Golkonda Fort

Today’s Vipul’s brother, sister-in-law and little Megha arrived from Mumbai. This is their first visit to Hyderabad. For next three days Vipul is going to show them around Hyderabad along with celebrating Diwali. And we have big plans!

After a heavy lunch and freshly baked pineapple cake, we decided to hike up to the top of Golkonda Fort to make room for Hyderabadi Biryani for dinner. We had visited Golkonda Fort earlier for the Light and Sound show but didn’t hike up then. The light and sound show is strictly OK so we decided to skip it this time.

We reached Golkonda fort, hired a guide and then made our way slowly up the fort. Varun was very excited to be with his cousin sister and followed her all the way to the top. He was tired from the climb and having missed his nap earlier and slept all the way down.

The fort has a citadel up top, palace ( which is mainly in ruins now), temples and mosques, water tanks , stables, gardens, pavillions etc. I was chasing Varun up the stairs so missed the details from the guide other than the acoustically enhanced areas which is an engineering marvel.Claps at certain points from the main gate are heard all the way in the citadel at the top – about a kilometer away. And there are chambers where people can whisper at one corner and you can hear them at the clearly at the other corner about 10 felt apart – over the cacophony of people passing around. This was form of early warning signalling used in those days.

Even without hearing all the details, I think it’s an impressive fort.

If you have a few hours to spare and are up for some exercise, it makes a good excursion. And don’t miss Qtub Shahi tombs while you are in the neighborhood.

P.S – Only the Light and Sound show is wheelchair accessible/stroller accessible. The rest of the fort is accessible by steps and a steep ramp – totally useless if you have push someone in a stroller/wheelchair. The steep ramp was used by kids as slide – that gives you an idea on its incline. Carry a mosquito repellant for the evening show. Sunscreen is a must for the daytime.