HYDERABAD: Hyderabad’s history and heritage enthusiasts can now get information about more than 250 heritage sites in the city through a mobile app that is most likely going to go live early next year.
Madhu Vottery, a conservation architect, has translated a decade of her research work on the heritage pockets of city into an Android app that will be released soon. “The main idea is to keep pace with the fast-developing community that is more connected through a mobile application than through books. This is also one way of getting the younger generation interested in heritage,” says Madhu who began working on Hyderabad’s heritage in 2004 when she moved to the city from Lucknow.
She was a student then and her work has been converted into two books over the years. The map-based application has several unique features and caters to all -- laymen, tourists, students and also those who would like to research on the heritage sites and structures.
How it works
It may seem like any other map-based application but this heritage app gives a unique search experience. Users can type the name of any of the heritage sites in the city and reach the location. If they are unsure of the name, they can choose from a list of heritage typologies in the app. “Though the app covers more than 250 heritage sites in the city, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Hyderabad has more than 40 different heritage typologies which include dargahs, mosques, forts, lakes, step wells and bastions.
So, if someone is looking for a dargah but cannot remember the name, he or she can type dargah and all of them will pop up and they can choose the one they are looking for,” she added.Madhu has been researching on the city’s heritage for long but some of the sites no longer exist. Information about a few such places are also available on the app for people to view.