Dome

Hayat Bakhshi Begum, mother of Abdullah Qutb Shah, founded a village named after her with a mosque and Saray, located 9 miles east of Hyderabad. The mosque, built on square terrace measurers about 150 feet on each side. It has five arches leading to a double prayer hall with five other arches dividing the hall into two equal parts. The terrace is reached by five steps from the raised courtyard, 450X400 feet. In the center of the terrace is a small ablution cistern. The mosque façade is ornamented by small pillars enclosing five cusped arches between each large arch, and these in turn are surmounted by a broad parapet wall incised by intertwined arches. The mosque roof is made of sunken domes in each bay. The niche, mihrab in the qibla wall is of plaster devoid of inscription. The mosque’s large, oblong courtyard is surrounded by a huge quadrangle, with 145 independent rooms of massive masonry meant for students. Outside the wall of the quadrangle are remains of some 50 rooms meant for travelers, hence the Saray.plan (drawing), front elevation, 1998