GOLCONDA MEETS THE GLOBE

A gloomy morning, 30 September, 2006; the tiresome work of the previous day left me in a pathetic situation, body was aching and the cozy comfort of the blanket tempting me to stay back; 5:30 AM, a saturday morning, the whole world sleeping, with the dreams of a wonderful weekend and I’m awake, I have to pick my friends coming from Chennai and Bangalore. In regular intervals I recieved calls from Joseph saying that the bus was late and would take another 2 hous to reach here. I could not understand how after three calls each with a half an hour duration in between, still it required 2 more hours. I was worried the whole day is going to be on a toss if they are late. More over there was no information from Jayadeep who is coming from Chennai. I had my breakfast from a nearby hotel and headed to Koti where their bus is expected. Three of them are coming from Bangalore, Binesh, Anoop, Joseph and Jayadeep is from Chennai, all new to the place, except Joseph, (who is having serious memory problems and cannot be trusted!). The bus I took to Koti took more time than usual, traffic was less, but it ran slow; I was irritated when I did not get a seat even after Jubilee hills. I got down at Koti aand took an auto to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station, better known as MGBS, it passed past the Mousi River and reached there at 9:30. By the time team from Bangalore have already arrived.

That was my second time in MGBS, the old but large bus terminus of Hyderabad. The other major station in the twin cities is there in Secunderabad, the Jubilee Bus Station, but this is the larger one, always cramped with people speaking Urdu mixed Hindi, this is the part of the old city of Hyderabad. Without much difficulty I located the gang waiting for me at platform 68, Binesh Anoop and Joseph. Jayadeep was yet to come.

Going back home to Chanda Nagar for getting fresh will take another one and half hour at least and still Jayadeep has not come. We were in a dilemma as what to do. Those from Bangalore were already hungry and needed some serious refreshment. Finally they decided to take a bath from the bus station itself and go to the nearby museum first. Within half an hour all are ready and we took an auto the Salur Jung museum, which was very near to the bus station. We kept the bags in the cloak room, took the entry pass and waited for our turn to get in. By this time Jayadeep arrived, now it is full streangth.

Situated on the southern bank of the river Musi, the Salar Jung Museum is not far from the other important monuments of the old city. The historic Charminar, Juma Masjid, High Court, State Central Library and the Osmania General Hospital are all within a radius of one mile from the Salar Jung Museum. Salar Jung museum is the fantasy of an art visionary come to life. Former Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru visited the historic city of the Quli Qutab Shahs and inaugurate it on 16 December, 1951 . The priceless collections were moved in 1968 to a new site from the 100-year-old palace Dewan Devdi of the prime ministers. Legend has that the museum houses art collections of three generations of the Salar Jung family, beginning with Salar Jung 1, who was prime minister under Hyderabad kings. It is believed that during the colonial period a lot of the art wealth of the country was shipped to the metropolitan countries and the Salar Jungs are credited with bringing back some of it to enrich the collection. The museum represents, in popular belief, the largest one-man collections of the world. They reflect the stunning range of time and place of these treasures, some of them belonging to different civilisations and dating back to the first century and retrieved from nearly every nook and corner of the world. However, the chief architect of this great and magnificent congeries of art is believed to be Salar Jung III, i.e. Nawab Mir Yusuf Ali khan. Old timers believe that the present collection constitutes only half of the original art wealth amassed by Salar Jung III. This great treasure trove is a tribute to man’s eternal quest for beauty and elegance, particularly India’s remarkable cultural diversity and heritage.

The marvelous expose unveils the art heritage of India, Asia, Middle East and Europe. Among the sculptures stands out the world famous statue of Veiled Rebecca, her beautiful face hazily visible through; hold our breath, a gorgeous woman draped in a wet garment. The double-figure wood sculpture done by G.H. Benzoni is also worth mentioning. A visual delight is the musical clock Salar Jung bought from Cook and Kelvy of England, a virtual mechanical marvel. Other attractions are a gallery exclusively devoted to the celebrated family of the Salar Jungs, a children’s section, a reference library and a section devoted to rare and ancient Arabic Urdu and Persian manuscripts. Walking through the museum is walking through the ages of several civilisations, Indus, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Roman to name a few and is bound to disengage the visitor from the present, the current and the immediate and transport him to a world he is familiar with only through reading. Textile gallery, glassware, ivory collections, altogether the museum is a standing monument to the artistic genius of mankind throughout the space-time spectrum.

