Hyderabad – City of Nizams & Pearls
Hyderabad is the capital of southern India’s Telangana state. Its historic sites include Golconda Fort, a former diamond-trading center that was once the Qutb Shahi dynastic capital. The Charminar, a 16th-century mosque whose 4 arches support towering minarets, is an old city landmark near the long-standing Laad Bazaar. Now this city has become a major center for the technology industry.
The city of Hyderabad is known for Nizams and pearls. There were 7 Nizams who ruled Hyderabad from 18-20th Century. Hyderabad was the largest and most prosperous among all the princely states. The famous mines of Golconda were the major source of wealth for the Nizams, with the Kingdom of Hyderabad being the only supplier of diamonds for the global market in the 18th century.
The last Nizam of Hyderabad state, Mir Osman Ali Khan crowned in 1911, had been the richest man in the world in his time. The Nizams developed the railway, introduced electricity, and developed roads, airways, irrigation and reservoirs; in fact, all major public buildings in Hyderabad City were built during his reign during the period of British rule in India. He pushed education, science, and establishment of Osmania University. Since the Nizams had their origin in Persia (now its Iran) Hyderabad’s food and culture had an influence of Persia. The Hyderabad city was the first city in Southern India to be electrified.
Day 1: It was time for a short break before we both get busy with another exam and crazy work schedule. The visit to Hyderabad had been cancelled earlier pre-covid time, when Sur fell ill just a night before our travel. So this visit had been pending and when we only could spare a few days for a vacation, my first thought was to visit Hyderabad. Like most of them, Sur also had the same question – What is there in Hyderabad? Most of them cannot think beyond biryani and pearls which Sur anyway is not interested. So finally I had to dig up a little research and tell him there is lot more than Biryani and Pearls. Then we finalized the itinerary and asked our travel partner, Sailani Tours to book Sitara Hotel in Ramoji Film City and Mr. Inayath (+91 9845085649) took care of the booking part of it and he also gave some inputs to plan the itinerary. Since it was a very short trip of 2 nights we thought we will stay at the same place even though Inayath recommended to stay in a city limit while doing city tour and stay in Sitara when we needed to do a Ramoji Film city Tour. However we didn’t want to move since the trip was too short. So we booked for 2 nights in Sitara. As we were planning the itinerary we realized we needed an extra day so we asked Inayath to extend another night at Sitara.
We were planning to start early morning but we were up late night the previous day due to work, so we couldn’t open our eyes in the morning. So we decided to sleep for few more hours and started our trip only in the early afternoon. It was almost 9 hours of drive and the roads were pretty good. We saved some time as we didn’t stop for lunch as were not hungry. Only in the evening, we needed to stretch our legs for a bit so we decided to take a break as it was tea time and we stopped in Sri Priya Darshini Family Restaurant, which was in NH 44, bypass, Bangalore – Hyderabad Highway. We ordered for some onion pakoras and tea. Sur got some energy drink, they took almost half an hour to get the snacks and when it came it was over fried almost at the verge of semi burnt stage. We informed the waiter, he obliged to replace but we didn’t have another half an hour to wait as we didn’t want reach the destination late night, so had the quick tea which was drinkable. Thankfully the waiter didn’t charge for the pakoras, paid the bill and started our journey back.
It was almost 9.30 PM that we reached the hotel Sitara after a beautiful drive in Nehru outer ring road. We checked in and went to the room, we had heard quite of lot about this hotel as it’s in Ramoji Film city. But it kind of didn’t meet our expectations. First of all rooms were not well maintained, you could see dirty sockets in the room and corridors. Also we were given the room, where there was an adjoint room and there was no sound proofing done to the room. We could hear literally every conversation the guests were having in the next room. They had a kid as well and so we couldn’t sleep due to the constant noises. But the service at the hotel and the food were good. Then we also found that Friday is a holiday in Hyderabad where all the monuments are closed so we had to change our itinerary to do the visit of Ramoji Film city on Friday.
We were slightly hungry, so we decided to order a chicken sandwich and Sur ordered a paneer pakora and fresh orange and pineapple juice. I asked the in Room Dining team not to toast the sandwich bread and make the sandwich in a plain bread. When I got the sandwich, Sur started laughing as I had toasted chicken sandwich and along with it came 2 plain sandwich breads and I was not sure what to do with it. We just laughed. We needed to plan for the next day tour. We found a Full Day Sightseeing Tour of Hyderabad through Trip Advisor, we booked it and then we dozed off.
Day 2: We had to wake up early, had a quick breakfast and then we had a car picking us up from the hotel for the tour. The driver (Mr. Sashi – +91 9701988808) picked us up and then we started our city tour. On the way, we picked up our guide for the private city tour (Mr. Srinu Arvapalli – +91 9347239648/srinu_tourism@rediffmail.com).
