Hyderabad: Lightening strike damages portion of historic Qutub Shahi mosque

Hyderabad: Following Monday’s lightening strike a portion of Masjid-e-Qutub shahi, a 400-year-old mosque on Langar Houz - Golconda Road was damaged. The Alem of one of the two main minarets broke and fell on the roof apart from chunks of the minarets, triggering panic amongst those present inside the about 400-year old mosque.

According to Musallis, the children numbering around 60-70 present inside the mosque panicked following the loud thud on the roof. “Generally there are about 100 children who come to learn basics of Quran. However due to rainfall, less were present. Following lightning strike, they were afraid and we immediately sent them back to their houses. It was just about 3-minutes prior to Maghrib prayers and slowly Musallis were congregating,” said the mosque’s committee president, Farooq Ansari.

Within minutes of the incident local MLA, Kausar Mohiuddin paid visit to the mosque to assess the damage, which is estimated to be around 3 lakhs. “The thunderstorm lightening that stuck Jama Masjid Qutub Shahi resulted in all the electrical items burnt (Mike, Amplifiers, CCtv)…,” he tweeted.

The mosque situated on the historic highway between Golconda and Charminar is the large sized mosque constructed about 400 years. This is situated about half a kilometer from Fateh Darwaza and functions under TS Waqf Board’s authority.

In the recent decades during expansion of the mosque even the minarets were repainted by the mosque committee including restoration of the Alem. Despite historical importance, it does not come under purview of Department of Heritage. “No heritage official ever visited here. Waqf department is the only authority for the mosque,” added Ansari.