Jake & I in front of the Charminar – Hyderabad, India

We are actually standing on a small divider between two streets, thankfully it wasn’t during rush hour!  Charminar is known as the Emerald City in Hyderabad.  The Charminar was a beautiful building  made of granite and marble.

Charminar – Hyderabad, India

Charminar was built in 1591 during the rule of Sulltan Muhammad Quli Autb Shah.  It was built to celebrate the elimination of a plague from the city.  Historians say that he prayed at this very spot for the plague to come to an end and promised to build a “masjid” mosque to remember this prayer.  While building the Charminar Quli prayed “Oh Allah, bestow unto this city peace and prosperity. Let millions of men of all castes, creeds and religions make it their abode, like fish in the water.” *

View from one side of Charminar

Looking out from Charminar towards a large temple in the center of Hyderabad, India

Looking down to the sidewalk below from the top of Charminar

Standing at the top of Charminar and looking across at the people on the other side.  The various designs and architecture were pretty amazing!

The older part of Hyderabad that you can see from the top of Charminar

Jake and I at the top of Charminar. 

It is quite funny the unintentional scene we make walking through the streets, markets, and historical places because many people had never met anyone from “The United States of America!” and they were intent on watching what we did and the really brave ones talked with us.  I had to laugh looking at this picture afterward and seeing all the people standing behind us “posing” for the picture too!   It was a neat experience meeting and talking with so many people on our journeys.

Our Driver was a great tour guide through this part of our trip.

This was the only location he would not let us go into alone.  He came with us and we were very grateful!  They people at the ticket counter would not allow us to pay for his ticket because it was not “appropriate”.  He was an awesome driver, cheerful, knowledgeable, and it was neat to get to know him.  We got to see the village where he lived and found out that he and his wife had their first kid, a little girl, this past November 2011.

One of the locals wanted us to put together our hands like we are holding the carving on the wall.  Always an adventure!

It was so neat looking out over the city of Hyderabad

Looking at Charminar from the street

According to the local historians it has been said that one of the Charminar towers (or marinets) fell after being struck by lightening.  It was repaired immediately and since then no major reconstruction has been done on the Charminar.

Charminar – Hyderabad, India

Charminar is built on four corners of the square with a tower (also called “minarets) in each of the four corners.  Each side of Charminar opens to the plaza and you can see local vendors selling goods, food, and many items on the street.  Every tower (minaret) is four stories high with approximate total height of 159 feet.

*Quote & Information Credit

The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!