– Deepika. V
It was a college tour to Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana. Initially, I had a perception that Hyderabad was just one normal city like any other. But to my surprise, this trip had so much of fun and descriptive elements. At first, we all were put at a hotel (Anmol Continental) which was near Hussain Sagar Lake. Let me list the places which were covered by us during this college trip.
- Lumbini Park & Hussain Sagar Lake
This park was just opposite from the hotel where we stayed. The park had a very pleasant view of the Hussain Sagar Lake and they also offer boating facility to reach the middle of the lake where it had a Buddha Statue. Once we reach there, we can feel the nature and to capture the moments amid the lake, there will be number of local photographers whom we can hire. Since it was a group tour, we captured lot of photographs and enjoyed that moment utmost.
- Birla Mandir
We were visiting the Birla Mandir (Hindu Temple) the next morning around 9:00 A.M. This temple was situated in the Hill Fort road, which was at the Southern end of the Hussain Sagar Lake. It would be very hot in the morning to climb the stairs to reach the top of the temple. The temple is a mix of southern and northern architecture and is built up of Rajasthani White marble by Birla Foundation. One would say that this architecture will remind us of Taj Mahal which was also build up of similar white marble. This temple is solely dedicated to Lord Venkateshwara. There were also other main hindu gods and goddess including Shiva, Hanuman, Saibaba, Brahma, Saraswati, Lakshmi and Andal carved in separate shrines.
- Salar Jung Museum
We visited the Salar Jung Museum around 11 A.M. This museum portrays the art and architecture of several countries. This is located near Musi River and offers a great view to the visitors. This museum has various collections of paintings, coins, carvings, sculptures, furniture used by Kings, Clocks, Books, Manuscript and so on. This happens to be one of the largest museums and offers wide collections of art and artefacts.
- Ramoji Film City
The next day trip was to Ramoji Film City. The entry fee was around Rs.1000 each and one can spend the entire day over there. They would offer the bus to visit the places since it is spread in acres. We saw many film sets like chandramukhi vettayapura aranmanai, Tajmahal, Ramayan, airport, railway station and so on. They also showed the process of film making including shooting, recording, editing and mixing with the live audience. We happened to see the set of movie Dilwale at that time. This film city includes train ride inside the Shows that they offer. It also includes Butterfly park, Lord Krishna Statue. This Film city is worth a watch if you are really a nature lover, movie freak and adventure enthusiast.
- Golconda Fort
Our final day visit was to the famous Golconda Fort. The fort portrays the architecture of mughal dynasty. When entering the fort, you will have the garden which was very green and clean. On moving forward, we need to claim the stairs in the fort to reach and visit the mosque. It would be really hot since there would be no shade. Since we visited the place during Ramzan time, it was heavily crowded.
- Koti Sultan Bazaar
This bazaar which is similar to Ranganathan Street in T.nagar offers wide variety of women clothes, accessories and ornaments. There are many showrooms as well as road side shop with price ranging from Rs.10 – Rs.10000. I personally got fashion sandals (Wedges) which costed around Rs.400. I would say this bazaar price is moderate and recommend this to others as well. This is a must visit place if you are a shopping spree like me.
- Paradise Restaurant
One would not leave this place without tasting the Hyderabadi Dum Briyani. The Paradise Briyani is one of its own kind. Hyderabad is certainly famous for briyani due to the spices that add flavours and taste to it. You all must definitely try this restaurant which is located in the Himayat Nagar, Hyderabad.
- Hyderabadi Pearls
The Pearl City offers the best in class pearls. You can get the pearls in the Charminar bazaar. Since we went during Ramzan time, we were unable to visit the Charminar and this bazaar in particular. I was getting the pearl set in a local shop next to the hotel from where I was put up. I would recommend visiting the Charminar Bazaar to get the best quality pearls.
This was a memorable trip for me. Hope the experience that I have shared would be very helpful for you guys while travelling to Hyderabad. Do visit all these places and share your experiences as well.