It was a visit long overdue. My visit to Hyderabad was almost after 50 years.
My first one was an official one – it was to a Birla company. My friend had been requesting me to visit his place since he set up a company in Telangana. Finally, it was possible only two months back. As I am not familiar with the place I took the help of my nephew, who was born and raised there and knew the city rather well, helping me to make a short itinerary. He gave a good one and I followed the same.
The Hotel was about a hundred years old and one of the good vegetarian restaurants, situated in the heart of the city. My friend was waiting to receive us in the hotel. We did not waste any time and went straight to the hotel. After our lunch, as planned, we went to the Salar Jung Art Museum, located on the southern bank of the Musi River in Hyderabad, which fortunately was not very far from the hotel. The museum was not having the old ceremonial elegance and splendor, many of the rooms were closed for repair/renovation/ maintenance/empty though I must confess it was well maintained. We spent a lot of time going through some of the very old and exquisite pieces of crockery, furniture, clocks, beautiful lighting, wall hangings, paintings and so on. It was interesting to note how some staff was following us right through. I was worried whether I did anything against their protocol. So when we were finishing the visit, one of them walked over and asked if I was related to the PM. That was the reason they followed us., waiting to assist us in case we needed help. When I replied negatively they wanted to stand with us for a photograph. When my wife too wanted to join the session, they wanted a solo one with me and then a group one. As I had another experience like this at the Kedarnath yatra, a year ago, it was not a complete surprise to me. Anyway, it was indeed a pleasant time.
Although we were tired of climbing up and down various floors and walking the large area, and we had to follow the itinerary, we did not want to waste any time. We next went to see the famous Birla Mandir before it started getting dark. This is a Vishnu Hindu Temple built on a 280 feet high hillock called Naubath Pahad on a 13 acres plot. It was a bit far and took us an hour to reach. To view the city from that place with the cool evening breeze was an amazing experience. It was built of white marble and adorned with not only images of Gods, but also philosophers and scientists and truly stands out in that area. We sat there for a while and even meditated for some time. As the evening was giving way to night, we left for the hotel to retire after the rather long day we had. The view of the city from the hill was very beautiful to me.
As planned the next day, our program included a trip to the world-famous Ramoji Film city complex, which was quite far from the city. We had arranged a car and it took us an hour to reach the main gate of the 1666 KM area, where we were greeted with their traditional welcome dance. This is the world’s biggest Film City. We were informed that it has been accepted in the Guinness Book of Records for its magnificent facility. This is a fully equipped complex for producing movies. If scripts are ready, one could go straight up and complete the movie in the shortest possible time. It has all the facilities required for film shooting and processing such as editing and mixing readily available. They have all the best infrastructure for Film production with various buildings, historical structures, and places in the world for any needs. Artists, engineers and technicians are available on-site. There are also residential places available for visitors and guests, Beautiful lakes, waterfalls, forests, gardens and walkways are maintained very well. We couldn’t fault anything any as there were proper food outlets and clean washrooms. Artificial waterfalls and rest places added extra comfort and beauty to the area. A special mention has to be made of the magnificent bird museum, where we see rare birds from Africa, Australia, Indonesia and other parts of the world. After a long stroll to all the studios and other sites, where LIVE shootings were happening, we went for lunch. There are plenty of outlets, where all types of cuisines such as Indian, Chinese or continental foods were served. After a vegetarian lunch, we were taken to the actual production and processing areas where, we were explained at length how a film was to be made, mixed with music, edited and finally how the movie is shown in the cinema houses. Truly this is a wonderful tourist place in Hyderabad’s magic world, where we can spend the day with family. Children have plenty of playing areas, and games and there is no time for boredom. The day ended on a great note. There were plenty of in-house vehicles to transport us from one place to another.