First we visited the Golconda Fort. This was the place for Diamond mining until diamonds in Africa were discovered. This fort has 360 steps and it is another wonder that our country has. Lot of credit goes to the last Nizam – Mir Osman Ali Khan (7th Nizam) who inspite of being a Muslim was secular and every person in the state irrespective of religion loved him. The Nizam was the highest-ranking prince in India, and was one of only five princes entitled to a 21-gun salute, held the unique title of “Nizam”, and titled “His Exalted Highness”. When he died, his funeral procession was the biggest non-religious, non-political meeting of people in the history of India till that date and it was almost 1 million people came to pay their respects and it was a day of mourning. Respect and love to the Nizams who built this city and contributed for various welfare activities and worked for the upliftment of the people.
This fort also has Jagadamba temple which is very close to the oldest mosque which was used by the Nizams for prayer. Kancharla Gopanna, popularly known as Bhakta Ramadasu or Bhadrachala Ramadasu, was a 16th-century devotee of the Hindu god Rama, a saint-poet and a composer of Carnatic music and he was imprisoned for almost 12 years in the fort and later was released.
Then we headed to the The Qutub Shahi Tombs which is located in the Ibrahim Bagh, close to the famous Golconda Fort. They contain the tombs and mosques built by the various kings of the Qutub Shahi dynasty, some of them being renovated now. These are beautiful monuments which is a must visit.
Then it was time for a visit to Charminar, a city monument designed in the Qutub Shahi architectural style that’s known as one of the most famous sights in India. The Charminar constructed in 1591has become known globally as a symbol of Hyderabad and is listed among the most recognised structures in India. It has also been officially incorporated as the Emblem of Telangana for the state of Telangana.
Then we headed to taste the Iranian Chai at Nimrah Café & Bakery. We enjoyed the chai and the cookies which were different and were delicious. We picked up few assorted cookies and headed back to the car. There is Laad Bazaar or Choodi Bazaar is a very old market popular for bangles. It is located on one of the four main roads that branch out from the historic Charminar. Laad meaning lacquer is used to make bangles, on which artificial diamonds are studded. In this 1-kilometre (0.62 mi)-long shopping strip, most of the shops sell bangles, saris, wedding related items, and imitation jewelleries.
Our next stop was to Chowmahalla Palace (means 4 palaces) which is usually the ceremonial palace of the Nizams like coronation etc. Looking at the majestic palace gives an idea about the lifestyle of Nizams and their luxurious life.
Hyderabad is known for Biryanis and we were recommended the following places for an authentic biryani. Paradise Restaurant, Shadab Restaurant, Bahar café, Barwachi Biryani and Nayab Restaurant. Since we were not hungry during lunch or dinner hours we missed to taste from these places.
Then we headed to Ambica Pearls and Jewellers, Lower Tankbund Road for a pearl set before we got dropped back to the hotel. Since we were not hungry, we just ordered the sandwiches, had a quick bite and slept.
Day 3: We had a good rest and delicious breakfast and started our work. We had booked Heritage Walk with HiTea at Falaknuma Palace from Trip Advisor in the afternoon. By afternoon Mr. Shashi had picked us up from the hotel and we left for Falaknuma Palace. Perched 2,000 feet above the city of Hyderabad is the Taj Falaknuma Palace which is a jewel amongst the clouds. Built in 1894, it is the former palace of the Nizam and richest man in the world at one time. Overlooking the twinkling City of Pearls, this enchanting palace hotel in Hyderabad exudes romance and grandeur that take one back to when the Nizam ruled Hyderabad. As you enter the palace, its all about Royalty and the historian who seems to have worked with one of the Nizams’s family, had explained about the history of the palace. We saw the place where Nizam used as an office, where you had the painting of the last Nizam. The speciality of this painting was when you look at the painting in any direction, you feel like the Nizam is looking at you. Then there is Durbar Hall where there are Belgium chandeliers which if you look at the mirror, you feel there is infinite number of chandeliers. Then we headed to the Jade Room which was a tea place for Nizams. It houses the massive 101-seater dining hall bedecked with Belgian chandeliers which is the longest dining table in the world. It has a paining of the menus from which the Nizam orders it. Then there is indoor games place, one of 2 biggest billiards table, hookah bar and beautiful gardens. It was a Royal splendour and elegance. Then we went to Celeste for high tea. Taj properties always have earned that respect for their excellent hospitality and this was the best experience and you were treated like royalty. Good that we didn’t have lunch as we were warned by our city guide the previous day, since there was lot of food. The staffs here treat you like royalty. We were served with the fresh juice and there were few varieties of mini sandwiches, one of them was pan flavoured, another had salmon and another chicken. There were tarts, muffins, macarons, mousse and cakes. Sur had the similar one with Vegetarian items. We were also served vada pav, chilli pakora, cheese balls and tava fish fry and Sur had veg cutlets. It was too much food, so we just tasted few and enjoyed the royal high tea experience. Then we realized we needed to enjoy this palace experience at least for a night so we asked Inayath to book for a night and so our stay got extended for another night. Finally we ended the high tea with a nice masala tea and Sur settled for lime soda.
