No city in India so juxtaposes the contemporary and the historic in quite the same manner that Hyderabad does. You visit it perhaps because it is Chandrababu Naidu’s famed ‘Cyberabad’, or perhaps to savor its equally famed biryani. Perhaps you visit it to view in person the majestic Charminar, one of the few monuments famous enough to have been taken over as the brand name of a product (the now-unavailable Charminar cigarettes).

Whatever reasons you visit it for; the enduring impression that you will carry with you, long after the taste of Biryanis, kebabs and the sun drenched view of the grand monuments have faded away, would be of the syncretic nature of the city itself.

The city unselfconsciously mixes different cultures, different people, different architectural styles, in something so typically Hyderabadi, that they are as recognizable as the character played by Amir Khan in the Coca Cola ad.

THE QUTUB SHAHI TOMBS

A visitor to the city cannot do better than start his sightseeing tour from the Qutub Shahi tombs, probably the most magnificent architectural pieces from the Qutb Shahi era. These tombs were built by the Kings of the Qutb Shahi dynasty to mark their final resting place. Seven generations of the Qutb Shahi dynasty lie buried here, along with nobles, notables and even the favorite eunuchs. The tombs are situated in beautifully landscaped gardens which still exist in all their pristine beauty.

Structurally these tombs are square, domed structures, one or two storey high. Typically they have four minarets in their four corners and arched gateways. The entire parapet is adorned with fine filigree work that lends a curious delicacy to the stone edifice. The tombs of the kings are distinctly different from those of other, lesser, mortals. They have a crescent shaped structure on their facade to distinguish them, and are built on a more expansive plan. It is easy to identify features of both Hindu and Persian architecture in these monuments.

GOLCONDA FORT

From the Qutub Shahi tombs you can either trek the 3 kms that lie between Qutb Shahi tombs and the Golconda fort or take some form of transport. If it is autorickshaw that you choose then be careful to pay only the meter fare. The hyderabadi autowallahs, like autorickshaw drivers everywhere, have a nose for sensing out greenhorns and fleece them unabashedly.

The fort used to be a magnificent structure, during the time of the Qutb Shahi kings, its present state of ruin was brought about by Emperor Aurangzeb, who in conquering Hyderabad, almost completely destroyed the fort.

But the remnants are still impressive enough to merit a visit. One can still, for example, experience the fine acoustical effect of hearing a mere clap performed at one of its gates (Fateh Darwaza) at the farthest point of the fort, the Bala Hisar pavilion; which is almost a kilometer away. The Darwazas are fine architectural structures in themselves and probably the most important part of the fort. Of which, the Fateh Darwaza, so called because Aurnagzeb’s victorious army marched in through it, and the Balahisar darwaza are the grandest.

THE CHARMINAR

Let us now come to the most symbolic monument of Hyderabad, without seeing which a visit to the city would not be complete; the Charminar. The Charminar is aptly named. The four minarets rising out from the four corners of the monument are it’s most prominent feature. It is said to have been built by Sultan Quli Qutb Shah to pay a tribute to the memory of his hindu wife Bhagmati. The monument, by its use, is actually a mosque, with mehrab and other regular mosque features on its top floor. The four sides of the monument faces the four cardinal directions, north, south, east and west. This monument used to serve as the central point of old Hyderabad in the days of the Sultans and the Nizams.

MECCA MASJID

Just off Charminar is the famous Mecca masjid. One of the grandest mosques in India and the 7th largest in the world. Mecca mosque displays the features of both Deccan and Mughal architecture. The construction of the mosque started in 1614 by Quli Qutub Shah, but was finished by Aurangzed in the year 1693, a period of 78 years.

The mosque can comfortably accommodate 10,000 worshippers. Its colonnades have been built by massive, monolithic blocks of granite. The minarets, comparatively speaking appear stunted. They are not really commensurate with the massive proportions of the mosque.

CONCLUSION

While you are in Hyderabad, walk through Mir Alam’s mandi, and the Pattaharghati road. You would find yourself amidst a throng of shops and sellers which would leave you with an indelible impression of Hyderabad now. Hyderabad is the physical symbol of the confluence of many different cultures and it has played host to a variety of people.

It is perhaps the only city that enjoys a past unbroken by pillage and plunder. While Delhi and Lucknow, the two other grand old cities of medieval India suffered terribly during the rising of 1857, Hyderabad escaped it unscathed. Even in the medieval times after its invasion by the Mughal monarch Aurangzeb, the city did not suffer from any further invasions. It is therefore not surprising that it has preserved more of its past than either Lucknow or Delhi. In Hyderabad the past is still a living presence.