Charminar

The Charminar is a monument in the city of Hyderabad in the state of Telangana in India. It is also a mosque. Situated on the east bank of Musi river, the monument is also known as the "Arc De Triumph of the East", and it symbolises Hyderabad.

In the northeast of this monument lies the Laad Bazaar, and in the west end the granite-made richly ornamented Mecca Masjid. It derives its name from the four minarets at the four corners of this square shaped monument. 'Char' literally means four. Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah built this monument in 1591 to commemorate the end of the plague in the city.

The arch is illuminated daily in the evening. This edifice is built of granite upon four grand arches facing North, South, East and West. These arches support two floors of rooms and gallery of archways. At each corner of the square structure is a minaret rising to a height of 24 meters, making the building nearly 54 meters tall. This monument is christened 'Charminar' because of these four (char) minarets (minar). Each minar stands on a lotus-leaf base, a special recurrent motif in Qutub Shahi buildings.

During the Qutub Shahi period, the first floor was used as a madarasa (school). The second floor has a mosque on the western side. The clocks above each of the four archways were added in 1889.