Hyderabad: If Hyderabad has historic and magnificent Mecca Masjid can Andhra Pradesh capital Amaravati afford not to have one? Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu thinks the under construction capital should also have a grand mosque.

At a review meeting with the officials of Capital Region Development Authority at Undavalli the Chief Minister announced that a glorious mosque of international standards will be built in Amarvati, which will be a wonderful tourist attraction. “The mosque will be built on an area of 10 acres under the supervision of the state Waqf Board”, he said. “There should be a mosque in the architectural style of Mecca Masjid (of Hyderabad) and it should become a major tourist attraction”, he said.

Naidu made the remarks while reviewing the progress of various projects in the capital region.

Historical significance

Though Guntur, Nellore, Vijaywada, Rajahmundry and Visakhapatnam have some ancient mosques but none of them could match the grandeur and historic significance of Mecca Masjid and several other mosques in Hyderabad.

Mecca Masjid, which draws its name from Mecca, the holiest place in Islam, was built in Qutub Shahi era of Hyderabad. Its foundation stone was laid by Qutub Shahi king Mohammed Quli around 1616AD century and was completed in 1687 when Moghul emperor Aurangzeb has occupied the Golconda kingdom by defeating the Qutub Shahis. Though not completely built in accordance with the original plans Mecca Masjid remains one of the biggest mosques in India.

Chandrababu Naidu’s meeting with the officials also decided to allocate 3.5 acres of land to Murli Fortune group in the capital region for building a health and recreating resort with an investment of Rs40 crore.

CRDA commissioner Ch Sridhar said that in the administrative city the secretariat and the departmental headquarter buildings will be ready by January 15, 2021. AS part of these there will be four ground plus storied towers estimated to cost Rs932.46 crore. The GAD tower where the office of the Chief Minister will be located will have 49 stories. It will be built at a cost of Rs554.06 crore.