By 12:30 in the after noon we came outside the museum and had our lunch in the museum canteen. Took an auto to the Charminar, Hyderabad’s ambassador monument to the world outside. Charminar is at the heart of the old city, narrow roads, typical limestone buildings on both sides with typical Mughal and Middle East architecture, burqua cladded women busily shopping for the evening festivities, mist of dust on crumbling road sides, cowdung side walks, rusting tin roofs, bright painted sighn boards, above dimly lit shops, tinkle of bicycle bells, the loud cries of hawkers selling vegetables or pea nuts or scrap, red betal-stains on every wall, dirty white pyjamas of short brown men, weaving in and out of traffic, in and out of their sad eyed burqua claded women, clutching babies, baskets and their burdens too heavy. The heat, the dust, the flies, the shit, the crowd, name it old city, every cliche about a muslim galli turns out to be true here. When the minarets of Charminar were visible from a distance we got down from the auto and started walking, this is the holy month of Muslims, the month they take fast, the month they compulsorily bow their heads towards Kabba five times a day. The life near Charminar is completely different from other parts of the city. It still holds the age old tradition and culture when elsewhere in the city people embraced the high end life style. It would be hard for a person coming from outside to believe that the hi-tech city and old city falls under the same domain of a great civilization spread across the Central Deccan region. Here people hardly speaks Telugu, remember Hyderabad is in the Telangana region, people here are well versed in Sher-o-shayari, read Urdu news papers, still maintain the tradition of traveling in cycle rickshaws, have time to enjoy the hot samosa and pakoda from the road side make shift stalls, and at the heart are great hosts, who step down from their routine to help a stranger reach his destiny.

Built by Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah in 1591, shortly after he had shifted his capital from Golkonda to what now is known as Hyderabad, this beautiful colossus in granite, lime, mortar and, some say, pulverised marble, was at one time the heart of the city. Apart from being the core of the city’s cultural milieu, it has become a brand name. Charminar is very much a part of the vibrant life of everyone in the city and its cultural life.

We took the entry passes and climbed the Charminar. It is a 7 storeyed building. Entry for public is limited to the 3 floor. From there we can have the view of the old city, roads from all the four sides meet at Charminar. On one side is the famous Bangle Bazaar where all kinds of pearls and glass bangles, fancy jute items, sherwanis and Kashmiri shawls are sold. Beside Charminar is the legendary Mecca Masjid. The brown stones brought from Mecca were used for the roof and hence the name. The the octagonal columns on either side are made out of a single piece of granite. The courtyard houses a large pond flanked by slab seats. Legend has it that a visitor who sits on one of these seats will definitely return to Hyderabad. We entered the vast prayer hall, few people were found taking rest in the hall. The magnificient Belgian lamps were opened (they will be open only during the holy month). We took photographs with kids flying kites in the courtyard. We left Mecca Masjid by 3:30 in the evening; the next destination was Golconda fort.

In less than 45 minutes we reached Towlichowki, kept our bags in Ditin’s home, he was not there, he was in Kerala for a vacation. Golconda is a bout 5kms from Towlichowki, the majestic fort on hilltop. Golconda fort is one of the most magnificent fortress complex in India. The history of Golconda Fort dates back to the early 13th century, when this south-eastern part of the country was ruled by the Kakatiyas. The bulk of the ruins of this fort, date from the time of the Qutub Shahi kings, who had ruled this area in the 16th and 17th century. Shepherd’s Hill or ‘Golla Konda’, as it was known in Telugu, has an interesting story behind it. In 1143, on the rocky hill called ‘Mangalavaram’, a shepherd boy came across an idol. This was conveyed to the Kakatiya king, who was ruling at that time. The king got a mud fort constructed around the holy spot and nearly 200 years later Bahamini rulers (1364) took possession of the fort. From 1507 over a period of 62 years the mud fort was expanded by the first three Qutub Shahi kings into a massive fort of granite, extending around 5km in circumference, which has been a silent witness to many historic events. The illustrious rule of the Qutub Shahis at Golconda ended in 1687, with the conquest of the fort by the Mughal emperor Aurangazeb, who almost completely destroyed the fort and left it in a heap of pathetic ruins. The total fort is 7km in circumference.

There is also supposed to be secret underground tunnel leading from the ‘Durbar Hall’ to one of the palaces at the foot of the hill. The tombs of the Qutub Shahi kings, built with Islamic architecture lie about 1 km north of the outer wall of Golconda. There is a sound and light show that brings the legend of Golconda to life. With a spectacular interplay of audio and visual effects, the story of Golconda unfolds over centuries of splendour. Shows were in English and Telugu, English show was the first; we all sat in the plastic chairs arranged in the open space in one of the courtyards. It was a visual treat. The vibrant love story of Bhagmathy and the glorious history of Golconda were reverberating in our minds when we were walking down the steps. Without much difficulty we reached Towlichowky, picked our bags from Ditin’s house and caught share auto back to Chanda Nagar via Gachibowly. It started raining slowly and wind outside was damn cold and carried dewdrops from the west. By 9:30 we reached Chanda Nagar, had dinner at Vindhu restaurant and reached home by 10’0 clock.

Next day morning we woke up early, for all of us to get ready with the limited facilities was not easy. Film city was scheduled for the day. We had the breakfast at Vindhu and by 9:30 our friends from Indira Nagar reached here. We, a group of 20, all malus, five of them were Varghese’s cousins, who came to Hyderabad for a short visit, then our other friends from Wipro and Infosys, we have arranged a mini bus for travel. Unlike normal days traffic was less at Ameerpet and Panjagutta. By 11:00 AM we reached film city. Film city is owned by Enadu group under Ramoji Rao, ex MP aand Chief editor of Enadu group of publications, one of the most powerful print-electronic media group of South India. Sprawling across an area of 2500 acres, adjascent to the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway, the film city is righteously known as world’s largest film studio complex (but i doubt this). This is my third time at film city. There was a huge rush outside the entrance, thanks to the long weekend due to Dussehra. Entry for private vehicles were restricted till the main gate near the high way. The rest 4 km distance has to be covered in film city owned buses. For private vehicles to get inside, special permissions were required and large amount of money was to be paid. We soon took the tickets and stood in the queue. It took more than one hour to get inside. From there again a travel of about 15 minutes to reach the film city. On the way is the famous Sanghi temple and Sanghi polymers.

Every need of the filmmaker, imaginary and real, has gone into the planning and execution of this mega project costing hundreds of crores of rupees. Everything that goes into making a film, from raw film to cameras, to processing labs to editing consoles, stage properties, studio floors and even travel arrangements to recreation and past-time is available at the mere mention of it. There is a guided tour of the vast spread of exotic gardens, outdoor sets, studio floors, state-of-the-art technology labs, centres of digital film facilities, hospitality centres, colourful fountains, rock formations, and zigzagging pathways flanked by lamps, which automatically come to life at dusk. Singing fountains, churches, mosques and temples, an airport terminal, railway station, police outpost, shopping plazas, palace interiors, European streets, Greek mythological sculptures, and various theme based gardens, all in one compound are visible here. The architecture of buildings and other structures can easily be altered according to the filmmaker’s needs. Apart from this the replicas of various historical monuments are there which includes Taj Mahal, Agra, Hawa Mahal, Jaipur, Gateway of India, Bombay, Brindavan Gardens, Mysore, Mughal Palace, Delhi to name a few. Kripalu caves an underground passage with plaster of paris sculptures decorating the walls with an image of Buddha at the end is also worth mentioning. Food was very costly inside. Outside food was not allowed inside including water. A tea costs Rs 10 inside! There were different venues for comedy show, stunt and other dance shows. By evening 6’o clock we returned. By 7:30 we reached the city and got down near assembly and went to Birla temple.

A quarter century ago, Birlas built this temple in Hyderabad entirely in marble brought from Rajasthan and dedicated it to Lord Venkateswara, known as Balaji in the north. This is in the heart of the city adjacent to Hussain Sagar lake and it offers a panoramic view of the twin cities in the evening. From the highest level of the temple, the spectacle around is breath-taking, the blue waters of Hussain Sagar, the serene Lumbini park, the luxurious Public gardens, the incessant flow of traffic on the Tank Bund, crowds thronging the administrative complexes of the government, the newly-built flyovers and the cultural hub of the city Ravindra Bharathi and the NTR Memorial. The main deity here is Lord Venkateshwara, but by some unknown reasons still people call it as Birla Temple. There are subdeities also. The meditation hall was throng with people on the day we visited for some Navaratri pooja. This is a place where we are bound to forget grief and greed for the while we are there. Birla Mandir is the centrepiece of the capital city’s skyline. Cameras were not allowed inside the temple top. In the mukhamandapam are several sculptures in marble depicting scenes from the Hindu mythology, the Ramayana and Mahabharatha in particular. To watch the Hussain Sagar with the monumental Buddha statue at the centre, the laser show from the Lumbini park, the fancy lights of Necklace road, and the unending flow of vehicles throgh the tankbund flyovers, and on the o ther side of the water the historic twin city of Secunderabad, that was a beautiful delight.

We climbed down the hill at 8:30 and rushed towards the Lumbini park. AP tourism department have arranged boating towards Buddha statue starting from there. We managed to get the tickets for the last boat of the day. A mix of suffocating smell of lake water and the cold breeze filled the air when we sat in the boat, it is the begining of winter in Hyderabad. The Hussain Sagar was built by Hazrat Hussain Shah Wali in 1562, during the rule of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali. These boating attract large number of tourists and is highly rewarding for the department. Within 15 minutes of slow boat travel we reached the basement of Buddha statue. This 16 meter tall, 350-tone monolithic colossus rises high from the placid waters of the picturesque Hussain Sagar Lake and is India’s largest Buddha statue. It is made of white granite, finely sculptured and stands majestically amidst the shimmering waters of the lake. We took snaps there and came back.

We had our dinner at ‘Kamat’ hotel nearby and somehow managed to reach Chanda Nagar by 12’0 clk midnight.

The next day we had our breakfast from Vindhu and headed to Shilparamam. This day Victor and Sagar joined us. Shilparamam is the arts and handicrafts village of Hyderabad, which is near hi-tech city, Madhapur. Spread over 50 acres of land nestling by the hillside, Shilparamam is gifted with natural slopes and wild vegetation studded by unique rock formations. The village was conceived with an idea to create an environment for the preservation of traditional crafts. The idea was to promote rural artists and their products and to provide a market for them eliminating the middlemen. The nature’s rock garden, village museum and various bidri and terracota stalls are the major attractions here. An exhibition of hand woven saris of various parts of India was going on there. Binesh bought a pearl and few handicraft items from there. There is an amphitheater where rural and urban artistes meet and interact through workshops, seminars and festivals inside the village. Renowned classical dancers and music maestros as well as young artistes come here from all over the country to perform. Special efforts are made to encourage folk and tribal art. The administrators of the village are succesful in imparting a true village feeling in the middle of the concrete jungle outside. Very next to Shilparamam is Cyber Tower, the first and prominent IT building in the city. These areas later came to know as Cyberabad.

From Shilparamam we went to Paradise. Paradise, near Anand theatre, the grand old hotel of twin cities, famous for Hyderabad biriyani was about 25 kms from Shilparamam. Our batch mate at Kothamangalam Engineering College, AnuBel also came there and we all had lunch together. After lunch we went to Bel’s home in Sindhi colony, a calm nice residential area, which is at a walk able distance from Paradise. She served us ‘Kattan Chaaya’ and biscuits there. By 4:30 in the evening we said good-bye to Bel and returned back to Chanda Nagar. Jayadeep’s bus was at 6:30 from Miyapur. Me and Joseph dropped him and came back home. The team from Bangalore left by around 8:15 from Chanda Nagar leaving me alone with sweet memories of three days.