrounding it is generally referred to as 'India Gate'.