The next day, we were to return by night flight back to Bangalore and we had the full day to complete our planned itinerary. As per that, our visit was to the famous Charminar of Hyderabad. As that was a festival day and in anticipation of a huge crowd, we planned to visit early and look at the Charminar. Any later and the roads would then be closed and we would have had to walk a lot. We were lucky that we could park and had a view of the magnificent Charminar with its architectural splendor. It was cordoned off by police and we were not allowed to go to all the towers. Quickly we went around and took some snaps and left There were many vendors following us for buying small gift items from their shops. However, our driver managed to take us to the next destination i.e. The famous Jawaharlal Nehru National Park of Hyderabad. It covers a large area and once upon a time was considered one of the most beautiful parks with a train safari and many other games. But now most areas are restricted for maintenance and other activities. We were told that in the olden days, people visited and spent their daytime; which unfortunately we could not see. I felt the maintenance was also not to our satisfaction. But there were a good number of animals to be seen. As we have visited many national and international parks, this was not such an impressive view for us
.
We then tried to find a good restaurant, but nothing was available nearby. So our driver suggested going towards the airport side. We agreed to that and saw the huge structure with a giant statue. That was the Statue of Equality, inaugurated by PM Modi a couple of months ago. In a complex of 75 acres, this 216 Feet statue of the 11th Century philosopher Saint Ramanujacharya was situated at Ranga Reddy District on the outskirts of Hyderabad. We were informed that this is the second-tallest sitting statue in the world Saint Ramanujam was a social Guru who promoted the idea of equality in all aspects of living including faith caste and creed. He worked tirelessly for the upliftment of people. The golden monument with a meditation hall was around the huge area and was surrounded by 108 Vishnu temples from all over India. In this complex, there are hospitals, schools and colleges, where the world’s only college campus for blind students is situated. Students who graduated from here acquire well-placed positions in IT companies. They even get admission to educational institutions gain jobs eventually as judges, and so on.
To me, the most favorite visits were Birla mandir, Ramoji film city and the 108 Vishnu temple where the Unity Statue stands tall. All of these are worth the money we spent and as wonders of Incredible India.
My visit to the land of Nizam
It was a visit long overdue. My visit to Hyderabad was almost after 50 years.
My first one was an official one – it was to a Birla company. My friend had been requesting me to visit his place since he set up a company in Telangana. Finally, it was possible only two months back. As I am not familiar with the place I took the help of my nephew, who was born and raised there and knew the city rather well, helping me to make a short itinerary. He gave a good one and I followed the same.
The Hotel was about a hundred years old and one of the good vegetarian restaurants, situated in the heart of the city. My friend was waiting to receive us in the hotel. We did not waste any time and went straight to the hotel. After our lunch, as planned, we went to the Salar Jung Art Museum, located on the southern bank of the Musi River in Hyderabad, which fortunately was not very far from the hotel. The museum was not having the old ceremonial elegance and splendor, many of the rooms were closed for repair/renovation/ maintenance/empty though I must confess it was well maintained. We spent a lot of time going through some of the very old and exquisite pieces of crockery, furniture, clocks, beautiful lighting, wall hangings, paintings and so on. It was interesting to note how some staff was following us right through. I was worried whether I did anything against their protocol. So when we were finishing the visit, one of them walked over and asked if I was related to the PM. That was the reason they followed us., waiting to assist us in case we needed help. When I replied negatively they wanted to stand with us for a photograph. When my wife too wanted to join the session, they wanted a solo one with me and then a group one. As I had another experience like this at the Kedarnath yatra, a year ago, it was not a complete surprise to me. Anyway, it was indeed a pleasant time.
Although we were tired of climbing up and down various floors and walking the large area, and we had to follow the itinerary, we did not want to waste any time. We next went to see the famous Birla Mandir before it started getting dark. This is a Vishnu Hindu Temple built on a 280 feet high hillock called Naubath Pahad on a 13 acres plot. It was a bit far and took us an hour to reach. To view the city from that place with the cool evening breeze was an amazing experience. It was built of white marble and adorned with not only images of Gods, but also philosophers and scientists and truly stands out in that area. We sat there for a while and even meditated for some time. As the evening was giving way to night, we left for the hotel to retire after the rather long day we had. The view of the city from the hill was very beautiful to me.
