Toli Masjid

The architect of Mecca Masjid was paid a damri on every rupee of that project, and in 1671 Mir Musa Khan spent the commission on this: a mosque of his own, on the road between Golconda and the Old City. Many hold it to be the most refined thing Qutb Shahi architecture produced: stucco worked to the fineness of lace, lotus medallions, jaali screens, and minarets rising from pot-shaped bases in a form borrowed from Hindu craftsmen. It is ASI-protected and took an INTACH award in 2005, yet visitors are rare and it stays quiet. Come outside prayer times, dressed modestly.

Lace-fine stucco and lotus medallions, two kilometres from Golconda and nearly empty