At night the charminar looks surreal illuminated by myriad lights of surrounding shops, commercialcomplex, street vendors, street light giving it a magical glow, really out of this world. the air is rife with cries of vendors drawing attention to their wares..the special Hyderabadi lac bangles, attars, lovely sequined /embroideried garments, pearls, coral and semi precious stone jewellery shops or the brightly coloured apples, figs and pomegranates. Its a hustle of activity which bombards our senses and we are at a loss as to where to begin.
there is a devi temple nestled right at the base of the Charminar. Since it was Navarathri time,devotees thronged the temple and bhajans and aarati were going on full swing. The temple is marked by the saffron flags
Lights go on in the four minarets during the muslim holy festivals.
Day time , charminar looks different, one cannot but marvel at the vast effort put in the construction of this majestic monument. It is a fine example of a blend of Hindu and Mughal architecture. the walls are made of sand, limestone, ground marble and Jaggery.
a tiny cat face is sculpted atop one of the latticed structures and is said to bring luck to people who look at it. Hope u all see it in my blog and get loads of luck. :-) this was shared with utmost confidence by the Bihari guard atop the charminar.
He also whispered that a cat was sacrificed and buriedbelow one of the four arches,adding that the entry to the higher floors was restricted following the suicide of 5 women.
The inside of the dome.
the 'char' shenoys atop the char-minar :-). the just beginning traffic below
the makkah masjid backdrop, in all its splendour
miya-biwi :-)
latice work window typical mughal style
Same spot- close up
the Artistic insides of the dome
May Allah bestow peace and prosperity on the city sayeth the inscription
By the time i reached up i was quite giddy with the effort of climbing up the confined space of 129 narrow spiral steps. Only one person can use the space to go up/down and at times i did feel claustrophobic.
seen below the beginnings of an Early morning traffic
It was a great experience. The first two days were spent at Ushegaon,tumriguda villages near Adilabad accompanied by Prof. Trilochan shastri of IIM, Bangalore. It was late night when we entered Hyderabad. The lights around Husaain Sagar lake reminded me of Queens necklace / Marine Drive in Mumbai. The road along Husaain sagar lake is also called necklace road with the lights placed in semicircle manner along the lake ,twinkling, at night lending it an aura of a sparkling necklace
We could glimpse the monolithic Buddha statue in silhoutte.We were too tired to get out our cameras and shoot the picture. We just wanted to stretch our cramped, aching legs. Opposite to the lake is the famous 'lumbini' garden. we just looked at it passing by. could not include it in our schedule.
Along the garden are the statues of the famous people of Hyderabad.
We visited the Birla Mandir amidst tight security. Cell phone and cameras were banned inside the Mandir so had to kept back in the vehicle. I spotted a gola stall and in the excitement of eating forgot to get a picture of Birla Mandir, at least from the outside. :-)
We thoroughly enoyed this trip. the four of us were accompanied by our colleagues Kempegouda, Srikanth Sagar and Sateesh Kattimani. and not to forget the driver Dileep.
the Makkah (Mecca) Masjid. This is the famous LaaD bazaar.
We were just in time for the evening prayer. A person from the masjid said our wishes would come true if we prayed in this spot and as usual i forgot to wish!! :-)
Makkah masjid. I felt some good vibes here and spent more time here than at charminar or shopping!!
:-)
