Home›Sacred Sites of the Deccan
The religious landscape of the Deccan is layered like nowhere else in India. The Friday mosques of the Bahmani, Adil Shahi and Qutb Shahi sultans stand within sight of the Sufi dargahs whose saints gave their dynasties legitimacy; the ancient temples of the plateau predate them all; and the churches, gurudwaras and other houses of worship of the colonial and modern city complete the picture. Together they make the Deccan one of the most religiously plural regions of the subcontinent.
This section gathers the sacred architecture of the plateau by tradition. Each page records the buildings themselves — their patrons, their architecture and their place in the life of the city — while the lives of the saints they enshrine are given in the Sufism section.
Masjids
The historic mosques of the Deccan — from the all-domed Bahmani jami at Gulbarga and the Solah Khamba of Bidar, through the gilt-inscribed prayer halls of Bijapur, to the Mecca Masjid and the Spanish Mosque of Hyderabad.
Explore → Sufi Shrines · 1337 onwardDargahs
The great Sufi shrines of the plateau — Khuldabad, Bandanawaz at Gulbarga, Pahadi Sharif, Maula Ali and the Yousufain shrine of Hyderabad — spiritual and social centres for seven centuries.
Explore → Temples · Ancient & MedievalTemples
The temple architecture of the Deccan, from the Kakatiya masterpieces of Warangal and Palampet to the living temples of Hyderabad and the plateau — the oldest layer of the region's sacred landscape.
Explore → Other FaithsOther Faiths
The churches, gurudwaras and other houses of worship of the Deccan — the religious structures of the colonial and modern city that complete the plural fabric of the plateau.
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