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Andhra Pradesh


Andhra Pradesh


Once upon a time there was a State called Hyderabad, India’s most magnificent kingdom, a land from the Kohinoor diamond was mined, and whose fabulous wealth was legendary.


Charles Allen in his book, Lives of the Indian Princes quotes V.K. Reddy, whose family was closely linked with the Nizam, thus about its exalted ruler: ‘He had a chip on his shoulder and rightly so I think. When you are controlling a country the size of France with a population of fifteen million and you are the riches man in the world – then who the hell is the Viceroy? The Nizam didn’t need anything from the British and as a ‘faithful ally’ of the British government he believed he should deal directly with the king. There was a British Resident in Hyderabad who represented the British, but he was so rude to the Resident that they rarely saw him…’


Historically, power in the Deccan moved from its earliest Hindu ruler to the Chalukyas followed by the Cholas, and finally to the hands of the Mughal Generals under Emperor Aurangzeb. The death of the Emperor in Delhi in 1707 created a power vacuum, and so the last General simply had himself proclaimed the ruler of the Deccan. Comments Charles Allen: ‘Communications were bad in those days and rather than go back to Delhi and report to Aurangzeb’s successors this gentleman stayed on with his little army.’


But that was before independence, long before it. In fact, when the merging of States under Mountbatten’s vice regency started, Hyderabad gave the British and the Indian leaders a difficult time, vacillating not about freedom for itself but because of the Nizam’s tilt towards Jinnah’s promised land. In Highness, Ann Morrow writes:


‘No amount of clubby blustering or flattery persuade the Nizam of Hyderabad to accede. Not only was he the riches man in the world, he was the Moslem ruler of the largest state in the world, he was the Moslem ruler of the largest state in India…The Nizam had the money and the wisdom to employ the finest legal brains…One of the Viceregal tem was sent to Hyderabad in a last attempt to persuade the Nizam to accede…The most telling moment was when the Nizam said, “Young man, there is no one to whom I have to pay courtesies”…(Sardar) Patel was determined that there would be no question of Hyderabad’s being a dissident State or acceding to Pakistan but, in the end, it was force and not persuasion which hurled this final apple into his basket.’


The erstwhile Hyderabad State, and bits of Tamil Nadu, went to form the provincial State of Andhra Pradesh. Today the Nizam’s heir and successor has made his home in Australia, his marriages the stuff of newspaper headlines, but the ancestor who signed the Instrument of Accession, the last Nizam who held in his hand the power of life and death, was delightfully eccentric. Charles Allen says:


‘During its last four decades of existence Hyderabad possessed a ruler in Nizam Osman Ali Pasha who was as much of an enigma the world, with more than 400 Arabs of coinage in his coffers (about 30 million Pounds), jewellery estimated to be worth at least as much again, roms full of gold bullion and land that brought in 35 crores of rupees annually. Yet he was “always slouching around in a very dirty pair of old shoes and dirty pyjamas and wearing a rumi topi (fez) which always had an inch of grease around the bottom. He chain-smoked local Golconda cigarettes and he really didn’t care about his appearance.” But to describe him simply as a miser was to do human injustice, argues V.K. Reddy. “Osman Ali Pasha was a poet, a philosopher and an eccentric. At the same time he was a shrewd judge of men and a very capable administrator.


He spoke abruptly, but that was his manner, for by nature he was a very kind man and a tolerant one…”


And so too is Andhra Pradesh, so reminiscent of the kingdom from which it is carved, so much a part of its last ruler’s diverse, often mystifying, personality. Andhra Pradesh, redolent with spices, identified with pearls, represented by the flavour of a cuisine. A State where the past never quite made way for the present. And yet, a region where celluloid fantasy Kakinada on the coast is supposed to have had, in the heydays of cinema, the country’s larges number of cinema halls-rules the roost, oblivious of its historic and cultural past. That too is Andhra: a land where the everyday and the fantastic co-exist to rub shoulders without the one out of place with the other.