Then we headed to Charminar to search for the perfume place as our city guide had recommended. There is a place called Hyderabad Perfumers in Pathergatti Road in Mir Chowk close to Charminar, we had a walk a kilometre from Charminar by foot as its way too crowded so driver said, its better to walk by foot. So we found the place picked up few attars from different scents and returned back.
Finally how can I forget the delicious and spicy Andhra pickles and Kandi Podi (gun powder – dry roasted lentils with other spices to give a nice aromatic fragrance and spiciness to eat with idly and dosa) and Pappu Podi (lentils powder – this powder is mixed with ghee and eaten with Idli or rice as well), so the guide recommended to go to Swagruha stores near LB Nagar and I picked up Gongura pickle (Sorrell Leaves), Tomato pickle, Red Chilli pickle, Kandi Podi and Pappu Podi. I was so happy to get the authentic pickles and powder and we got dropped at the hotel. We hit the bed and dozed off.
Day 4: We woke up after a good sleep, went for a quick breakfast and started our Ramoji Studio Tour. Ramoji Film City is an integrated film studio complex and spread over 1,666 acres. it is the largest integrated film city in the world and as such has been certified by the Guinness World Records as the largest studio complex in the world. It was built by Telugu film producer Ramoji Rao in 1996. It is also a popular tourism and recreation centre, containing natural and artificial attractions including an amusement park. Here there are film sets, theme parks, amusement rides, etc The film city also has 6 hotels inside it, 47 sound stages and permanent sets ranging from railway stations to temples for film shoots. This film city also has the set used for the films Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, all the statues and props used in the films can be seen here.
We had booked the star experience ticket which makes you to skip the queue for the rides and you travel in an AC car. We got picked up at 9.30 AM from the hotel lobby and got dropped near the ticket counter to pick up our tickets, star experience stickers, chocolate box, water bottle and coupons for the whole day tour. 9.45 AM is the studio opens with a beautiful welcome dance and then the team welcomes you a step further with another western dance to welcome you. Then we had a small act near cow boy set and we were given around 30 minutes to do rides. Since we were not into rides, we waited near the guide Mr. Kranthi for the day before we boarded the bus to the next destination. The guide was very helpful. Then we went to the butterfly park and birds park. First we enjoyed the butterfly park and then headed to birds park. It was so beautiful to see various birds from Crowned Cane, Waffled Crane, Hadada Ibis, Shoe bill, Ostrich, Horn Bill, Carolina Duck, Australian Shelduck, Mandarin Duck, White Mandarin Duck, Black Swan, Black Necked Swan, Whooper Swan, Trumpetor Swan, Lorikeets from Yellow Bibbed Lory, Red collared Lory, Green Naped Lory, Swainson Lory, Blue Crowned Pigeon, Eclectus Parrot, Lady Amherst Pheasant, Golden Phesant, Shamrock Macaw, Scarlet Macaw, Blue Gold Macaw, Green Winged Macaw, Blue throated Macaw, Military Macaw, Toco Toucan, Keel Billed Toucan, Channel Billed Toucan, Black Necked Aracari, Lady Ross’s Turaco, White Cheeked Turaco, Galah Cockatoo, Black Palm Cockatoo, Moluccan Cockatoo, Blue headed Pionus, Rubino Rosella, Blue Fronted Amazon, Barrabanda Parrot, Sun Parakeet, Branze Winged Parrot, Lilac Crowned Amazon and there were many more. Then we went to the cave, there were some historical artifacts of Gods were there. Then we had a shooting spot tour and Mr. Rao had such an amazing commentary as he took us through different spots used for shooting like airport, hospital, railway station, prison, European street, the spots where various movies were shot etc. It was hilarious and fun as the guide had excellent sense of humor to make us smile. Also we got stopped near Golden Temple, Jaipur location sets etc. It was pretty interesting. Then we were taken to Bahubali Movie set. Apparently the director Mr. Rajamouli stayed in Ramoji for 600 days and the set is kept intact for the viewers. It was amazing to watch. Sur was getting bored since he doesn’t watch much of regional movies even though I was trying to explain as much as I can. Then we headed to Super Star Restaurant for a buffet and the food was really good. We always know Andhra Food/Telangana food it can’t go wrong as they are spicy which we both love. After the lunch we were supposed to have some shows but unfortunately I had a work call and had to return back to the hotel. So we informed the guide and we left. This is a perfect place for Children and also who enjoys the movies and loves to take selfies as you have enough beautiful spots for the same. So we returned back to the hotel, got back to work. We ordered some masala papads, it was good but was a little salty for our palate. Then we dozed off.
