Hyderabad by Walk - Moula Ali Hill

I was in Moula Ali area last week because Anjali had an exam to write there. I had about 3 hours at my disposal and decided to  walk up the imposing, dome shaped monadnock, the beautiful Moula Ali hill that was nearby. 

Moula Ali dargah - the first gateway

The Moula Ali hill has a dargah and a holy stone. The dargah is apparently the only dargah dedicated to Hazrat Ali, son-in-law of Prophet Mohammed and the fourth Caliph. I had been to Moula Ali hillock once, one fine early morning a few years ago, and I remembered the views were beautiful. The weather was perfect this morning as well and the walk showed a good half hour so I set off by foot.

Moula Ali Kaman

Moula Ali Kaman - another view

On the way I had to cross the Moula Ali kaman we used to pass every time we went to ECIL to watch matches - but never stopped. This kaman is a protected monument (as I saw this time) and has been around for a while - there are pictures of the sixth Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan in a procession to Moula Ali on an elephant with the kaman in the background. Now that the road is widened, the kaman stands its ground, rather awkwardly, on its own, while traffic whizzes past around it mostly (in that old picture there were houses abutting the kaman). 

One of the many structures/tombs on these ancient hillocks

The beginning of the steps to Moula Ali dargah
 

Neolithic rocks

Along the way I could see some interesting rock formations, a ground where some hundred odd kids were playing cricket, some other structures on the hillocks facing Moula Ali. I soon came to the bottom of the hill and found many tombs around - I read someplace that there were over 600 tombs in that area.  To the right was a beautiful area - the tomb of Nawab Ruknuddowlah Bahadur, the Prime Minister of the second Nizam, Nizam Ali Khan. 

Tomb of Nawab Ruknud Dowlah Bahadur, Prime Minister to the second Nizam

I started to climb the 614 metre high hillock - its 484 steps to the dargah. 

'Qasim-e-Rasool' hillock or 'Qadam-e-Rasul' - reminds me of Rasool our gentle kitboy at osmania

The first kaman and a sarai perhaps - halfway up

As I climbed up I could see a new embankment or retainer wall being laid all around the hillock for a road so vehicles could go all the way up to the dargah. It surely is an eyesore as far as spoiling the view of the other two hillocks is concerned but will certainly make the dargah more accessible to many. One of the hillocks is called 'Qasim-a-Rasool' (or Qadam-e-Rasul as I read in another source) on which sacred relics of the Prophet were supposedly deposited by a servant of the Asaf Jahi. Beyond the bare hillocks which have been left alone thankfully without development and construction growing on it, one can see the crowded new city.

Another view of the hillocks

Gateway and sarai 

Old structure

Halfway up the Moula Ali hill is another kaman, with some old structures and a mosque at that level. This is where the road for vehicles comes up to now. The next flight of steps lead up to the dargah at the top of the hill and one can see both the arches or gateways, at the top. Up there, its a beautiful sight.

Almost there - both arches or gateways can be seen

Beautiful view of the city

I walked up to the first arch/gateway, went in and walked about near the second arch/gateway, and then went into the dargah and sat there for a while. The Moula Ali dargah is supposed to have miraculous powers of healing - there were families inside the dargah perhaps praying for fulfilment of some wish. Then, I came back to sit on the outside again taking in the vistas.

Can see the retaining wall/embankment coming up

First gateway

Second gateway - the hand on the right

According to legend, one Yakut, a eunuch in the Qutb Shahi era, dreamt of a man in green robes who revealed himself as Moula Ali (husband of Fatima, daughter of Prophet Mohammed). In his dream Yakut followed him to the hill where he saw Moula Ali resting his right hand on a rock. Upon waking up, he followed his dream and found a hand print on a rock. The hand print was then hewn out of the rock and placed in a great arch built at the site. 

After that incident the Moula Ali dargah and the Shia mosque were built in the Qutb Shahi times by the fourth Sultan Ibrahim Qutb Shah. Over time others contributed to more structures - an Ashoorkhana, a baradari, a naqqar khana (a place for beating drums), the kaman, steps and so on.

The Qutb Shahi Sultans organised an annual procession on the 17th Rijab (7th month of the Hijri year)  from Golconda to Moula Ali, a practice that was temporarily stopped after Aurangzeb, a Sunni Muslim, took over Golconda. The practice was revived again in the Nizam's rule - two Prime Ministers of the second Nizam, Nizam Ali Khan, Arastu Jah and Mir Alam, were Shias, as was one of the most influential people of those times, Mah Laqa Bai Chanda whose tomb lies at the bottom of the hillock. Today there are the Urs or annual jataras on the same day and people of all faiths come from all over the place to pray.  

On the way out

Moula Ali dargah is one of the eleven heritage sites identified by the Heritage Conservation Committee but as can be seen, there is little maintenance (on the other hand, thankfully there is no further destruction or development around it). There are accounts that say that the Moula Ali area has been inhabited from the megalithic age or neolithic age - certainly some burial sites from the Iron Age (1200-550 BC) have been discovered there when excavations had been carried out by the Department of Archaeology of the VIIth Nizam's time. Interestingly the Hyderabad Racing Club was located here originally before it was shifted to Malakpet in 1856.

Rocks in meditation

Can see some old structures down below

Not many people were there for some reason. The weather was heavenly. After a while I walked down and took an auto to go and meet Vidyuth for breakfast at Sainikpuri.