Renovation time for India’s historic mosque, with Mecca connection
A 17th-century mosque in India’s historic city of Hyderabad, which is said to have been built with granite and bricks brought from Mecca in Saudi Arabia, is undergoing restoration to restore its pristine glory.
The Makkah Masjid stands meters away from the city’s defining landmark, the Charminar. The restoration is being done to conserve the mosque’s splendid structure. Chandeliers from the high roof have been fully wrapped using pieces of cloth while the tall minarets of the mosque has been covered with scaffolding.
The mosque is said to have been built with granite and bricks brought from Mecca in Saudi Arabia. (Supplied)
A team from Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) started the restoration work more than a year ago and it is likely to take some more time to complete. The ASI had last worked on Makkah Masjid in 2007 under a special arrangement since 1956.
According to Telangana Tourism, “The construction of Makkah mosque started in the year 1614 by Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah and it was Aurangzeb who completed it in 1693. The mosque has a length of 225 feet and is 180 feet wide with a height of 75 feet. The roof is rested on 15 arches.”
A team from Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) started the restoration work more than a year ago. (Supplied)
The mosque has two huge octagonal columns, created from a single piece of granite and topped by an arched gallery crowned by a dome. The mosque can accommodate 10,000 worshipers at any time. It is believed that bricks used for its construction where also brought from Makkah.
It is said that the fifth Sultan of Qutb Shahi dynasty, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, was a great patron of art and culture.
The mosque has two huge octagonal columns, created from a single piece of granite. (Supplied)
Makkah Masjid was under construction when renowned French traveler of the 17th-century, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, traveled to Hyderabad. “It is about 50 years since they began to build a splendid pagoda in the town which will be the grandest in all India when it is completed.”
Qutb Shah is known to have personally laid the foundation stone of the mosque, while 8,000 workers were part of its construction. The three arched facades were carved out of a single piece of granite, which took five years to quarry.
The mosque can accommodate 10,000 worshipers at any time. (Supplied)
Every year before the commencement of Ramadan, authorities set in process annual maintenance work to provide a facelift to the mosque. However, the ongoing work is a major exercise and is expected to beautify the mosque as well.
The people Hyderabad are hoping that the work will get completed sooner than later.
Ongoing work is a major exercise and is expected to beautify the mosque as well. (Supplied)
Courtesy: english.alarabiya.net
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India is the place for large-scale organic production, says Commerce Secretary
Nuremberg (PTI): India is the place for large-scale organic production and the country is keen to collaborate with the EU to strengthen this ecosystem to cater to rising demands, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said here on Tuesday.
Agrawal also said that India's organic products exports have grown threefold over the last 10 years, and the government now aims to triple them again over the next five years.
"India is the place" to serve the world as a good organic food basket, he said, adding that India has 150.3 million hectares of agricultural land under cultivation.
He said that the organic ecosystem is growing very fast in the country, as today, 3 per cent of India's cultivation is organic.
In India, 4.7 million hectares of land is under organic cultivation, with 2.4 million farmers practising it, and it is only increasing by the day, he said.
The Secretary was speaking at the inauguration of Biofach 2026. About 100 exhibitors from 20 Indian states, including Assam, Meghalaya, and Kerala, are here to showcase their organic food products at the world's leading trade fair Biofach show (February 10-13).
He informed that India is emerging as a credible supplier of organic food, both within India and outside.
"I see this happening in a much faster manner. So if world needs the state for organic production, I think India is the place, and we like to work with all of you to see how we can improve the Indian organic food ecosystem to serve both the Indian rising demand within India and also the rising demand in two of our biggest markets," he said.
He called for creating credibility around organic foods. There is a need to ensure trust and credibility around the certification of these products.
India started with the national programme for organic production way back in 2001 and that was designed to adopt the international standards of organic goods.
"And now we are bringing in cooperatives in a big way," he said, adding that cooperatives can bring in and aggregate farmers to create good, viable organic ecosystem in various villages across the country.
