Top 10 tourist spots to visit in Hyderabad
Hyderabad is one of the developed cities of India where many monumental and historical places, museums, theme parks, entertainment resources, etc. are located. This article provides an insight into ten best tourist spots located in and around Hyderabad. Also, get to know the attractive features of Hyderabad tourism.
Introduction
One of the beautiful city of India, Hyderabad is the capital of newly formed Telangana state. Muslim kings ruled Hyderabad from 1769 to 1948. Hyderabad is the connecting place between North India and South India. Hyderabad is a city of 400 years where people of various religions, cultures, languages, and traditions lived together and enriched the cosmopolitan culture. For tourists, it is a beautiful place where they can visit historical monuments, amazing theme parks, zoopark, temples, monumental museum, etc. Hyderabad is one of the cities that is connected by road, rail and air transport from any place in India. The transport facilities in the city are also very good for the tourists who can visit any place of their interest. The climate of Hyderabad is also very conducive for the tourists to visit the city in any season except in the summer season that is very hot with soaring temperatures.1. Birla Mandir
One of the attractive tourist spots in Hyderabad are Birla Mandir of Lord Venkateswara. This beautiful temple was constructed above 280 feet tall hill using 2000 tonnes of marble stone. It is one of the highest spots in Hyderabad city. The Lord Venkateswara statue in this mandir is 11 feet in height and it is in Oddisi style. The architectural construction of this temple is a mixture of northern and southern styles. The construction of this temple started in the year 1966 and ended in the year 1976. Inside the temple complex, the other Hindu deities Padmavathi Andal, shrines of Shiva, Brahma, Ganesh, Saraswathi, Hanuman, Shakti, Lakshmi, and Saibaba also can be seen. A temple for Buddha also can be seen in this mandir complex where beautiful paintings and carvings of Lord Buddha's important events of his life can be viewed. The Birla Mandir of Hyderabad was constructed by the rich business magnet of India Mr.Birla and hence the temple got this name Birla Mandir. The temple is situated just 4.5 Km away from the city. We can view the beautiful sight of Hussain Sagar, Buddha statue, Assembly, Lumbini park, Lal Bahadur stadium very clearly from above this hill where the temple is situated. The visiting time of this temple is from 7.00 AM till 12.00 PM and from 3.00 PM to 9.00 PM.
Image: Birla Mandir of Hyderabad (Courtesy:-wikipedia.org)2. Charminar
Hyderabad tour is said to be incomplete without visiting Charminar. It was constructed by Mohamed Quli Qutub shah in 1591 in memory of the eradication of Plague disease in Hyderabad. The name Charminar comes to this architectural monument because it has four (Chaar) and minars (pillars) one on each side of its construction. Hyderabad is also popularly known as 'Bhagyanagar' as Quli Qutub Shah Charminar is a square-shaped structure which is 56 meters high and 30 meters wide. It has a Mosque on the top floor and it is believed that there is a tunnel below this construction that leads to the Golconda fort. Lime-mortar and granite were used in the construction of this monument. This construction is a blend of Shahi and Hindu architecture. People believe that Charminar was the first construction of the modern city of Hyderabad. Adjacent to Charminar, we can see Lad Bazar that is famous for traditional lacquer bangles studded with coloured glass and stones. The visiting time for this monument is 9.30 AM to 5.30 PM.
Also Read: Ten fascinating tourist spots in Delhi3. Golconda Fort
Golconda Fort is one of the most outstanding examples for its marvellous and brilliant piece of engineering architectural construction. This Fort was constructed above 400 feet high granite hill. The name Golconda was derived from two Telugu words, Golla (Shepard) and Konda (hill) and thus it is also popularly known as 'Shepard's hill'. Kakatiya kings in the 12th century built Golconda Fort with eight gates. Later Qutub Shahi kings developed the Fort by constructing 87 bastions. If anybody claps near the entrance of this Fort and the sound can be heard for one kilometre away from the Fort. This system of acoustics will astonish every visitor of this Fort. Actually this marvellous system of acoustics was introduced by the engineers of this Fort to alert royal if any enemy attacks the Fort. The Golconda Fort has located just 11 Km. away from Hyderabad city. The visiting time for this monument is 9 AM to 5.30 PM and beyond that, no one will be allowed into Fort.
Image: Golconda Fort of Hyderabad (Courtesy: Author)4. Ramoji Film City
It is one of the exciting and mesmerizing tourists centres of Hyderabad tourism. It was built in a vast area of 2000 acres on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway by Mr.Ramoji Rao of Ramoji group organization. In this Film City, models of various Parks of different countries, famous national and international sculptures, film sets such as London Street, Hollywood sign, Japanese gardens, landscapes, buildings, laboratories, hospitals can be seen. Ramoji Film City has a place in Guinness Book of World Record for having the largest and most beautiful Film Studio in the World. It offers the best facilities for everything related to pre and post-film production. As it is one of the biggest Film City in the world it accommodates 50 film units at a time to complete their film production. We can find a variety of settings like Airports, Railway stations, small towns, villages, religious places Goa house Hawa Mahal, etc. Various famous national and international gardens and fountains, various famous national and international streets shooting floors and small stages can be seen as settings in this film city. There are a lot of avenues for visitors to play and enjoy, drink and eat food, enjoy music and watch shows organized by Ramoji Film City organizers, and watch movie shootings.
