Vacation Travel India

The volunteers of Sri Vivekananda Sevashrama and thir family members under took a tour of South India, with rich heritage of temples.

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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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The former Wodiyar Maharaja’s huge, fairytale-castle palace (open 10.30am-5.30pm, entrance fee) was built at great cost by a British architect in 1912 in the Indo-Saracenic style. A part of it is still the residence of the current Maharaja. The interior is an amazing medley of striped pillars, stained glass, carved doors (including one made of solid silver) and mosaic floors. The main parts of the palace are open to the public and include an art gallery, a small museum and some temples set in the grounds.

Sri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery (open 8am-5pm), housed in the Jagan-mohan Palace to the west of Mysore Palace, has paintings dating from the 19^th century, including works of Raja Ravi Varma and traditional Mysore gold-leaf paintings. St Philomenas Church, built in Gothic style during the 1930s, has beautiful stained-glass windows. It is one of the largest churches in India.

Hampi

Among its many sights, the Vittala Temple is noted for its remarkable sculptural details; the Royal Enclosure houses the remains of the Lotus Mahal and the domed chambers of the Elephant Stables.

Aihole, 100 km (62 miles) north of Hampi, is thought to be the cradle of Hindu temple architecture: it has 125 temples. Patadakal, nearby, is another World Heritage site with 10 major temples, and Badami’s fort and cave temples are all worth a visit (25 km/15 miles southwest of Aihole).

The coast

The coast road (NH 17), from Karwar in the north to Ullal in the south, follows a long stretch of white sand and makes for a spectacular journey along the foothills of the Western Ghats. Gokarna is a popular pilgrimage site famous for its temples and shrines; its secluded beaches have begun to draw some of the travellers from Goa. In the south of the state is the pilgrimage town of Udipi, beyond which is the pleasant coastal city of Mangalore.

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