The state offers a wide spectrum of cuisines, cultures, religions and traditions, and as one travels through it, the landscape unfurls a bewildering variety of terrain. From the dense forests in the north, near the Bay of Bengal, to the Deccan plateau towards the south, and along a coastline dotted with port cities, the Andhra countryside differs from that of other states. Two important rives, the Krishna and the Godavari, flow through it fertile-though often rocky-soil towards the sea.


The weather is warm and humid throughout the year, with only slight variations in temperature along the coastline coconut palms flourish (the sea and the coconut unite in its cuisine too), as do mango groves. However, what it makes up for in natural wealth, it loses in mineral wealth, for the State has few resources, and so has enjoyed relatively limited industrial development. Quite resourcefully, however, a large population is employed in the state’s cottage and handloom industries. Andhra Pradesh is also home to the Lambada gypsies, to the classical Kuchipudi dance, to the coveted Pochampalli saree…


Hyderabad, once the Nizam’s capital, still remains its premier position as the first city of the new State. While its Banjara Hills form pockets for contemporary lifestyles best evinced in the extraordinary architecture, its antecedents date to the sixteenth century. It was built by Sultan Muhammad Kuli in 1589, when he was forced to abandon his earlier capital, Golconda, due to an acute scarcity of water. Since that early date, Hyderabad has been a centre of Muslim culture and learning.


Situated along the banks of the river Musi, and with a strong tradition of Persian architecture, the city is laid out in clean lines in the shape of a tropezoid. Pathargatty, a broad street, divides the city from north to south (Afzal Gate to Aliabad Gate). And situated at an important crossroads, a symbol for the city, is Charminar, a four-ached monumental gate around which Hyderabad pulses with the radiant energy of one of the country’s most important cities.


Charminar, literally Four Minarets, has sometimes been referred to as the Arc de Triomphe of the East, and not without reason. Its central structure soars to a height of 180 feet; four minarets grace its four corners. Around the Minar, the old bazaar throbs the way it did when it was first laid in 1591, with hectic trading in pearls, lac and glass bangles, textiles, and in other accessories fit for a bride. Close to Charminar is Mecca Masjid; to its south lies the private palace of the Nizam.


Among Hyderabad’s more recent buildings is the Falaknuma Palace. Built in the grand oriental style, and rarely open to visitors (it was recently renovated for a tourism festival), its interiors are spectacular, and its chandeliers among the country’s best. The Salarjung slightly eccentric collection, the doing of one man with a full wallet in his pocket and the sometimes not-too-discerning taste who collected fads rather than taste. However, some of the objects d’art in the museum are rare pieces, and would rank as international tresures.


And there is so much to interest oneself with in Hyderabad: fine restaurants, a visit to osmania University with its blend of Hindu and Muslim architectural styles, and the more recent of the city’s acquisitions in the shape of a temple and a planetarium.


But before there was Hyderabad, the Deccan was ruled from Golconda. Just outside the city rise the forbidding ramparts of one of India’s bloodiest forts, and close by, tellingly, the tombs of the Qutab Shahi kings. The fort itself sprawls over a complete hillside, its bastions impregnable even centuries after having fallen into disuse. Golconds, to most Indians, is synonymous with diamond mines, and the country’s, and some of mankind’s, finest diamonds were found here, but it was once the strong capital of the Qutab Shahi kings. History says Goldconds fort never fell to an enemy’s onslaught, not till Emperor Aurangzeb took it by deceit, that is. Thereafter, Golconda’s, and Hyderabad’s, fortunes were linked with the Mughals in Delhi and Agra. The graves of the Qutab Shahi kings are surrounded by well-laid, beautiful gardens. Some of these have their own mosques or minarets adorning their sides.


Some 82 kilometres from Hyderabad is another ancient fort, that of Bidar. Though technically in the provincial state of Karnataka, it was traditionally a part of Hyderabad State, and it has gone on to give Andhra Pradesh one of it’s most important cottage industries, that of bidriware, or the inlaying of silver into objects of jet (an alloy of lead and zinc).


