The nearly 500-year-old Jama Masjid just outside the Golconda Fort has a new minaret.
“The minar has been added to the extension of the forecourt and nothing has been done to the old structure. The people who come to pray here wanted this so we went ahead,” said Aqeel Muhammad, the muezzin of the Jama Masjid.
From atop the Habshi Kaman in front of the Bala Hissar darwaza, the older iwan is covered with small domes that look like humps reminiscent of a medieval building, the flat concrete ceiling of the extension could be any building anywhere. Now, the incongruous minar sticks out like a sore thumb.
“The minar was added in the first week of Ramzan and is 20-foot high,” said Syed Moizuddin of Aman Minars which sources the RCC structures from Gujarat. “It takes one day to install and after curing for five days it can be painted over,” he informed. The masjid completed in (924 Hijri) 1518, was the first one to be built by the first Qutb Shahi king Sultan Quli ul Mulk and the only one in Golconda/Hyderabad that has been built in the Bahmani style.
“The intention of the original builders was to create a work of architectural merit and not just build a masjid. You cannot go on destroying heritage in the name of religion. These buildings reflect a cultural and historical milieu which should not be tampered with,” says Sajjad Shahid, a civil engineer and conservation activist.
“Nobody should be allowed to destroy our heritage in the name of religion. We have laws. Laws should be supreme and should be implemented in letter and spirit,” he says.
Incidentally, many of the Qutb Shahi and Nizam era masjids including Musheerabad Masjid, Miyan Mishk Masjid and Afzalgunj Masjid have added extensions in front of the main structure to accommodate more namazis. While these are useful during summer and monsoon, they play havoc with the aesthetics of main structures.
“We cannot control what happens outside the inner fortification. Unless all these shops and hotels are removed, we cannot do anything. These ad hoc interventions will eventually hurt our site from getting a spot as a World Heritage Site,” says a local Archaeological Survey of India official.
“When Bill Clinton visited Hyderabad, the area near the bus shelter was cleared of petty vendors and shop keepers by the State government. Now, I hope the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao clears off these ugly shops and encroachments in front of the Bala Hissar Darwaza,” said an Archaeological Survey of India official who has been working at the site from 1974.
