Charminar celebrates birthday amidst heavy rains

Hyderabad: On a day the city’s collective spirit to withstand the challenge of heavy rains came to the fore once again, its most cherished landmark, the historic Charminar, celebrated its birthday. It is said that it was on October 9 in 1591 that the Charminar was built, the first building to come up in the […]

Hyderabad: On a day the city’s collective spirit to withstand the challenge of heavy rains came to the fore once again, its most cherished landmark, the historic Charminar, celebrated its birthday.

It is said that it was on October 9 in 1591 that the Charminar was built, the first building to come up in the new city of Hyderabad that Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah had planned. Though there are varying versions on how the Charminar came into being, ranging from being built to commemorate the eradication of a plague, to the version that it was commemorate the 1000th year that Islam came into existence, and also because the house of Bhagmati, the lover of king Muhammed Quli Qutb Shah, was located in the area, the versions are many.

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The construction of Charminar began in 1589 and was completed in two years after being designed by Iranian architect Mir Momin Astrawadi. Legend goes that in 1687, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had almost destroyed the Charminar but decided against it after he was told that there was a mosque on top of the monument.

On Saturday, even as rain pounded the city, there were many who remembered the day, like Rajan Chopra who posted in the Facebook group Hyderabad Pearls, saying “Happy Birthday to the signature of Hyderabad, Charminar.”

On Twitter, Hyderabadi Akshay tweeted saying: “Happy Birthday #Hyderabad This city has given me everything that I’ve dreamt of since childhood.”

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