HYDERABAD: All that we know about the heritage of Hyderabad is restricted to certain areas -- Old City, Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The culture, history and heritage of the now fast-growing Cyberabad or Financial District are barely known or documented. At least not till now. To bridge that gap, former UoH professor Aloka Parasher Sen has conducted a study placing on record the historical and cultural values of this part of the city. The study also focuses on the cultural loss caused due to the current transformation.
The study, rather a survey, used revenue maps to document highly-deteriorated 16th century historical and religious monuments, natural heritage structures like megaliths and also collected oral histories. It gives an inkling into the rich heritage and social configuration of areas like Gachibowli, Gopanpally, Hafizpet, Khajaguda, Kothaguda, Lingampally, Masjid Banda, Nallagandla, Nanakaramguda, Pantancheru, Raidurgam/Dargah and Tellapur.
For instance, Nanakramguda, a flourishing locality in middle of the Financial District, was once an agricultural village belonging to Manikonda Zamindari. “Fifty per cent of its population here were outsiders, likely Lodha Khatris, who migrated during the period of Nizams to work as security guards. They still practice the customs and traditions that they used to in Uttar Pradesh, from where they originally came,” says the study.
A similar study done by Sen in Tellapur reveals the place was an agricultural settlement, with just about 100 households, during the Nizam period. “It was predominantly a Hindu multi-caste village substantially inhabited by artisanal and service caste households belonging to SC and OBC castes,” it says. The population boomed here after the digging of Gandipeta Cheruvu, the study notes. The study also found that Tellapur was originally a forest developed by a Golkonda Nawab for his hunting expeditions. The place also has some of the oldest temples, mostly of local deities, that are about 300 years old.
Did you know?
What is now called the Hi-tech City region was, in medieval times, a major destination for the shrine of Hussaini Shah Wali, popularly known as the Dargah that came up around the village of Raidurgam. The University of Hyderabad Campus, in near Gachibowli,was home to one of the first Megalithic people, going back to the early centuries BCE