VIJAYAWADA: Eluru’s 400-year-old Qutb Shahi style miniature mosque, which is languishing due to lack of attention, is being taken care of solely by local non-Muslims, said Dr E. Sivanagi Reddy, a heritage expert and CEO of Cultural Centre of Vijayawada and Amaravati (CCVA). Dr Reddy had visited the mosque on Friday after being told about its condition by BKSR Iyengar, an Eluru based RTI activist.
After studying the religious monument, Dr Reddy said it has small, unique dimensions, adding that there is probably no other mosque like it across the country. The mosque, which is built of stone in the typical Qutb Shahi architectural style, is three feet in length and five feet in height. It has two arches and two minars with a height of one foot each.
The miniature mosque is located on East Street (Toorpu Veedhi) of the city. Locals call it a ‘Buddi Masjid’ (small mosque) or ‘Eksthambh Masjid’. “It must have been built during the early 16th Century AD, when the coastal tracts of Andhra, including the Kondapalli and other forts, were annexed by Sultan Quli of the Qutb Shahi dynasty in 1530 AD,” Dr Reddy said.
This is further corroborated by the Malkapuram (Ibrahimpatnam) inscription of Qutb Shahi-ul-Mulk, dated March 20, 1531 AD, which records that the Sultan captured many forts including Kondapalli. Dr Sivanagi Reddy encouraged the State’s Department of Archaeology and Museums to declare the mosque a protected monument so that it attains a status of national importance.