The City of Pearls-Hyderabad

      Me and my family anxiously waited at Howrah station listening to the announcements. Owing to floods several trains to Andhra Pradesh were being cancelled. Luckily for us our train arrived at correct time and we all started our journey to " The City of Nawabs- Hyderabad ". Because of flood and heavy rains the train route was diverted and by the time we reached our destination Secunderabad at 11pm we were already 14 hours late. Our booking was already made in Hotel Ashoka Klaasic in Kachiguda and our vehicles waited to take us there.Tiring journey and gloomy weather, if anything provided us some source of relief it was the  comfortable rooms.

     Bright sun greeted us the following morning and we set forth for The Golkonda Fort .

Golkonda Forts highest point

      If you are fond of places with historical significance Golkanda will definitely quench your thirst. Lying to the west of Hyderabad city at a distance of 11 km, the Fort was first built by Kakatiyas of Warangal as part of their western defences. We took assistance from a guide who explained us through the fort. He showed us the Darbar halls, the mosque, the armoury buildings, well-planned township of Golconda, which was one of the finest cities during the medieval world famous for its extensive

From highest point view of different demolished chambers

trade in gems and diamonds,  the fountain that housed the famous Kohinoor diamond,  the remarkable signalling system that had been incorporated in the construction of Golconda Fort that they could transmit sound to different far away points, the water supply system and the chamber for Queens and their maids.
   
     Listening to hundreds of stories recited by our guide and getting bathed in ancient times we didn't realise we had climbed 380 stone steps. As we climbed higher the Fort the view of the entire city of Hyderabad became clearer.

The Golkonda fort interior at one glimpse

      The ancient fort surrounded by newly constructed buildings seemed to reflect the differences between old and new. From the topmost point the fort looked like an architects painting. It was mesmerising. We spent almost 4 beautiful hours in the fort by the time we descended it was noon. Just near the exit in two small rooms the objects collected during debris clearance at Golkonda were preserved. It was engrossing to view the semi-precious stones, ammunitions and other objects used during that era.

Old verses New

Birla temple shot taken from Lumbini Park

        Our next destination was Birla Mandir , again built on a 280 feet high hillock, a temple dedicated it to Lord Venkateswara. One of the tidiest temples I have visited so far with breath-taking view of the city's cultural Hub Ravindra Bharathi and the Hussain sagar Lake with Giant Buddha Statue at the centre . As camera wasn't allowed within the campus the beautiful carvings and the spectacular view had to be captured by eyes only.

Giant Buddha Statue in Hussain Sagar Lake

         
       It was already evening when we left from Birla temple having little time in hand left we decided to visit Lumbini Park and Hussain Sagar Lake. The sun had set by then and we sat by the lake enjoying cool breeze and munching on variety of street foods waiting for our Laser and fountain show to begin. 

    At the centre of Hussain Sagar Lake is a gigantic Buddha Statue, several ferry service ply taking tourists to and fro the area the statue is erected. Owning to lack of time we had to satisfy ourselves viewing the statue from the banks itself. Soon it was time for our show. Seated in huge gallery, popcorns in hand we enjoyed the beautiful Laser and fountain show. From Lumbini park we went back to our Hotel thoroughly satisfied with the day and content with the beautiful places we had visited.

           The Day 2 in Hyderabad began with the Charminar visit. Built by Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah in 1591 this is the most iconic Landmark of Hyderabad. History says it was built to ward off recurring plagues. I had read a lot about it and thus getting the opportunity to explore it was exciting. It contained four arches each of them opening in direction of four streets. The surrounding area had market with numerous shops selling bangles, pearls, stones and Atar (or perfumes) . 

Charminar interior

           









 After coming to this area one can relate as to why Hyderabad is called the Pearl City. We bought passes as I was eager to climb the minar and view it in detail. The steps were dark ,misty and even broken at places.  But once I reached the top I didn't repent my decision. The symmetrical intricate work of the Minars, the view of each lane and the beautiful Mecca Masjid could be clearly viewed from that level.  

Chowmallah Palace

       Walking distance from Charminar is the Chowmallah Palace, Palace of Nizams of Hyderabad.  It was the seat of the Asaf Jahi dynasty constructed in 1750 and was the official residence of the Nizams of Hyderabad while they ruled their state. This palace has many a times been compared by historians with the 'Palace of Arabian Nights'. The palace area was gigantic with several halls containing heritage craft, heritage art,  heritage crockery, Armoury, photos of the Royal family and Vintage Cars. The most note-worthy was Khilwat Mubarak, the grand pillared hall where the Nizams held their Durbar and other religious and symbolic ceremonies. The stroll through the galleries seemed to transport me to that Era.

