HYDERABAD: There is more than Charminar, Golconda fort, Chowmahalla Palace to Hyderabad. There are places in the city that have not been secluded but were hiding in plain sight. Mayank Tiwari brings to you the perfect quirky locations in the city that are worth a visit.
Sudha Car Museum
Just a few metres away from Nehru Zoological Park, lies an uncanny car museum, which has around 200 vintage cars on display. Some of the cars are truly unique as their construction was inspired by everyday objects.
Exhibitor Sudhakar recently made a car resembling Coronavirus. He had also made a functional car resembling a condom for raising awareness about AIDS. There, cars resemble an eggplant, lipstick, commode, and even a handbag.
Khodhe Gutta
Located 25 kilometres from Hyderabad, Khodhe Gutta is a beautiful viewpoint, wherein an elevated boulder foresees a wide roadway. It is the best getaway for nature enthusiasts and photographers. The view makes for a perfect click at sunset or sunrise.
The site is full of vegetation adorned with an elegantly built temple on gigantic boulders. The Lord Hanuman temple at the top of the hill had made this place a spiritual one too. There’s no public transportation or food stalls available so, it is even a perfect picnic spot.
Bagh-E-Naya Qila
Mughal Persian gardens have always been a charm among people. They continue to visit these magnificent garden from all over the world and never fail to appreciate their beauty. We, in Hyderabad, too have had such gardens. The 15th-century Bagh-E-Naya Qila was unearthed under the Naya Qila Bagh inside the Golconda Fort just five years ago.
The garden, now covered under the thicket of wild reed, offers the relics of the grandeur that there was. It has a visible pavilion that is designed to draw a cooler breeze. As the air enters into the pavilion region, it has to pass through the water fountain nestled nearby and the field of blooms (now wild reed) that surrounded it.
Nizamat Jung Memorial Library
Located at Narayanguda is a building that resembles a lock and the doorway is its ‘key’. There are over 10,000 hardcovers, leather-bound, and cloth-bound books in this library. The collection includes volumes of poetry and the history of everything that happened before the 1950s.
Sir Nizamat Jung Memorial Library is one of the only libraries in the city where it is difficult for anyone to find a paperback book. “Nizamat Jung collected many books for his knowledge and reference,” says Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage convenor Anuradha Reddy.