Hyderabad Trip: Makkah Masjid

Date: 18th Oct 2015

Visitors: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Muthusamy and Vijayalakshmi

Fee: Nill, How ever you need to pay Rs10 to leave your baggage in cloak room.

Makkah Masjid Timings: 4 AM to 9:30 PM


Makkah Masjid/Mecca Masjid is one of the oldest mosque in Hyderabad. Build by Muhammad quli qutb shah with the soil brought from Mecca and thus the name. Though the foundation was laid by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah the mosque was completed by Aurangzeb after he captured Hyderabad. Located right next to Charminar and is another important attraction in Hyderabad. Women need to wear a dupatta to enter the Masjid and skin fit or T-shirts or shorts are not allowed. The original structure had only the main hall and the rectangular building was later built by Asaf Jahi rulers. A room in the courtyard of the Mecca Masjid is believed to house a hair of Prophet Mohammed. There was a board saying outsiders not allowed and we did not know what it means and since it was prayer time we did not go inside the main hall.

Also See: Charminar

Grand entrance to the Masjid.

Mosque doors.

Plenty of pigeons have taken shelter in the Mosque.

Water cistern with a small fountain.

Front view of the Masjid.

Minaret on one end of the main hall.

Graves of Asaf Jahi rulers.

The grave of main ruler.

Four Minarets at one end of the tomb. There are four more at the other end of the tomb.

There are stone benches near the cistern and its believed that who ever sits on that returns to sit on it again. My parents and Harsh were sitting on that so don't know when we will be going back again :)

Hyderabad Trip: Golconda Fort (21 pics)

Date: 21st Oct 2015

Visitors: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Muthusamy and Vijayalakshmi

Timings: All day 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM. Light show 7PM to 8PM on all days except Monday.

Fees: Adults 5, Non Indians 100, Camera 25.

Golconda fort was originally built by Kakatiya dynasty but taken over and served as the capital of Qutb Shah dynasty. The fort is protected as archaeological tressure under the Archeological survey of India. The famous Koh-i-noor diamond was found in the mines of Golconda. Golconda was the city for diamond trade during those times. Other famous diamonds found here are the Hope diamond, Daria-i-Noor and Nassak diamond. The Golconda fort spread across 11Km area. There are guides from the tourist department to help you explore the fort. They charge around 700Rs. There will also be some individuals offering to guide you at around 500Rs. IMO that's not needed. You can get a book on the fort at the entrance for 20Rs and explore yourself. There is a marble stone with markings on the parts of the fort to see. Nagina bagh, Akkanna madanna, Prison, ibrahim mosque, Jagadamba temple, Darbar hall etc..We covered most of them.

Some pics and info of the fort.

The entrance to the Golconda fort.

The doors of the fort with iron spikes. This is to prevent the enemy elephants from breaking the door open.

Clapping Portico. Used to signal the people at baradari in case of any attack.

Nagina bagh meaning jewel among the gardens.

View of the city from the mid point of the fort.

Fort walls.

View of Baradari while climbing up the fort.

View of Qutb Shah tombs from the fort.

Father son on the top. Its a easy climb for us but my mom cannot walk up so she sat near the clapping point. Shilpi and Harsh climbed half way and went back.

Steps leading to the Baradari.

View of some part of the fort from top.

A mosque in the fort.

Jagadamba Temple on top.

Aslah Khana used to store the fire arms.

Mortuary bath. The dead body of the royal personalities are bathed here before buried at Qutb shah tombs.

Seeing the fort under lights might have been a spectacular but we had other plans so skipped it. Surely a top attraction in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad Trip: Ramoji Film City (27 Pics)

Date: 19th Oct 2015

Visitors: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Muthusamy and Vijayalakshmi

Timings: 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM but when we went there was some carnival march and we stayed till 6:30.

Fee: General: Adults 900, Kids 800.

Ramoji film city is the worlds largest integrated film city. It holds the Guinness record for the same. The film city built by Ramoji Rao was open in 1996. The film city is spread over 1666 acres. There is an amusement park inside the complex with some thrilling rides. The general package includes admission to bus tour of the studio, movie magic, 6 dry rides in amusement park, live dance and stunt performances, kids park and bird park. The actual studio is present 9Km from the main entrance. There are frequent buses that ply the visitors in and out. One of the top attraction in Hyderabad for the kids. At the end of 5 days Harsh only remembers Ramoji film city and the Hyderabad Zoo.

Below are some pics from the visit. Its a bit long post with 27 pics.

Main entrance to the film city. We reached early to beat the crowd.

Kids train ride.

Some crazy ride in which Shilpi had to go alone. No way i am going to do all these.

Loved this show. Its Light camera action show. Lignt emitting boards and cloths are used by the performers in the background to create the scene.

Live making of a movie. A girl from the audience acted and the sound and other special effects added live during the show.

Stunt performance in filmi duniya section.

Bus tour of the studio.

Some of the kids attractions. Harsh enjoyed jumping here and spent a lot of time.

Stunt show with bursting crackers and spraying water on the audience in first few rows.

Carnival parade.

A must visit place in Hyderabad for the kids. All the shows happen at regular intervals and no need to run like crazy from one show to another. We decided not to rush to anything and skip something if needed but there was enough time and we covered all.