As planned the next day, our program included a trip to the world-famous Ramoji Film city complex, which was quite far from the city. We had arranged a car and it took us an hour to reach the main gate of the 1666 KM area, where we were greeted with their traditional welcome dance. This is the world’s biggest Film City. We were informed that it has been accepted in the Guinness Book of Records for its magnificent facility. This is a fully equipped complex for producing movies. If scripts are ready, one could go straight up and complete the movie in the shortest possible time. It has all the facilities required for film shooting and processing such as editing and mixing readily available. They have all the best infrastructure for Film production with various buildings, historical structures, and places in the world for any needs. Artists, engineers and technicians are available on-site. There are also residential places available for visitors and guests, Beautiful lakes, waterfalls, forests, gardens and walkways are maintained very well. We couldn’t fault anything any as there were proper food outlets and clean washrooms. Artificial waterfalls and rest places added extra comfort and beauty to the area. A special mention has to be made of the magnificent bird museum, where we see rare birds from Africa, Australia, Indonesia and other parts of the world. After a long stroll to all the studios and other sites, where LIVE shootings were happening, we went for lunch. There are plenty of outlets, where all types of cuisines such as Indian, Chinese or continental foods were served. After a vegetarian lunch, we were taken to the actual production and processing areas where, we were explained at length how a film was to be made, mixed with music, edited and finally how the movie is shown in the cinema houses. Truly this is a wonderful tourist place in Hyderabad’s magic world, where we can spend the day with family. Children have plenty of playing areas, and games and there is no time for boredom. The day ended on a great note. There were plenty of in-house vehicles to transport us from one place to another.
The next day, we were to return by night flight back to Bangalore and we had the full day to complete our planned itinerary. As per that, our visit was to the famous Charminar of Hyderabad. As that was a festival day and in anticipation of a huge crowd, we planned to visit early and look at the Charminar. Any later and the roads would then be closed and we would have had to walk a lot. We were lucky that we could park and had a view of the magnificent Charminar with its architectural splendor. It was cordoned off by police and we were not allowed to go to all the towers. Quickly we went around and took some snaps and left There were many vendors following us for buying small gift items from their shops. However, our driver managed to take us to the next destination i.e. The famous Jawaharlal Nehru National Park of Hyderabad. It covers a large area and once upon a time was considered one of the most beautiful parks with a train safari and many other games. But now most areas are restricted for maintenance and other activities. We were told that in the olden days, people visited and spent their daytime; which unfortunately we could not see. I felt the maintenance was also not to our satisfaction. But there were a good number of animals to be seen. As we have visited many national and international parks, this was not such an impressive view for us
.
We then tried to find a good restaurant, but nothing was available nearby. So our driver suggested going towards the airport side. We agreed to that and saw the huge structure with a giant statue. That was the Statue of Equality, inaugurated by PM Modi a couple of months ago. In a complex of 75 acres, this 216 Feet statue of the 11th Century philosopher Saint Ramanujacharya was situated at Ranga Reddy District on the outskirts of Hyderabad. We were informed that this is the second-tallest sitting statue in the world Saint Ramanujam was a social Guru who promoted the idea of equality in all aspects of living including faith caste and creed. He worked tirelessly for the upliftment of people. The golden monument with a meditation hall was around the huge area and was surrounded by 108 Vishnu temples from all over India. In this complex, there are hospitals, schools and colleges, where the world’s only college campus for blind students is situated. Students who graduated from here acquire well-placed positions in IT companies. They even get admission to educational institutions gain jobs eventually as judges, and so on.
To me, the most favorite visits were Birla mandir, Ramoji film city and the 108 Vishnu temple where the Unity Statue stands tall. All of these are worth the money we spent and as wonders of Incredible India.
Aniyan’s Blog 