Qtub Shahi Tombs

Dosa at Cafe Nandini

This weekend was due to be a hectic one in Hyderabad. Saturday was the end of the Ganesha festival, with the idols being immersed in their final resting places, most notably Hussain Sagar Lake, where thousands of people were expected to gather. On Sunday there was due to be a planned demonstration in support of  a separate Telangana state - they were expecting trouble in the old part of the city and around Necklace Road.  Given all this I decided the best thing to do was play it safe, and go for breakfast in Madhapur. I found this great place called Cafe Nandini, where you could get a freshly made dosa and a coffee for 50 rupees! It was a real locals place, and the food was great - you could see it being made at the back. I stopped and bought some grocery supplies & headed back.

Idol on it's way for immersion

In the afternoon I went to the Inorbit Mall, close to work, and wondered around the shops - you could easily be in the US - so many shops are the same. I quickly got bored of the mall and decided to go back to Durgam lake to see if the large idol was being immersed. Turns out this wasn't going to happen until 6pm - another 3 hours. The lake was really horrible & smelly - can't see it every being clean even though there is a campaign underway. One my way back up to get an auto near the mall,  a group passed me covered on purple & yellow paint - dancing to a drum beat on their way to immerse their idol which was in the back of a truck.



On Sunday Venkata picked me up in his car and we headed to the Salar Jung Museum. It houses a large collection of ancient Indian paintings and artifacts from the Hyderabad area. The Salar Jung dynasty came from Iran and settled in this area. They became very rich on the precious gems found in and around Hyderabad, including the kohinoor diamond. We wondered around the museum for about 3 hours before was agreed we'd seen enough. Our next stop was the Qutb Shahi Tombs. This is the site of the tombs containing the founding rulers of Hyderabad. There are 7 tombs, and each are slightly different in size and design, but all based on the same Persian, Hindu design.  The day was grey and overcast but made for a great light for photographing them. We had a guide who showed us around, then got angry when Venkata gave him a 100 rupee tip - he wanted 350!

Qutb Shahi Tombs