Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the state capital of Andhra Pradesh. Secunderbad, which is a part of Hyderabad, is called its twin city. The twin cities are separated by the Husain Sagar lake, an artificial lake constructed in 1562AD. It is known as the City of Pearls and the City of Nizams. Recently, it has emerged as a modern hub of Information Technology, ITES and Biotechnology industries. Hyderabad is also an important conference venue in India, with many conferences and meetings taking place in the city. The world's largest film studio, the 'Ramoji Film City' is on a location near Hyderabad.
Hyderabad has many major pharmaceuticals companies such as Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Matrix Laboratories, Hetero Drugs Limited, Divis Labs, Aurobindo Pharma Limited, Lee Pharma and Vimta Labs. Unique schemes like the Genome Valley, Fab City and the Nano Technology park are expected to create extensive infrastructure in bio-technology.
Hyderabadi Biryani is a world famous dish of the region and people are known to travel to Hyderabad just to feast on this dish. Hyderabad has an international Airport and it is connected to all the major Indian cities by the Indian domestic Airlines. Internationally it is well connected with daily flights to Dubai and other Middle East Gulf Countries.
Hyderabad was part of the Golconda kingdom which ended in 1687, after a valiant struggle with Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal Emperor. Aurengzeb appointed Mir Quamaruddin, as Subedar or Governer for the region and gave him the title of Nizam. When the Mughal Emperor Aurengzeb died and the Mughal Empire disintegrated, the Nizam became the de facto ruler of Hyderabad. The Nizams were world famous during the British colonial rule of India as being fabulously rich and one of the richest rulers of the world. The Nizams cooperated with the British Colonial rule and the title "Faithful ally of the British Government" was bestowed on the 7th Nizam.
Places of interest in and around Hyderabad
Charminar means four minarets. This rectangular structure has four minerets and four arches and completed in 1591. It is the most famous monument in Hyderabad.
Mecca Masjid the most important Mosque in Hyderabad, is next to the Charminar.
Golconda Fort is an imposing structure and worth a visit. The outstanding feature of this fort is the design of an exceptional acoustic system whereby a clap at the gate of the fortress is reflected all the way up to the top of the fort which is nearly a 100 meters (300ft.) higher up. There is a sound and light show in the fort in the evenings which is quite good. Golconda was famous for its Diamonds. Before the discovery of diamond in Africa, Golconda diamonds was world famous and the only source of diamonds in the world. The Koh-i-noor Diamond is the largest diamond in the world and a part of the Queen of England’s crown Jewels, came from here.
Salarjung Museum is a great museum with a rare collection of art objects by Nawab Salar Jung III. The museum houses magnificent exhibits of European and Indian paintings and statues. Of special interest is the Jade Room containing priceless objects which belonged to ancient Indian rulers like Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan.
Nagarjuna Sagar is the world's largest masonry dam on the Krishna river. There is a museum which houses ancient Buddhist sculptures, carvings, and terra cotta. It is about 150 kilometers (100 miles) from Hyderabad.
Ramoji Film City is huge, nearly 2000 acres of it, the world’s largest complex for shooting of movies, rivaling those of Hollywood.
High Tech City one of most famous IT parks of the world and graced by Mr. Clinton, the President of USA.
Tirupathi famous in India as having the largest number of pilgrims and being one of the world’s richest religious institute. It is famous for the pilgrims shaving their heads and the tones of hair collected being auctioned off. It is quite far from Hyderabad.