Khilwat Mubarak

Our last destination was Salarjung Museum. A well maintained museum with preserved objects ranging from 2nd century B.C to early 20th century A.D of different cultures such as Greek, Roman, Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Islamic of various countries. There were 38 galleries in the Museum in three blocks Indian Block with 27 galleries, Western Block with 7 galleries and Eastern Block with 4 galleries with ranging objects like bindri work, bronze work, textiles, paintings, ivory work and lots more. Wide gallery rooms, tidily maintained objects made the visit to Salarjung museum was highly informative . One can spend an entire day reading exploring and clicking things.

    




Glimpse of Collections in the Museum


 After spending informative hours in the Museum we headed towards Paradise restaurant for tasting authentic Hyderabadi biryani. My friends had highly suggested me to taste it atleast once but to be very honest I didn't like it at all. First of all the quantity- it was huge and secondly it was too much spicy. We could only finish 1/3rd of what we had ordered. But overall our stay in Hyderabad was Just Awesome.

Visiting "Tagore's Paradise" ~ DAY 1 at Shantiniketan

        Have you ever been to a place where the only sound that welcomes you is bird's chirping,  rhythmic dholak beats or folk songs? Or a place where the only sight you get is people sitting under trees with canvases & paint brush , bauls singing their heart out & numerous sculptures waiting for silent appreciation..My weekend trip to Shantiniketan gave me the opportunity of getting soaked in Indian culture. A small town near Bolpur station which got an existence because of a great poet's vision and hard work of several people linked.  It was here that Rabindranath Tagore started Patha bhavan, a school whose central idea was learning in natural environment. Its said after he received Nobel prize the school was expanded into the University which proudly stands till date.

         

Temple Premises

       Me and my family boarded the Howrah-Suiri Express from Howrah junction at 8.35am. After an uneventful and short journey reached Bolpur station at 12pm. The first thing I saw after deboarding was a giant Wall carving of Rabindra Nath Tagore, the great poet ,writer, lyricist, composer and singer and at that very instant I knew the destination for weekend trip couldn't be better. The station outside had queue of rickshaw pullers and we hired one for reaching our hotel. After freshening up and munching our lunch we set off to visit places around Shantiniketan. 

        

Sacred Pond where Lord Sati's body part is said to have fallen

Our first destination was "Kankalitala Temple", one of the 51 Shakti peeths , located 9kms from Bolpur. It is believed that Lordess Sati's waist bones fell here. The entrance of the temple was lined by shops selling flowers, sweets & chunris. When we reached it was around 3 in noon.. the place was deserted and quiet except for a few beggars, handful devotees and few sadhus singing devotional songs.  Offering our homage to Lord Sati we moved on to our next destination- Prakriti Bhawan.

Sadhus singing devotional songs in temple premises

A sculpture at Prakriti Bhawan

"Prakriti Bhawan", completely justifying the name, is a museum containing sculptures made by collecting tree branches & stones from different parts of world which under natures effect have taken up human or animal shapes. The road leading to the bhawan was canopied by trees, and the gallery area surrounded by small mud huts and a pond, it was picturesque. But it was the collection that left me awed, if not looked from the correct angle the sculptures were just either a tree trunk or a plain stone but when viewed at an appropriate angle they took unbelievable shapes. 

Way to Prakriti Bhawan

    

A guide explained us through the structures. The Museum also served as a cultural school for the underprivileged. Our strolling was accompanied by melodious songs sung by the young girls and few others practising dance moves. 

       

Kurti fabric design being done at Amar Kutir

Leather bags being made

    

 From Prakriti Bhawan we moved on to reach "Amar Kutir", a society set up for rural development. Although many tourists find the emporium here worth visiting as they get authentic leather goods, kantha stitched sarees and kurtis, bamboo crafts and batik works at reasonable rates, what I found more interesting was witnessing the artists giving shape to these hand-made products in a small industry set-up in same premises.

The friendly artists explained me through the process while I was busy capturing the moments through my camera. The live baul singers added more charm to the place. When we left Amar kutir it was over 5.30pm.. 

       

Khaoi Haat Area

    Our driver suggested us to visit the Khoai Haat next..A makeshift market, amidst hundreds of trees, setup by local rural people on every Saturday and only until sunset owing to the lack of electricity facility. I am so happy we took his advice and went to the Haat..The parking place was full of vehicles and the place was heavily crowded. There were numerous baul singers singing with their groups, numerous villagers displaying their handmade products ranging from decorative items to wearable products for sale, numerous tourists ,numerous photographers capturing moments, numerous villagers selling homemade  sweets like rabri, kheer.. It was magical !! It was my first visit to any village haat so I was all the more excited.

Glimpse of Khoai Haat

         Good time flies off fast so did our time in the haat.. We stayed there till sunset getting soaked in rural Indian culture until the villagers started to windup the setup.. The day one at shantiniketan was a perfect one and we started towards Hotel making plans for day 2 at the Culturally rich land.