Travel Destinations » Hyderabad Tourism

City of great splendor and growth unfolds before our eyes as we walk out of Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi Airport in Begumpet. The growth witnessed by what used to be the capital of the nizam’s dominions and is now the leading city of Andhra Pradesh has been phenomenal, comments a co-passenger. “What used to feel like a middle-sized city has changed into a burgeoning metropolis.”

When we check into our hotel Green Park near the airport, R. Rahimtoola, a business executive who is frequently in Hyderabad says, “Hyderabad is a good place for achievers. It has such a positive attitude.”

After a lapse of 12 years, what hits us at eye-level as we drive into town is the continuous stream of shops, showrooms, eateries and hotel courtyards. Neon signs and boards flash — Zedds Passion, Color Plus, Peter England, Louis Philippe et al. We are in what is now called the new city and as if to assure us, palms, shady groves and boulders appear few and far between. (The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation administers the old town, the new city and the former cantonment town of Secunderabad.) It is when we get into Hyderabad’s arteries that we see the Indo Saracenic buildings with airy cupolas, ending in golden finials and domed minarets, strung with balconies, like a woman’s arms bedecked with gajras (flower garlands).

One of the oldest cities in the country, Hyderabad is unique in many ways. We find it amazingly accommodative and multicultural. The first sign of its cosmopolitan texture is its airport’s name written in no less than four languages —English, Devanagari, Urdu and Telugu. (Lately, it has earned some notoriety for its communal and sectarian clashes.) In fact, according to legend, Sultan Muhammed Quli Qutb of Golconda who founded the new capital on the lush banks south of the Musi river in 1591, had named it Bhagyanagar (City of Fortune) after his beloved Bhagmati, whom he met there. Later, when she was awarded the title of Hyder Mahal, he changed the city’s name to Hyderabad.

Hyderabad’s Dakhni culture embraces Hindu-Muslim, northern-southern and Persian, Turkoman and Arabic traditions. Over the centuries this fusion has found rich expression in its arts, architecture, learning and gracious living. Its conviviality comes up in little gestures.

“To me an adaab speaks much more than a hi or hello,” says Ms Laxmi Raj, an old-time resident who is a descendant from one of the Rayast families from old UP who settled down in the nizams capital.

What is equally remarkable is that Hyderabad has moved with the times in spite of its laid-back culture. The process of modernisation and change started by the sixth nizam, Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, was continued by his son, the last nizam, Mir Usman Ali Khan. He introduced several administrative and revenue reforms and established the prestigious Usmania University. We are much impressed by the complex and the faculties as we drive towards its imposing Arts College. The openings and chandeliers which fill its plastered dome with light are symbolic of the knowledge and skills the institution spreads.

In such an ambience, the last nizam was an enigma. Acknowledgedly the richest man in the world, he moved around in old shoes and worn pyjamas. His treasury was stashed with sacks full of large black pearls and bullion, says retainer Abdul Sattar whom we met at Falaknuma. Palace (special permission needed). He points to the dining table where a hundred guests ate from a service of pure gold. The man who used the 280-carat Jacobean diamond as a paper weight was an astute stateman who kept his reserve with dignitaries. And yet he prayed alongside other followers in a crowded mosque and lived simply.

Today, Hyderabad combines its visual appeal and broad outlook with a rare vibrancy. The capital of the largest state in southern India is hurtling into the next millenium.