Hayat Bakshi Begum Mosque

 On 28th February, 2021, Sunday, we had a small outing to see the Hayat Bakshi Begum masjid located in Hayathnagar. 

Hayathnagar is a locality founded by Hayath Begum who was ruling Hyderabad during that period. Hayathnagar is on the trade route from Surat to Masulipatnam and is fairly outside the main city Hyderabad. 

Being a wise ruler and a visionary, Hayath Bakshi Begum, known as Ma saheba, commissioned for the construction of a mosque and an inn - a sarai for the weary travellers to rest for the night. There are nearly 130 rooms in the courtyard of the mosque with a stable outside. The mosque is on an elevated platform with a houz ( water tank) for wazu ( ablutions done before offering namaz). 

There is a sprawling garden which is not being revived by the Government as the site has been listed as a heritage. The entire place is about 5 acres. The ceiling of the mosque has intricate designs. It has 2 minarets, 5 arches all built in the year or rather completed in the year1672. 

There is also a well adjacent to the mosque complex called 'Hathi Bowli' which is in a neglected state today. But it has a very interesting path that leads to the well ..steps from the underground!!

The well is quite large and probably this is where the travelers and their animals quenched their thirst/ bathed/ washed. 

Some rooms of the sarai have been renovated by the government and the garden is being beautified. Prayers go on regularly in the mosque. 

The Begum was a very influential person as she played a prominent role during the reign of 3 rulers - her father, husband and son who was a minor when he succeeded the throne. She is remembered today as Ma saheba and the Masab tank is said to be named after her. 

She died at the age of 76 in 1666. So in all probability she dint live to see the mosque and perhaps it was her son  Abdullah Qutb Shah, the ruler who actually got it built. 

Begum Hayat Bakshi is burried in the Qutub shahi tombs along with the rest of the royal family.  

I have heard the place is lighted up in the evenings. But we did not wait till the evening. 

Strolling across the huge place was quite an experience. It is serene there and I was trying to imagine how it must have 400 years back when there was no electricity, no modern transportation but people coming with their wares in caravans galloping on their horses heading to Hyderabad for trade but stopping in to rest at this sarai. 

  To see the mosque, the rooms of the inn and lot more watch the video here: