At a glance Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, is situated on the southern bank of River Musi. An important centre of Islamic culture in a Hindu-dominated state, Hyderabad is southern India's counterpart to the Mughal splendour of Delhi, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. Quick to embrace technology, Hyderabad is also known as 'Cyberabad', as a growing class of techies and cyber kings make their mark.
About the city Hyderabad is the capital of Andhra Pradesh State. Exuding the atmosphere of 400 years old Muslim splendor, Hyderabad is a city of infinite variety. Founded in the 16th century by Quli Qutub Shah the fourth King of the Qutub Shahi dynasty, the new city encircled pre-historic rock structures was laid about 9 Km from Golconda on the east bank of river Musi. Hyderabad is known as the 2nd largest town growing, after Bangalore, in software exports, as biggest software giants are located here. i.e. Satyam Computers, Sriven. Also Microsoft is opening new office in India at Hyderabad. The city is also famous for pearls. Religious Places Mecca Masjid - One of the largest mosques in India, the Mecca Masjid can accommodate 10,000 worshippers / visitors at any given point in time. The construction began way back in 1614 during Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah's reign but was finished during 1687 and several bricks on the central arch were brought all the way from Mecca. Non-Muslims are denied entry into the mosque. Birla Mandir - Overlooking the Tank Bund, the Birla Mandir is an arresting sight when illuminated. Built entirely out of marble from Rajasthan, it stands atop the Kala Pahad. You can view the intricate carvings on the walls of the temple, the ceiling and the mythological figures, all of which are a standing testimony to the dexterity and sculptural excellence of the craftsmen. This magnificent structure is a blend of Orissa & South Indian Temple Art. Festivals Shilparamam has become internationally famous for the Annual Crafts Festival that is organised in the first two weeks of March every year. The Lumbini Festival is organised by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for three days in December and celebrates the state's Buddhist heritage. Deccan Festival highlights Hyderabad's arts, crafts, culture and cuisine. It also includes a pearls and bangles exhibition and a food fair, besides music concerts, dance performances, plays and poetry readings. It is held every April at the Qutub Shahi Tombs. Besides these, Bonalu, Batkamma, Dusshera, Ugadi, and Sankranti are the major festivals celebrated in Hyderabad. Entertainment Dhola-ri-dhani: Rajasthan in the centre of Hyderabad! Unimaginable well, take a peek into Dhola-ri-dhani! Done up to resemble a Rajasthani village, the resort puts up plays, dances, puppet shows and other programmes. There is a mini handicrafts market, a pool, even have our future read by an astrologer. The resort is on Medchal Road, Kompally. Movies: Andhra Pradesh has the honour of having the most number of theatres in a square kilometer. Devi (location) is the most talked theatre in Hyderabad, but other places you can catch a show at are: Sandhya 35mm - RTC X Roads, Chikkadapalli - 27617928 Shivshakti 35MM A/C - Anupuram Kapra - 27122550 Shiva Parvathi Cinema - Kukatpalli - 23057840 Hi Tech Theatre - 1-98/24/A Arunodaya Colony, - 23110069 Deccan Chronicle, the city's leading daily newspaper, contains an elaborate and detailed listing of movies in town. The Hyderabad Puppet Theatre's aim is to educate while entertaining and they have programmes for all occasions and for all age groups. For info on shows contact: Hyderabad Puppet Theatre H.No. 11-15-31, Doctors Colony Saroornagar Post Tel: 4030258 Email: info@hyderabadpuppettheatre.com Website: www.hyderabadpuppettheatre.com Give venues/organizations that host/organize classical music and dance, plays, etc. Nightlife Nightlife in Hyderabad is restricted till midnight. You can try T2 at the Taj Krishna or Dublin at Sheraton. T2 is open on Fridays-Sundays between 8 pm and midnight. Dublin is an out and out Irish pub. Apart from these, there are also standalone pubs and discos like Ten Downing Street, Liquids Et Cetera (a beautiful lounge bar), and Touch, an upmarket pub-cum-dining restaurant. Treasure Island (Gandipet Road, RR District) allows you to party till 4 am. The Bier Keller on SD Road is designed to resemble a World War II German bunker. Other notable places are Sailor's Inn (Paradise), Cloud 9 (Begumpet), Oaken Cask (Basheerbagh), Barrel House Street (Panjagutta), Beat Route (Park Lane). Pivot Pub (Punjagutta), Rock Castle (Banjara Hills) and Black Cadilac. (RP ProRoad). Kidding around Indira Park Near lower Tank Bund, it offers boat rides. Kasu Brahmanda Reddy National Park is spread over an area of 350 acres of natural forest has more than 500 plant species, 130 bird species, 20 mammal species, 20 reptile species and a large number of invertebrates. Open from 6am to 8pm and from 4pm to 6pm. It is a popular spot for joggers and a great place to take the kids to. Are kasu brahmanda and indira park the same Snow World India's first snow theme park, it is located on the Lower Tank Bund Road, behind Indira Park. There are some wonders made from artificial snow. Thankfully, the snow is minus chemicals and therefore you can allow your children a bite or two. The park provides you with warm clothes, waterproof gloves and shoes. The entry fee is Rs. 250 for adults and Rs. 200 for children for a one-hour tour. The park is open to the general public from 9 am to 9 pm. Cozy Club This has some interesting rides and play areas for kids. A skating rink has also been provided. Cozy Club is on the main road towards Sankarapally.For more info, call 92333335 or 92333336. Treasure Island Pools, gardens, camel rides, go-karting, barbecue nights Contact Treasure Island at 23323330/23327899 For Adventure FreaksLocated on the Deccan Plateau, Hyderabad has a whole world of rocks and small mountains to be explore on the outskirts of the city. Adventure Tourism Activities Promoters (ATAP) offer planned trips in and around Hyderabad. Sports like trekking, rappelling, rock climbing, river crossing are held during weekends. The Andhra Pradesh Riding Club, located at Saifaibad, offers horse riding, polo, show jumping and cross-country. Another place to go for horse riding is the Bison Polo Ground in Secunderabad.
How to reach By Air Hyderabad is connected with all the major cities of India by Indian Airlines, Air India and Jet Airways flights. Flights link Hyderabad with Delhi, Port Blair, Bangalore, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, etc. By Rail Hyderabad is linked with the metropolitan cities by train. One can also get off at Secunderabad, which is very close Hyderabad. By Road Hyderabad and its sister city Secunderabad are situated on the junction of two important National Highways: NH 7 (Varanasi-Nagpur-Hyderabad- Kanyakumari) and NH 9 (Bombay/Mumbau-Shlapur-Vijayawada). Getting Around: There are coaches, tourist taxis, metered taxis, auto-rickshaws and city bus services available. Do bargain for a good fare and do not give in to the price quoted by auto and taxi drivers. You can hire tourist cabs from the state tourist office, your hotel or private tour operators. The more adventurous can climb into a cycle rickshaw and hang on to dear life as the rickshaw wallah weaves his daily bread through the narrow maze of Hyderabad's streets.
Distances 157 km North-East from Warangal 50 km from Pakhal Lake 160 km from Nagarjunkonda
Best Seasons Hyderabad is pleasant during the winters and hot during summer. Thus, the months from October to February form the best time to visit Hyderabad. During the hot season, temperatures in Hyderabad can sometimes approach those of the northern plains of India. In April and May temperatures may rise to 40°C (104°F) but during the rest of the year the climate is temperate. The cooler season is typically tropical in temperature when warm, sunny days are moderated by dry heat and pleasantly cool evenings. December and January are usually the coolest months. Rainfall is generally moderate compared with the coastlands. Hyderabad is fairly warm throughout the year and does not receive much rainfall. March to May the city burns like a furnace, the temperature shooting to as high as 42 C. Winters, beginning October are cool; light woolens are all you will need, if at all. So the best time to visit Hyderabad is between October and February.
Places in and around Charminar There are several places to see and visit in and around the city of Hyderabad. The Charminar - Charminar, the hub of the city, has four wide roads radiating in the four cardinal directions. The four minarets command the landscape for miles. The structure is square, each side measuring 100 feet, with a central pointed high arch at the center. The whole edifice contains numerous small decorative arches arranged both vertically and horizontally. The prominently projected cornice on the first floor upholds a series of six arches and capitals on each façade, rising to the double-story gallery of the minarets. The projected canopy, ornamental brackets and decoration in stucco plaster add graceful elegance to the structure. On the upper courtyard, a screen of arches topped by a row of square jall or water screens lends a fragile charm to the sturdy appearance of Charminar. This courtyard was used as a school and for prayers at the mosque. The minarets, their domed finials rising from their lotus-leaves cushion, rise to 180 feet from the ground. An interesting 17th-century description of the monument comes from Thevenot: "That which is called the four towers, is a square building, of which each face is ten fathom broad and about seven high. It is opened on the four sides by four arches…". The Mecca Masjid The Mecca Masjid - Near the Charminar stands the Mecca Masjid, begun by Muhammad Qutb Shah in 1617 and completed by Quranzeb in 1693. It is a grand edifice with a huge courtyard, which can accommodate nearly ten thousand men at prayer. Tavernier has provided a graphic description of the mammoth boulders cut to size and carted for use in the building of the mosque. The minarets look rather stunted in comparison with the grandeur of the whole massive structure. But it looks more Mughal then Qutb Shahi in its perfect granite finish and vast courtyard. A particular stone brick in the mihrab is believed to have been brought from Mecca. Qutb Shahi Tomb Other Mosques Qutb Shahi Tomb Other Mosques - The other two mosques--the Jami Masjid and the Toli Masjid-are small and modest structures. Muhammad Quli Shah built the Jami Masjid in 1592, after founding Hyderabad. Musa Khan, a supervisor of works at the Mecca Masjid, levied a damri for every rupee spent on the building of the Mecca Masjid. With these collections he built the Toli Masjid, near the Purana Pul. Two buildings, the Badshahi Ashur Khana and Darul Shifa-built in 1594-are much dilapidated and in need of large scale repair. Other Sites Of Interest in Hyderabad The Nizams did not build any great mosques or palaces. The last Nizam built the Falakuma palace, which housed the most expensive art objects, tapestries and carpets, in addition to the largest single-man collection of diamonds. Here the Nizam had received their Majesties, the late King George V and King Edward VIII of England. The Chowmukha palace, built after the Shah palace of Teheran, is closed to visitors. The Regency Mansion, built in 1803 by James Kirkpatrick, married a Hyderabadi girl and built for her Rang Mahal, a suite of rooms in the native style. Khilwat Palace Khilwat Palace Of much interest to visitors is the Husain Sagar Lake, a large artificial lake lying between Hyderabad and Secunderaad. It was built by Ibrahim Qutb Shah around 1550, in gratitude to Husain Shah Wali, who had cured him of a disease. A tourist spot affording lovely views of the city is the Naubat Pahad, a hilltop crowned by the Birla temple. In old days royal firmans (announcements) were read to the people to the beat of drums. The Bagh-I-Aam stretches below this hillock where stands the State Legislative Assembly building. Among the newer additions to Hyderabad's grand buildings are the Osmani University, the high court and the Osmania General Hospital. The city straddles the Musi River, which, in 1908, had caused much destruction by flooding the city. Under the supervision of India's greatest engineer Sir M.Vishweshvarayya, two large reservoirs, Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar were constructed to save the city from devastation by floods in the future. If there is some time left, a visit to the Nehru Zoological Park is recommended for a short lion safari and observing the wild beasts moving about freely in their expansive compounds. The crocodile hatchery is very informative for the young and the curious. One of the most visited places in the city is the Salar Jung museum. Purani Haveli When a poet, architect and an aesthete supervises the building of a city, beauty, balance and symmetry are to be expected. What leads romance to the city of Hyderabad, is the love story of a young prince and a village belle that resulted in its very foundations being laid. There is a love story related to the founding of the city of Hyderabad. As a young prince, Muhammad Quli fell passionately in love with a maiden from Chichlam village across the river Musi. He would even venture to cross the river in spate to keep his tryst with his beloved. Ibrahim Qutb Shah, his father, built a bridge on the river so that the crown prince did not endanger his life. When he ascended the throne, Muhammad Quli built a grand structure, the Charminar, at the site of the village. The city was called Bhagnagar to appease his beloved, Bhagmati. Later on it was called Hyderabad. Bhagnagar means city of good fortune. Farkhunda Buniyad, the Persian chronogrammatic name of the city yields the same meaning. Weekend Trips/Excursions Golconda has been known as famous center for diamonds, and the diamond mines boast of some of the most renowned diamonds in the world. The Kohinoor originally belonged to Golconda as did the Darya-I-Noor, the Orloff, the Pitt, and the great table of the Nizam. Warangal Warangal is situated 157 km north-east of Hyderabad. It is famous for its thousand pillar temple-a specimen of the Chalukya architecture. The fort was built by the Kakatiyas, who ruled between 12th and 14th centuries. Ruins of the mud-brick fort survive in certain portions. Kakatiyas held Golconda prior to the advent of the Qutb Shahi's and their original mud fort atop the Golconda hill was replaced with stone fortifications. The great temple at Harnamkonda was built on the slopes of the hill in 1163 by Rudra Deva. It carries some exquisitely carved pillars. The monolithic Nandi sits on guard at the entrance which also has rock cut statues of elephants on either side. The Warangal fort was conquered by Muhammad Tughlaq in the 14th century suffering much destruction. The freestanding gateway in the Buddhist tornan style is the most magnificent structure of its kind. Lumbini Park Lumbini Park110 km northwest of Hyderabad lies Bidar, former capital of the Bahamani, and later on Barid Shahi dynasty. Ultimately it was annexed by Aurangzeb and subsequently the Nizams took over Bidar. It has a vast range of palaces mosques baths, schools and tombs within a strong fortified area. The tombs at Ashtur and Gawan's Madarsa have strong architectural splendor. If one has some time to spare he/she shouldn't miss nearby Gulbarga, the Bhamani capital, famous for its beautiful mosques and fort. Nagarjunakonda Nagarjunakonda, lying southeast of Hyderabad, has had been under strong Buddhist influence. The Satvahanas built a grand stupa at Amravati, embellished with most sumptuous sculptures. Later on, the Ikshvakus dominated the region around ad 235 their capital was Vijaipuri, a university town. With the decline of lkshvakus, Vijaipuri fell into neglect. The Reddy kings in the 14th century fortified the commanding hill of Nagarjunakonda, perpetuating the memory and teachings of Buddhist teacher Nagarjuna. Before work on the Nagarjunasagar Dam project began, archaeologists performed the miraculous task of transporting stone the excavated ruins of Vijaipuri to the top of Nagajunakonda hill and setting them up in their exact position. Remains of sculpture, monasteries, amphitheatre, and streets found a new safer home permanently relieved of the fear of inundation. A huge statue of Buddha dominates the crest of Nagarjunakonda. It is the old forgotten Vijaipuri of the lkshvakus, which has been resurrected on the hill.