The visiting time for this Film City is 9.00 AM to 8 PM. Ramoji Film City organization has its own buses to carry people from various parts of the city to the venue. Visitors can buy the tickets online or near the venue and the tickets are viable for one day. Mobiles and Cameras can be taken inside but carrying other goods is not allowed. Food items, soft drinks, and water bottles are available inside the film city. To visit from one place to another place inside the film city transport facility is available.
Image: Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad (Courtesy:-wikipedia.org)5. Salarjung Museum
The founder of this Museum was Nawab Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, Salar Jung III. It is popularly known for its one-man collections of the World and it was open for public by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in the year 1951. It is one of the three largest museums in India. The present Museum is located on the Southern bank of Musi river in an area around 10 acres. The museum has 38 galleries which are spread on two floors. The Museum has a rich collection of 43000 art objects, 47000 printed books, and 9000 manuscripts. Some of the collections of this museum were found missing as they were stolen by the workers of this museum. The first floor accommodates 20 galleries and the second floor 18 galleries. The galleries are divided into education wing, Chemical, Photo section, a Display section, Reception, Sales centre, etc.
The vast collection of this museum includes objects collected from Persia, Japan, Europe, North America, China, Burma, Nepal, Egypt and various regions of India. Attractive carpets, furniture, sculptures paintings, manuscripts, porcelain objects, clothes, clocks, and many beautiful metal objects can be seen in these vast collections. Some of the interesting collections of this museum include 19th century British Musical Clock, Ivory chairs of Tippu Sultan of Mysore, a marble statue of Veiled Rebecca brought from Italy, a fruit knife of Noorjehan, Arabian and Persian manuscripts, a rare manuscript on Mathematics of Leelawati, rare paintings, a rare encyclopedia of ancient medicine, etc. The timings to visit this museum is from 10 AM to 5 PM. Visitors have to spend at least one day to go through the entire museum.
Also Read: Top 10 tourist spots in Mysore, Karnataka6. Shilparamam
It is a craft village located 14 Km. away from Hyderabad and is spread in an area of 50 acres. Shilparamam is a wonderful place for art lovers. This craft's village provides encouragement to a large number of artisans from all over India to exhibit their arts. In this craft's village, we can find Craft's museum, Art Gallery, Cultural museum, Multi-purpose Auditorium, Research and Study centre to engage various arts. Tourists can have a chance to buy fine varieties of traditional hand made jewellery, handwoven saris, shawls, dresses, bedsheets, handcrafted wooden and metal wares, etc. Throughout the various festivals also will be celebrated for the entertainment of visitors. It also organizes an annual festival of arts and crafts in the first two weeks of March. The visiting time for this place is 10.30 AM to 8.30 PM.7. Nehru Zoological Park
It is one of the topmost sightseeing a spot of Hyderabad. It is located at 16 Km. away from Hyderabad city. This museum was built nearby 200 years Mir Alam Tank and is spread over 380 acres. This Zoo is a home for 1500 species of animals that include birds, reptiles and mammals. The speciality of this Zoo is the animals are kept in open enclosures. These open enclosures are created by Zoo authorities because they resemble natural habitats. Visitors get excited by seeing Lion Safari, Bear Safari, Bison Safari, Butterfly Park, Aquarium, Jurrasic park, etc. In this park, there is a facility for breeding exotic species. Visiting time from 8 AM to 5 PM on all days of the week except on Monday.8. Makkah Masjid, Hyderabad
It is one of the oldest and largest mosques in India. It is located very close to the Charminar of the old city of Hyderabad. Mohamed Quli Qutub shah built this mosque in the sixteenth century. One of the interesting things related to the construction of this mosque is the bricks used in its construction are brought from Makkah. Another religious belief of this mosque is, Prophet Mohamed's hair was kept under this construction. The visiting time for this place is from 4.00 AM to 9.30 PM.9. Botanical Garden
It is located in Madhapur near Hi-Tech city in an area of 120 acres. This beautiful garden is maintained by the Forestry Department of Telangana. It has 19 sectors in this garden with a rich collection of flora. This rich collection of plants includes ornamental plants, palm trees, bamboo trees, fruit, and timber trees, medicinal and aquatic plants. The visiting time for this place is 5.30 AM to 6 PM.10. Chilkur Balaji Temple
It is located in a small village Chilkur, 30 Km. away from Hyderabad city. This temple is very famous in Hyderabad as it is an ancient 500 years old temple. This temple is also popularly known as Visa Balaji Temple. This temple is dedicated to Lord Venkateswara, Sri Devi, and Bhoo Devi. Lakhs of people visit this temple every month. The visiting time for this temple is 5 AM to 8 PM.
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A very good article from the author and he has given the best places to visit in Hyderabad. I like to add a few which are very good and worth seeing.
1. Warangal Temple: This is about 40 Kms from the Mahatma Gandhi Bus stand of Hyderabad and it is towards Karimnagar city. It will take about an hour to reach this place in your own vehicle or a cab. The Saraswathi temple here is very famous and is well maintained by Kanchi Kamkoti Peetham of Kanchi. There is a temple of Sani also in this place. There is a very old Eswar temple worth seeing.
2. Sanghi Temples: These temples are also very famous and we see them in many Telugu movies. It is about 25 km from LB Nagar of Hyderabad. They are on a small hill and we can go in our own vehicles or cabs. There are many city buses to this place and the temples are very well maintained. It is worth visiting this place.