Vacation Travel India

Murad Nagar guys enjoyed their vacation

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Visits can be made to Pochampalli, a village east of Hyderabad noted for its silk saris and ikat weaves, and to Warangal, 150 km (93 miles) to the northeast. This 12th- to 13th-century capital of the Hindu Kakatiyas was renowned for its now abandoned massive brick and mud fort protected by two rings of walls and a moat. There are a few Chalukyan Siva temples on hills in and around Warangal. Also interesting is the Nagarjunakonda Sagar and Dam, 166 km (103 miles) south. Built in 1960, this reservoir submerged an entire valley, which had been the site of a series of ancient civilizations. Important Buddhist monuments have been reconstructed at a museum within the ruins of a fort on an island, which was once the top of a 200-metrc (650-ft) high hill. Boats depart three-times daily from Vijayapuri for the one-hour trip to the island. Pochram, 180 km (110 miles) to the northwest, is a beautiful lake and wildlife sanctuary with a neo-Gothic spired cathedral at nearby Medak, built for local Christians between 1914 and 1924.

The Great Stupa

On the banks of the River Krishna, the ancient city of Vijaywada, 240 km (150 miles) east of Hyderabad, was once visited by the Chinese traveler Hieun Tsang. It shows traces of its past in the two ancient Jain temples and the cave temples nearby, and also the hilltop Kanakadurga temple, patron deity of the city. Now a busy commercial centre, Vijaywada is useful to the visitor as a base from which to visit Amaravati, 30 km (19 miles) west, the site of early Buddhist settlements. Here the remains of a 2,000-year-old Great Stupa are richly embellished with carvings depicting the life of Buddha. A small museum displays statues of Buddha. The village of Kondapalli, 25 km (15 miles) north, at the base of a hill topped by a ruined fort, is famous for its painted toys and figures made of a local species of white cedar. A drive to the coastal town of Machilipatnam, 70 km (43 miles) to the east, to see the kalamkari process of printing cloth using a kalam (pen) and woodblocks, makes an interesting excursion.

Northeast coast

The naval base and ship-building centre of Vishakapatnam, on Andhra Pradesh’s northeast coast, is the fourth-largest port in India. Its twin city, Waltair, built as a resort town by the British and still retaining shady avenues, charming bungalows and marvellous views, can be used as a base to visit coastal Andhra. There are beaches at Rishikonda (10 km/6 miles) and at the former Dutch settlement of Bhimunipatnam (24 km/15 miles).

In the Kailasa Hills to the west of the city, there is a 13th-century Orissan-style Hindu temple and hot springs at Simhachalam. A 70-km (43-mile) drive inland brings you to the ancient Borra Caves set in limestone hills with wonderful stalactites and stalagmites. The Adivasi area of the Araku Valley on the border with Orissa is nearby.

Southern pilgrim sites

Tirupati, with nearby Tirumala Hill on which stands the Lord Venkatesvara Temple, is the busiest pilgrimage site in the world, as well as one of the wealthiest. The very efficient temple administration employs around 16,000 people to deal with the 60-70,000 pilgrims a day who come for darsan (a view of the god). Many of them shave their heads as a pledge, or to thank the deity. The hair is used to make wigs, which are sold locally and exported. The temple is open to non-Hindus, but they must sign a form declaring their faith in god and respect for the temple’s procedures. The steep road up the hill, with 57 hairpin bends, is not for the faint-hearted. Puttuparthi, bordering Karnataka in Andhra’s southwest, is the birthplace of the controversial spiritual leader Sai Baba and the site of his ashram headquarters.

Technorati Tags: Hyderabad

Hyderabad is the capital of Andhra Pradesh and India’s fifth largest city. It has a population of nearly five million. An acute scarcity of water and overcrowding at Golconda, 11 km (7 miles) to the west, led Mohammed Quli of the Qutb Shahi dynasty to build the new capital of Hyderabad on the banks of the Musi River in 1591. In 1687 the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb overthrew the dynasty and appointed his former general as viceroy. This dynasty of Asaf Jahi, which declared its independence after Aurangzeb’s death, ruled as the Nizams of Hyderabad until 1949. The seventh and last ruling nizam, Osman Ali Khan (1911-50), was famous for his eccentricities and enormous wealth, said to have been derived from diamonds and other gems mined by his ancestors around Golconda, in the 17th century the diamond centre of the world. At Independence in 1947 he expressed a wish to join Pakistan, a position he managed to maintain until 1949, when riots in the city gave the Indian army the excuse they needed to invade.

Traditionally a gracious and cosmopolitan centre of learning and the arts, modern Hyderabad and its twin city Secunderabad are separated by Hussain Sagar Lake. Besides being a major centre of commerce and industry, transport and communication, Hyderabad is also a processing centre for pearls from the Middle East, Japan and China. It is considered the centre for Islam in South India and yet on the lake is the world’s largest statue of Buddha.

The main Mahatma Gandhi Road cuts straight through Hyderabad city, past the central shopping area around Abids Circle, and across the Tank Bund (a popular local promenade overlooking the lake) to continue onwards into Secunderabad. The old walled city area is around Hyderabad’s most famous landmark, the Charminar (literally “four towers”). Floodlit in the evenings, this magnificent square archway supported by four 56-metre (184-ft) towers was built in 1591 to commemorate the end of a local plague. It is covered with a yellow stucco mixed from powdered marble, gram flour and egg yolk. There is a tiny mosque on the second floor where royal children studied the Quran. Nearby stands the sixth largest mosque in India, the black granite Mecca Masjid, said to have bricks made of red clay from Mecca over the central archway. Old bazaars with narrow cobbled lanes lined with rows of tiny shops selling spices, tobacco, grain, perfume oils and Hyderabadi specialities such as seedless Anab-shahi grapes, surround the Charminar. The pearl market has varieties of seed pearl, rice pearl and round pearl, sold loose by weight, or strung into jewellery. In other lanes one can find silver filigree jewellery, Adivasi mirrorwork, lac bangles, brocades, sandalwood toys, brassware and Bidri work. East of Lad Bazaar is a quadrangular complex of palaces built by the nizams. Other places of interest include the peaceful Public Gardens, which house a modest but well-kept Archaeological Museum (open Mon-Sat 10.30am-5pm) and a Gallery of Modern Art. The Nehru Zoological Park (open Tues-Sun 9am-6pm, entrance fee), spread over 120 hectares (300 acres), is supposedly one of the better zoos in India. It has landscaped gardens and features a wide variety of animals and birds, an aquarium and a natural history museum. A good spot for sunset views is Kala Pahad (Black Mountain) where the Birla Venkatesvara temple is perched on the hill top. On the adjacent hill, Naubat Pahad, there is the Planetarium with regular shows in English.

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