The City of Pearls

Hyderbad from Golkonda fort,Hyderabad

Establishment of Hyderabad city was an initiative by the King of Golkonda, to decentralize the increasing pressure of crowd from the Golkonda. Charminar has an inscription of the King of Golkonda, praying to god to fill the city of Hyderabad with population. Since then, Hyderabad has expanded a lot with increasing number of populations and went on adding new chapters towards fulfilling the dream of the King.

Charminar,Hyderabad

Surrounding the area of Charminar, array of jewellery shops called Laad Bazar showcase the ethnic heritage of the city in their design and in way of their manufacture. Initially with more than ten thousand shops, the history of Laad Bazaar can be compared with the formation of Hyderabad city. A stroll in the premises of Laad Bazar invokes charismatic impetus to have a close look on ethnic Indian Jewelleries. The sparkling lacquer bangles are a speciality of Laad Bazar along with the wide varieties of Pearl jewelleries.

Shop of Laad Bazar,Hyderabad

My memories of holidaying in Hyderabad remind a unique opportunity of witnessing enliven examples depicting utmost love for the cultural traditions and adorability towards the inheritance of ethnicity in varied manner defying the inclination towards other cultures. Combining the fragmented frames of daily life in Hyderabad, their ethnically designed outfits, cuisines, jewelleries represent vivid pictures of cultural heritage and symbolize adorability in preserving the legacies of ethnicity. Surrounded by the historic landmarks, my visit to the wealthy city of Nizams was like an experience of entering into the age of Nawabs with colourful examples of cultural ethnicity and my invaluable experience of witnessing the spirit of the city in the confluences of rich traditions with modernity, rich history and the promises of better tomorrow, as Hyderabad the “city of Pearls” is truly worth for the title in every respect.

Ethnically dressed women in Hyderabad

Charminar

The instilled picture, I had in my memory since childhood, of the familiar architecture of Charminar gate of Hyderabad, was only on different brands of popular products. The opportunity to witness and feel the legendary gate in reality with the grandeur and legacy of the Hyderbad city was like a dream come true. As we were approaching the Charminar, the experience was, like slowly removing a curtain from the face of the exquisite gate of History, and the gate of Charminar finally appeared with its architectural beauty before my eyes. I was perplexed and gleefully stared at the prodigiously famous architecture of more than five hundred years ago still standing upright at the crossroads amid the busy surrounding of a lively city.

Charminar,Hyderabad

The huge construction of a four storied building with mosque is a prime attraction to the tourists visiting the state Andhra Pradesh. The Qutub Shahi Mosque at the Golkonda fort could be called a miniature model of Charminar and design of Charminar was in many ways influenced by the Qutub Shahi Mosque. It was said that the minarets of mosques are the gate from earth to heaven. The Charminar was built to convey the deep gratitude to the almighty and dedicated to the four Khalifas (the successor of Prophet Mohammad) of Muslims. The amazing aspect of the construction of spiralling stairs in the minarets of Charminar, was to provide support to the architecture, apart from scaling to the four storied minarets.

The fabulous architecture

The fifth sultan of Qutub Shahi dynasty felt the necessity to set up a city, as Golkonda was becoming overpopulated and amid the bustling city of Hyderabad, the view of deserted Golkonda fort on a hilltop from the Charminar was like a twist of destiny.
The city of Pearls and fabulous cuisines, where the shopping square, the edifices, mosque and the people in ethnic costumes, present the enliven picture of a city with the aura of glorious history. The historic gate where the confluence of Hindu and Islamic architectural styles could be noticed, I felt the modern age and the traditions of rich cultural history were also nicely blended in the surrounding.

The minarets

Different stories related with the construction of the Charminar could be heard; whatever may be the reason, the architectural marvel will keep reigning in the heart of millions for its uniqueness and creativity, with its immense potentiality, to represent and convey the flavour of the state of Andhra Pradesh in the world of tourism.

Salar Jung Museum: History revisited

Is it possible to witness History? Standing at the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, I found the place besieged by inexhaustible collections of historic and antique artefacts to replenish my love for the history. My eyes got perplexed like never before, by the multitudes of exotic collections of antiques and matchless masterpieces of art.
In Salar Jung museum amongst the numerous royal portraits, the coloured portrait of Siraz- ud- daula was a tryst with my misty child hood. Siraz- ud- daula was the last independent Nawab of Bengal of Afsar dynasty. The most common picture of the Nawab was a black and white portrait with a long sword hanging from the waist. In my child hood, on my frequent visits to the regal relic of the Nawabs of Murshidabad as well as to the museum of the Hazar- dwari, of Murshidabad , the story of the unethical murder of the Nawab after the battle of Plassey in 1757 did touch my heart deeply and I could visualize the extreme brutality and jealousy for power. Among the other unique exhibits of artefacts and weapons in the museum of the Hazar- duari, Murshidabad, the sword of the young Nawab, the horrific shiny knife by which he was stabbed, used to evoke my nightmare. The killing of the last Nawab of Bengal ensured the East India Company, England; smoothly pursue the loot over the unprotected wealth of India.

Salar Jung museum,Hyderabad

In the statue gallery at the Salar Jung museum, the wooden statue depicting the good and evil qualities in human being was worth appreciation, the statue of veiled Rebecca of Italy was like watching the creation of god before my eyes, experiencing the chimes in the huge clock of the Cook & Kelvey Co. of England was mesmeric.

at the Salar Jung museum,Hyderabad

The exquisite creations on Ivory, fascinating collections of carpets, ravishing furniture, mind blowing textiles, marvellous miniature designs and numerous other artefacts where the signature of uniqueness could be observed. It was like experiencing step by step, the way we stepped into the modern age. Once more before leaving the Salar Jung Museum, had a look on the portrait of Siraz -ud- daula.

logo of the museum,Hyderabad

We lost the possession of the Peacock Throne, Koh-I-Noor, and numerous other invaluable antiques, the precious possessions still remaining with us are match less, protection of our vulnerable artefacts is most necessary, for making the next generation conscious about our legacies of the past . Even today, our own antique artefacts are exhibited proudly in the museums of many countries.
It was time to leave the Salar Jung museum, the day was almost over and water of the river Musi was getting dark,towards the onset of an ensuing dusk.