Day 5: We woke up a little late as we were free of work calls today, had a quick breakfast and were ready to check out. As we tried to open the door, some family entered the room with their key cards. Thankfully we were getting out but this was completely unacceptable as the team should not have given to other guests the room key card when the guests have not checked in. We had immediately escalated saying , it would have been worst, if a guest was in the shower or changing clothes. We informed the reception to be more careful next time and they apologized. We checked out, thanked for their hospitality and drove to Taj Falaknuma. After an hour drive we reached Taj. We parked the vehicle and from that gate we were taken in a horse carriage till the reception. That was a beautiful experience. As we entered, the staff took the picture and then there was another guard who accompanied us to the reception. It was how the Nizam’s were welcomed so they hotel tries to give a similar experience. As we climbed the stairs to the reception, there was a shower of rose petals. Then we entered the reception, they had everything ready and they just asked us to sign and we were also informed they had given us a free upgrade to Royal Suite Room. Then the staff explained the activities and then we reached the room. We were allotted Shah Jahan Suite and it was beautiful. We were prepared to get ourselves pampered for the day. Sur ordered for Dahi Kebab which was delicious. So we immediately booked their signature spa – Nawab-e-Khas (Regal Splendour) which is 2.5 hours session of steam, scrub, massage with a detox drink in between and after some fresh cut fruits and juice. It was good. By the time we finished we missed the palace tour which starts at 5 PM. Then we just roamed around the property enjoying the peacocks, there were almost 100 of them. Then we headed to the restaurant for the dinner. This time they recommended for a open door seating and we were happy to be seated there. Finally I wanted to taste the biryani which I missed it, so I ordered for the Hyderabadi Lamb Biryani and Sur ordered Chilli Garlic Naan with kofta curry. It was super delicious, ordered the tiramisu and I couldn’t have it as it was too sweet for my palate and local Rasmalai dish recommended by the staff which we both enjoyed. Then we rested in the royal suite, we were too tempted to extend then we realized we had work and we needed to be in Bangalore on Monday. So we just dozed off.
Day 6: Woke up to the noise of the birds and peacocks and then headed for the breakfast. I recommended Sur to try the Pesarattu (Dosa with Green Gram batter), even though I have tasted enough number of times while living in Andhra, here it was so thin and delicious and with 4 different chutneys (coconut, pineapple, tomato and garlic) it made all the more interesting. I wanted to try a local dish which I have not tried so the staff recommended paya and kheema paratha, even though it was good I regretted it because I am not a paratha fan so instead would have loved the dosa/idli better. As we entered the room we saw the staff brought a cake to say good bye but unfortunately we couldn’t even taste as we just came out from breakfast and we could have carried it for our journey but we didn’t have anything to carry. I did feel sorry that we couldn’t taste the chocolate cake but we completely appreciate the love and effort that went into and the gesture. While we checked out we also got a album stand with our photo with the horse carriage which they had taken the precious day. That was a sweet surprise. We just wished we had another night to spend, however if you are in Hyderabad please make sure to experience this Royal experience ad its worth every penny. We would recommend, at least minimum 2-3 nights to experience such beautiful experience.
With such beautiful experience we started our long journey back, since we didn’t stop for lunch, we could reach within 7.30 hours and during the last leg, we just stopped for a quick tea break in Apoorva Multi Cuisine Restaurant and it was good. Then we headed back home and finally we reached home sweet home after a long drive.
First credit is to our travel partner Mr. Inayath and the Sailani team for helping us with the trip
Then to the city tour guide Mr. Srinu, he was very helpful and would recommend for others. I have shared already his contact details.
Then Mr. Sashi, the driver who took us around and patiently been taking us to places wherever we needed to.
Sitara Team for their hospitality and support
Thanks to Trip Advisor through whom we booked the full day city tour and then hi tea at Taj. Everything was excellent.
Last but not the least to the Taj Falaknuma team, each time we stay in Taj, the respect and love for this group increases multifold. It was excellent in every sense, from the security, reception, F&B staff to each and everyone working there. Big kudos and thank you for giving us such a beautiful experience.
Whether its Telangana/Andhra, for me it’s always Andhra as I cannot differentiate these two, visiting this state always brings back old memories and it still is a 2nd home for me. I would always cherish the warmth and love of the people from this state always.
Love you and Keep smiling, Until we meet next time…………..