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After breakfast proceed
for the full day sightseeing tour of Hyderabad, covering
the following sites :- |
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Charminar
: The Charminar is as
much the signature of Hyderabad as the Taj Mahal is of
Agra or the Eiffel Tower is of Paris. It is a magnificent
square edifice of granite, built upon four grand arches
facing North, South, East and West. These arches support
two floors of rooms and gallery of archways. At each
corner of the square structure is a minaret rising to a
height of 24 meters, making the building nearly 54 meters
tall. It is these four (char) minarets (minar) that give
the building, its name Charminar. Each minar stands on a
lotus-leaf base, a special recurrent motif in Qutub Shahi
buildings. |
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Mecca Masjid
:
A
hundred yards southwest of the Charminar is the Mecca
Masjid, so named because the bricks were brought from
Mecca to build the central arch. The Qutb Shahis never
finished the building of the mosque, which was completed
by Aurangzeb in 1694. Mecca Masjid is poetry in stone,
with a hall measuring 67m and soaring to a height of 54m.
Fifteen graceful arches - five to each of the three sides,
support the roof. Towards the southern end of the mosque
lie the marble graves of Nizam Ali Khan and the families
of Asaf Jahi dynasty.
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Salar Jung Museum :
This museum houses one of the biggest one-man collections
of antiques of the world by Mir Yousuf Ali Khan Salar Jung
III. The objets d'art include Persian carpets, Moghal
miniatures, Chinese porcelain, Japanese lacquerware,
famous sculptures including the Veiled Rebecca and
Marguerite and Mephistopheles, a superb collection of
jade, daggers belonging to Queen Noor Jahan and the
Emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb's sword and
many other fabulous items. |
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Hussain
Sagar Lake : Excavated in
1562 A.D. by Hussain Shah Wali during the time of Ibrahim
Quli Qutb Shah, the promenade by the lake is a busy
thoroughfare today.
One of the World's tallest monolithic statues of Buddha
stands on the 'Rock of Gibraltar' , in the middle of the
lake. |
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Birla Mandir : Overlooking
the Tank Bund, the Birla Mandir presents an arresting
sight when illuminated in the evening. This magnificent
structure built entirely out of marble from Rajasthan,
stands atop the Kala Pahad, the twin hillock of the Naubat
Pahad. Built by Birla Foundation over a span of ten years,
the main temple is dedicated to Lord Venkatehwara.
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It combines the
architectural styles of the Southern and Northern Indian
temples. The intricately carved gopurams (tower) at the
base are in typical South Indian style, while the smooth
sikhara (dome) at the top is in the North Indian
Rajasthani style. The temple has beautiful marble carvings
and some of them illustrating verses from the Ramayana.
The inner shrine of the temple is a replica of the
Venkateswara temple at Tirupati. |
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