After the capital it’s time to explore the state and visit it’s smaller towns. If one were to begin from the east, the traveller’s first voyage would be in the direction of Waltair. With its sylvan, wooded surroundings, Waltair has a perfect beach and enjoys a pleasant climate, making it particularly salubrious during the winters.


Moving south from here, one arrives at Visakhapatnam, an important port and with a lovely beach. A centre for the ship-building industry, and for oil-refining, the region has vast stretches of undiscovered beaches. A city with a thriving business community, it is now becoming popular as a holiday resort, facilitated by the arrival of hotels which also offer leisure facilities (and some exciting dining options!)


Another off beat beach city is that of Masulipatnam, located at the mouth of the river Krishna. An ancient historic centre on account of its location, this rarely-visited beach town is the centre of kalamkari painting on fabric.


Before reaching Vijayawada one has to cross the mighty River Godavari at rajamundhry. The bridge over the Godavari is almost two miles long, making it the second largest in India. A centre of pilgrimage for Hindus, Rajamundhry has an unusual cottage industry, that of hand-made and crocheted lace.


Vijayawada is an important commercial town, a premier city after Hyderabad, and is the base for a thriving trading community. Though industrialized, one of its more exciting industries is that of toy-making in light wood, and these make excellent souvenirs too. Well worth visiting is the Victoria Museum which houses, among other rarities, a colossal statue of the Buddha in granite, found in the nearby hills.


West of Vijayawada lie two ancient centres of Deccan culture, Amravati and Nagarjunakonda. Amravati is situated on the right bank of the Krishna, once the capital of an ancient kingdom. Buddhism flourished here as is evident from the well preserved ruins of Buddhist relics found in the countryside. A Hindu temple here which dates back in time to the hoary past, attracts pilgrims in the thousands, while lovers of archaeology flock to the remains of a Buddhist stupa located to the north, on the same bank of the river, but located in the twin city of Nagarjunakonda. The strong influence Buddhism cast here is evident in the plethora of ruins of monasteries and stupas, and even a university, clearly identifying it as a seat of learning. Today, a ‘temple’ of another kind, as Jawaharlal Nehru would have called it, is located near this historic site: this is Nagarjunasagar Dam that irrigates the dry, parched lands of the State in the sizzling summer months.


Every Indian knows of Tirupathi, and it is the wish of every Hindu to cross the threshold of this temple-town at least once in his lifetime. Situated towards the extreme south of the State, and located at the base of the Tirumala Hills this ancient temple is dedicated to Venkateshwara, the Lord of the Seven Hills. One of the country’s richest shrines, from barons and tycoons to the poor leave behind offerings that fill its coffers. A trust looks into its management and administrative affairs, and this is no easy task for thousands pour into this temple town every day. Many have their locks shorn off as an act of piety. The fervour that Tirupathi evokes in people has spun off a strong industry of its own: posters of the Lord, or calendars with his image, souvenirs, hymns sung before him…Legend has woven in the countryside into the myths associated with his incense-laden presence. The seven hills of Tirumala, for example, are the seven coils of the immortal serpent Adishesa on whom the Lord rests.


Talking of temples, another interesting one worth exploring is the Thousand-Pillared temple in Warangal. Though it has far less than the thousand pillars that give it its name (this was a popular name for many pillared temples in the medieval ages), this 12th century temple has rich carvings on its walls and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Here, Shiva’s mount, the bull Nandi, is carved in black basalt. Warangal, where we started our exploration of the State, lies beyond the oft-beaten track, its visitors usually those with a strong interest in archaeology. For Warangal was an industrial town way back when the Kaketya kings held sway over the land.Today their double-walled fort lies in splendid ruins, the sculptures have eroded with time, but the past lives on.


For, as in much of Andhra Pradesh, the past and the present jostle in the same lanes, each matched step for step as they march towards a confident future.