Travel & Vacation: Golconda Fort – Hyderabad, India (Part 2)
At the top of Fort Golconda looking down on the front of the fort and the old city of Hyderabad
The highest point on Fort Golconda is approximately 394 feet and the exterior wall is 6.2 miles in circumference. There are four smaller forts within Fort Golconda.
Fort Golconda had a lot of huge boulders, these two were on the top of the temple area. The wall in front was a 10 to 15 foot wall and the trees were large.
Fort Golconda had cannons, drawbridges, royal chambers, temples, mosques, stables, markets, and many other things to see.
Large India coachroach was running along the wall beside me as I was going down the stairs…..ewww……
The bottom sole of someone’s shoe laying with some other trash along the path in Fort Golconda.
I am convinced that some people literally wear their shoes until the walk right out of them….all that is left laying on the side of the path (in several areas) are the bottoms of their shoes. Just shoes how random things can be!
Looking down onto the a section of the Fort Golconda, it was a huge fort!
Yes, I walked down several flights of those stairs. The stairs were steep and uneven but it was a neat experience. I cant count the number of times Jake and I were stopped inside the Fort to shake someone’s hand, talk with them, and let them take our pictures. Many of the people we met had never talked or seen with anyone from “The United States of America” and were super excited. It made me chuckle but also gave a lot of great opportunities to talk with people from the area!
Looking up to the area where the royalty chamber overlooks the rest of the city
The rock wall that you see next to the picture is full of many stones, several of them coming lose. On one of the stairways one of the stones broke lose when Jake was walking by and fell out.
These are a crazy set of stairs and these are just one set.
I cannot imagine all the soldiers during the old days running up and down these stairs in their full gear. I kept thinking if I fall….I am going to bust out all of my front teeth out.
The place where the women in the fort went to worship, beautiful!
It was pretty amazing to look at, I can only imagine how beautiful when it was full of people.
Ladies Mosque, the men and women had separate places to worship.
Most places we went you had to take off your shoes prior to going into a temple. I am assuming “chappals” must be sandals?
Men’s place of worship, it looks awesome even after many years!
Picture taken with ones of the guys we met in Fort Golconda.
This picture was after going through the part of the fort that had bats flying around and whispering through the channels in the walls. Several of the people we met showed some neat parts of the Fort (well….maybe not the bats)
Delivering the goods in the fort with a tractor
The clapping portico is a place in the fort that when you stand in a specific spot and clap your hands you can be heard throughout the entire fort.
If you stand on this tile and clap everyone in the entire fort can hear you.
The place this tile was put allowed noise to travel quickly and easily throughout the entire fort even all the way to the top where the royalty chambers were located. This was one of the ways the soldiers would communicate and alert the royalty of danger.
We were told that Golconda Fort now does an amazing “Light and Sound” show in the evenings. They use light, sounds, and narration to tell the history and stories of the Golconda Fort. Jake and I decided to not go after several friends recommended that we avoid it at night because mosquitoes and bugs were really bad during the evening event. It would have been neat to see but we figured staying healthy and not getting munched on by bugs was a better choice for us.
The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Travel & Vacation: Golconda Fort – Hyderabad, India
Golconda Fort in Hyderabad, India. The external walls of the Golconda Fort in Hyderabad, India and my “tour guide” (aka Jake) waiting patiently for me to snap a picture.
Jake and I were able to spend one Saturday and see several places in Hyderabad. Thankfully we had a great driver that got us from place to place, there was only one spot he wouldn’t let us go by ourselves. The Golconda fort is over 400 years old and was once famous for its diamond mines. It is said that the world-renowned “Kohinoor” diamond came from this fort.
A map of the Golconda Fort, the girls are fascinated with maps!
We had many people offer to give us a tour of the Fort (some were quite persistent too) but since Jake had gone with a guide previously he knew enough of the details and history to show me around. The Golconda fort is built on a granite hill and has 8 gates (or Darwazas as they are called in local language).
Inside the main gate (called Fateh Darwaza )at Golconda Fort
In the 16th century the Qutub Shahi kings built the Golconda Fort. The fort was originally called “Golla Konda” in Telegu which is the official state language of Hyderabad.
Place where they set up a farmer’s market in the fort
The area next to the market was the gardens where they would grow fruit trees and other vegetation. When we were there it looked like they had replanted several trees in the gardens.
The view as we were hiking up Golconda Fort in Hyderabad, India
The story regarding the fort has been told many different ways and has variations like any piece of history….. Around 1143 a shepherd boy found an idol in the rocky hill called ‘Mangalavaram’ which was given to the king, Kakatiya, who built a mud fort. Over the next 60 plus years the Qutub Shahi rulers transformed the original mud fort into a beautiful granite wonder. Golconda Fort remained a marvelous granite fortress until the Mughals invaded and plundered the fort.
The “Queen’s Pool” at Golconda Fort.
Pretty massive pool, not sure if it was used as a pool or a water retention for the rainy season or both. We went to the first in the early morning because while we were in Hyderabad the temperatures were getting over 100 degrees with humidity and not always any breeze. Thankfully they had trees planted along the way so we could enjoy a little bit of shade as we hiked up the fort.
Looking through the fort to the city of Hyderabad below us
It was pretty amazing thinking about how much time and energy it must have taken to build this huge fort. The fort overlooks the old city of Hyderabad.
There are stray dogs everywhere and since one of Jake’s co-workers got bit by a wild stray dog (and had to go to the hospital) I decide it was safer to give the dogs a pretty wide path….you never know!
This dog was actually looked pretty healthy but I wasn’t taken any chances.
Entrance to the Sri Jagadamba Mahankali Temple inside Fort Golconda
The sign lists the people on the “trust board” for this particular temple. The temples were one spot that I didn’t notice any litter and seemed to have people in the area watching the activity going on in the temple.
Jagadamba Temple inside Fort Golconda
We had to take off our shoes to go up to see this temple. The guy is currently lighting the candles and preparing the area for the next worship. It broke my heart seeing people praying, worshiping, and giving to this idol (and to many other idols throughout our trip)…..they have to work hard to “earn favor” and good standing from this idol made out of rock.
An altar where they burn incense and hang items to bring good luck before entering the Jagadamba Temple.
Seeing this brings tears to my eyes. The people I met were amazing, kind, and generous yet this altar is a reminder of how traditional Indian religion affects many generations.
I was amazed at all the liter inside the Fort which is a historical monument.
This made me appreciate those who work hard to keep our national parks and monuments clean. On the flip side there were not a lot of places to dispose of your trash. Many of the local people will go completely barefoot even on the hot stones or rocky ground. I lost count of the number of shoe soles I found laying along the paths like the person literally walked in their shoes until they fell off their feet.
Entering the royalty chambers of Fort Golconda.
I bet it was pretty amazing during its height season, wouldn’t it be neat to get a glimpse of what it looked like during that time!
India wild “squirrel” oh how Skipper would have loved to chase this one scurrying around looking for food in Fort Golconda
Aw….we found a trash can with the words “Use Me” written on it….funny part is there is trash all around it but not much in it!
Hyderabad has several official languages, one of them being English. Thankfully almost everyone we met could speak English so it was fairly easy to have a conversation with people and they were eager to talk with us too. I did notice that the men and boys would walk right up to us shake our hand and talk. The women and girls were much more reserved, often times I would feel someone looking at us or hear giggles, if I made eye contact or extended the invitation to start the conversation only then would the majority of women speak to us.
The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
