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Stucco work on A Tryst With The Past

48 | Vistara | May 2015 On your next visit to the City of Pearls, , don’t miss these interesting little-known jewels

Words Rathina Sankari A Tryst With The Past Photos Ramchander Pentuker

May 2015 | www.airvistara.com | 49 odyssey hotspot

A

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harminar, , , , Hussainsagar Lake, ... You may have visited these tourist Cattractions during your past visits to Hyderabad. This time, choose to be different. We take you on a journey to explore the little- known gems in the Pearl Capital of .

High Tea Across the famous monument of Charminar, A Tourists enjoying a next to Mecca Masjid, stands Nimrah Bakery. hot cup of tea at the Nimrah Bakery The non-descript eatery, established in 1993, is famous for its Irani chai (tea) and Osmania biscuits. It is claimed that Irani chai reached B Exterior shot of the Palace Hyderabad with Persian immigrants.

50 | Vistara | May 2015 C

C The Antiques cellar D in Laad

D Street vendors selling antique items and other accessories

E AA Hussain & Co. is the oldest bookshop of Hyderabad

Laad Bazaar is popular for bangles in thousands of designs and colours, anywhere between `100 and `1,000

At Nimrah’s, a 90 ml cup of milky sweet and tutti fruti fillings or sheermal, a bread tea is conventionally served with flaky, made from white refined flour with its crumbly and sugary-salty Osmania origins in Persia. biscuits. These biscuits have been named after the seventh nizam, Mir Osman Ali Bangle Haven Khan. Apparently, he ordered these from Located on one of the four roads that the now defunct Vicaji’s Hotel, one of the branch out from the historic Charminar, most famous hotels of the city in the 1940s is popular for bangles in and 1950s. You can also try dilkhush, a thousands of designs and colours, priced E variant of a pie with coconut, cherries, nuts anywhere between `100 and `1,000.

May 2015 | www.airvistara.com | 51 odyssey hotspot

World’s longest wardrobe at the Nizam’s Museum

However, one can shop for pearls, semi- Very Shahi precious stones, jewellery, silverware, En route Golconda Fort, the erstwhile bidriware, saris, handwoven materials capital of the Qutub Shahi dynasty, are the and kalamkari paintings too. The market seven tombs of Qutub Shahi rulers and two also serves as the perfect destination for mosques. A blend of Bahmani, Persian and trousseau shopping for most Hyderabadi Tughlaq architecture led to the evolution brides. Historians claim Mohammed of a distinct Deccani style where granite, Quli had set up this place as a shopping sand and lime were used to build the destination for his daughter’s wedding to monuments. A shutterbug’s delight, Sultan Quick Aurangzeb’s son. Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah’s mausoleum Takes How to is the grandest of all the structures among nDo try the Literary Lanes the Qutub Shahi tombs. Get There Hyderabadi One of the best places to find books in Vistara flies daily to Biryani, Khubani any genre is AA Hussain & Co. Located at World’s Longest Wardrobe Rajiv Gandhi ka Meetha and International Airport Shahi Tukda Road, one of the oldest commercial A few minutes walk from Charminar in Hyderabad. when in the city hubs of Hyderabad, AA Hussain & Co was takes you to Purani Haveli, the first royal originally a general store that sold imported residence of the Nizams in Hyderabad. nThe sound-and- light show at goods. It was converted into a bookstore While one wing of the palace houses the Golconda Fort is a in 1949. In the past, the shop sold greeting Nizam’s Museum, the other is being used as Where not-to-be-missed cards and even received an award for an educational institution and an industrial experience, selling a record number of UNICEF cards. training institute. A unique feature of this to Stay especially the To date, loyal customers throng this quaint museum is the world’s longest wardrobe, Taj Falaknuma Palace narration by Phone: 040-6629585; Amitabh bookshop for the personalised attention built on two levels with a hand-cranked www.tajhotels.com Bachchan extended to them. wooden elevator in place.

52 | Vistara | May 2015