Volume 14 - 17 April 2007

Hope you all are well, and enjoyed the weekend. I am skipping Volume 13… and come straight to 14.

This weekend saw us, Sateshwar and me exploring the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad… the past glory of Hyderabad was lost during the middle ages before the Quli Qutub Shahi dynasty came along and realized the importance of the city over Aurangabad as the capital of the kingdom… later on, when the British grew in power, the Nizam signed on them as Protectors and thus, Secunderad grew.

Our day started with a visit to the Birla Temple… it is a magnificent structure made entirely out of white marble and was made by the Birla foundation over a period of a decade… it is built over a rock that overlooks the Hussainsagar Lake, and much of Hyderabad. One very interesting thing that I noticed here was the fact that prostrating in honor of the resident deity is considered against the Shastras here.

After the darshan, we drove around the Necklace Road till we could see the Buddha smiling at us… the monolith was placed here in1988 when NTR was the CM… when it was being placed for the first time, the statue slipped and crashed over the tug boat that was carrying it…taking down almost 20 lives with it… there the monolith lay for around 3 years before it was retrieved and given the present pedestal… boat rides are available here… however, the man-made lake (Hussainsagar) is really dirty. Interestingly till about a few decades ago, the entire water supply to the two cities was met by the lake…

Back then the river Musi used to bring her waters to the lake… however, with time and other factors (in the past few decades) Musi has all but dried up… now the lake is used for Ganpati Visarjan during the poojas.

From here we made our way towards Char Minar… it is an exquisite structure carved out of limestone… however, like most sites of heritage in our country even this exists mostly in name… pollution, hawkers and congestion form it's periphery… this kind of apathy towards preservation is a very sorry state of affairs.

Around 10 years ago, a Thai family jumped down from the 2nd level of the Char Minar to their death… one wonders if they were to do such then why so far from home… because of this the access to the stair case was barred for 10 years… even now people can go up only to the 1 st level.

There are 4 access routes to Char Minar – 'Dwars', all of which bear a separate name, and are collectively called the Kaminen…

For security purposes the Nizam had a 19 km long tunnel built from Char Minar to the Golconda fort… an underground tunnel this long is an amazing feat of architecture and civil engineering… now, of course, the tunnel is sealed though I think if that could be renovated it would be an added attraction for the adventure/travel freaks…

In close proximity to the Char Minar is the Mecca Masjid… it is a beautiful mosque which can at one time accommodate around 10,000 people.

Thereon, we made our way to the Chowmohalla Palace – a section of the royal palace.

The nobility of Hyderabad was in this manner – The Nizams, the Paigahs, and the Salar Jungs… the Nizams and Paigah were tied in blood through matrimony… while the Salar Jungs provided the state with some of it's finest ministers.

Mir Osman Ali Khan was an enlightened noble and his priorities were education and health care, and so in his time were established the Osmania University and the Osmania Hospital… both of these institutions stand to this day…

The Chowmohalla Palace (entry Rs. 25/head) must have been a very pleasant place to be in the evenings almost 50 years ago… it has this elaborate fountain system in the middle of the gardens that lends it's coolness to the warm air…when compared to other palaces that I have been to and seen, this was very small in size and grandeur… however, the skill of the craftsmen who designed the Durbar and especially the glass and lacquer work is noteworthy.

A very interesting legend is associated with the Quli Qutub Shahi dynasty… when the first Nizam was coming back from the expedition he came across a hermit… they sat down to chat and the hermit offered the Nizam 'kulchas' to eat… he took only 2, and on being forced another 5… to this the hermit said to him that his dynasty will rule over for 7 generations… and indeed, this came true… the Nizam who signed the instrument of accession to the Republic of India in 1948 was the 7 th Nizam.

The Nizams lived in all the glory and grandeur of kings… however, through their long rule they showed their concern for the welfare of their people and so initiated many education and health related programs… as a matter of fact, the 5 th Nizam was called 'The Giver'… it is said that in one lifetime he gave away more wealth than is possible… his contributions went to the Banaras Hindu University, the Golden Temple and many others…

One of the Nizams was married to the Princess of Cooch Behar, Khanum… she was hailed as one of the most beautiful women of her times… and much like our Maharani Gayatri Devi, her portraits reveal her ethereal, timeless beauty.

As always, the section that held me enthralled was the armoury… the palace has this huge section wherein they display swords, maces, spears no end… it was interesting to see that the Nizam's army used Abyssinian bows… and many of his companies were commanded by European officers.

All the swords were made from Damascus steel and indicated the high caliber of the sword smith…

From here we went to Salar Jung Museum (entry Rs. 10/head)… this is one man's collection from the entire world of exquisite antiques and collectibles… Prime Minister Salar Jung was perhaps the most brilliant and astute statesman of his time and also a lover of art… from Chinese pottery to Western masterpieces – he collected them all…

Among the Indian sculptures, the two that held me captivated were that of Lord Parsavanatha and the Kneeling Garuda. Imagine the skill of the one who with the hammer and chisel gave life to a stone… the details, the expression, the appearance…even after all these centuries!

Then I came across the Veiled Rebecca given life by Italian master Benzoni… a perfect form of female expression – proud and slender, delicate and enchanting – it was so beautiful! Sculpted out of white marble, Rebecca has this veil over her form, and so minute is the work that you see her eyes from under the veil… must see!

The armoury section was amazing here as the swords on display were from around the world – Abbassi (a curved sword preferred by Cavalries), Dhop (a straighter sword rounded at the end), Tegas (broad curved swords) and the Patas (a straight and flexible sword)… my favorite – Shamshirs were also here… also on display were the early firearms.

Next stop in our list was the Sudha Car Museum (entry Rs 30/head)… we went there because we were told that it holds a Guiness Record to it's name… though you can give it a miss but one has to commend the spirit of Mr. Sudhakar Rao, it's founder… he has made cars of almost all designs – football, cricket bat, railway engine… what not?

Thence we headed to Golconda Fort… the once mighty fortress which legend says never fell… mostly known to the civilian populace as the place with amazing Acoustic Engineering… it is said that a clap made in the entrance dome resounds all the way to the King's observation post… the fort has multiple entrances (4 of which have been closed)… the entrances have been designed in the classical technique of double doors wherein if the outer gate is breached the defenders can surround the intruders in the inner moat…

Golconda has 645 steps or used to… now the steps and the rocks merge and disappear all along the way… the periphery is huge but we made our way straight to the King's Chamber… it took us about 5-6 minutes as we raced along to the top… it was worthy of our efforts – the view was magnificent… from there the commander could have looked all around and respond to the battle situation…

Right next to the observation post there is this small Maha Kali mandir… for a Goddess worshipper, a temple such as this, all this way from home was a welcome surprise…

We saw the Sun set down… like the many who would have once stood where we did… and once fought where we walked… in honor of them, the two of us patrolled all along the front-side guard wall of the fort…

As we made our way back - two very weary but happy travelers, the mind kept on racing back to all that we had seen, all that once was, and all that once will be…