
Visit to Golconda Fort, Hyderabad
As I walked down from the top of the fort, half-way-down, a young man in his late twenties, wearing a smart jean and sports t-shirt who was climbing up, approached me. Drenched in sweat and gasping, he asked “Excuse me sir, do you have water?”. Luckily, I had half-a-bottle of water left with me, which I gladly gave, grabbing it, he drank it at once, thanked me profoundly and continued his climb. I stood there for a few minutes trying to understand what had just happened!
The above incident happened last week, during my visit to the Golconda fort.


💎The present fort was built by the Qutb Shahi dynasty (c. 1512–1687) that gave the world, the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond.
⚔️The Golconda fort is close to the city, and only 11 km from Gachibowli, where I had stayed.
☀️If you are visiting in the summer, like now, please avoid the hot afternoons, a mistake I did. With the experience of visiting two other forts a few months before I had become smart to wear a hat & sunglasses and carry a large bottle of water with me.
🚶🏽♂️I went there at 10.30 AM and spent the next 2 hours walking around and to the top – it was an easy walk and was a shorter distance to the top, compared to the Gingee fort or Sankagiri fort I had been to earlier.
🕌Apart from the royal palaces, there is a mosque and a Hindu temple inside the fort.
🛕There is also the prison cell, where Sri Bhakta Ramadasu or Sri Bhadrachala Ramadasu (c. 1620 – 1688), the famous carnatic music composer of songs on God Rama was imprisoned for 12 years in solitary confinement.
















💸In historic places like this, I have experienced hiring the services of a local (english speaking) tour guide makes the visit enjoyable and wholesome. Here, an elderly man wearing the official badge approached us (me and a friend) and said as there were two options, he will share his fees near a map of the fort. He took ₹50 from me, bought us the tickets and then near the map, told us he can show us the one-hour tour for ₹1250 or the longer 90 minutes tour for ₹1500, I said I wish to go for the full tour, but for two of us, Indians, this charge sounded costly and I will be happy to pay ₹1000 (₹500 for each) – without listening to me fully, he got offended and walked away. With that, our chance to hire a guide was lost and we saw the place on our own and with the help of Google.


#golcondafort #hyderabadtourism #Kohinoordiamond

