Moula Ali Dargah, Hyderabad
Moula Ali dargah is located on a hill called Moula Ali hill. The dargah was built by sultan Ibrahim Qutub Shah, the fourth ruler of the kingdom of Golconda. It is the only dargah dedicated to Hazrat Ali, son in law of Prophet Mohammed and maula of Shia muslims. Qutub Sahi sultans started a annual pilgrimage to the Moula Ali Hill. During the Nizam rule it became one of the two important festivals.
Timings: 5.30 AM to 10 PM on all days
It is around 2 km from ECIL and about 9 km from Secunderabad. From ECIL auto might charge you around Rs 50 to drop you at the foot of the hill. There is also a road which climbs half the way to the hill and for that charges will be more. If you are able to climb around 500 steps then I would suggest to climb cause you are gonna enjoy it. Moula Ali hill is about 2014 feet in height and has some tombs around the hill. Besides Moula Ali hill there are two other small monolithic hills. One of them is called Qadam -e- Rasul”, on which the sacred relics of the prophet were said to be deposited by Mohammad Shakrullah Rahan, a servant of Asaf Jahi.
The auto drives you to a narrow lane and then drops you at the foot of the hill from where the steps begun. As we started to climb the steps, the view became wider, air became fresher and the breeze soother. We saw big boulder of stone resting on the slanting slope of the monolithic hill. Then we reached a big gate which is like a gateway to the summit of the hill. Here, you can find toilets, drinking water taps and resting place. We continued our climb further until we reached another big white gate. The view became even better. We saw some tombs on the slope of the monolithic hill where one can sit during day time to shelter from sun and enjoy the view and cool breeze. Inside the gate the space looked pretty clean but some part of the building are in a dilapidated condition. At one corner, we need to open our shoes and walk past a door towards the dargah. First you will see a small tree which is barricaded by a wires of iron. Here pilgrims have locked several locks in the squares of the wires. I think they have wished something in the dargah and then locked it. The inside of the dargah is fitted with hundreds of mirrors. This is a very peaceful place.
After coming out of the dargah we took the right small lane which opened up to a wall with an opening. From there it was an amazing 180 degree view of the city below. We walk down little bit on the slope of the monolithic hill to get a better view. And yes an amazing 270 degree view of Malkajgiri and Secunderabad in the distance. The wind was so refreshing as it was asking visit here again. We walked around little bit and made our way to the bottom of the hill. Moula Ali Dargah or Moula Ali Hill is not very prominent on tourists itinerary when they visit Hyderabad. I suggest you visit this place cause you are gonna enjoy it.