Golconda Fort

On Sunday (our only day off this week due to the bandh), Helene, Sahima, Mari, Shraddha and I booked an A/C car and driver for 8 hours to go site-seeing. Although it’s more expensive, it’s easier for me to travel this way – I don’t have to worry so much about the pollution. Our first stop was at some tombs near Golconda Fort… I am not entirely certain about their stories. But it was beautiful, open, green, serene… Quite a contrast from the India outside.

Banyan tree


We wandered around for a while, venturing in and out of tombs. You would remove your shoes before entering the inner shrine, where bats fluttered around the ceiling. In one of them, the caretaker demonstrated its remarkable acoustics by singing for us and creating an amplified, ‘Indian music’ sounding echo. In another, Helen and I went down a creepy, narrow, winding staircase that led to another level of tombs.

We were treated quite like celebrities. Kids running around with a soccer ball began following us cheerfully about halfway through; families requested that we pose with them for a picture; Helene and I would regularly be asked from where we come (for some reason ‘France’ would illicit polite interest, while ‘USA’ usually got a lot of enthusiasm).

After lunch (Naan [I’ve been wanting this since I got here and it was delicious], palak paneer, dal and biryani) we headed to the Golconda Fort. It is said that during the 11^th century, a shepherd boy found an idol at the top of a granite hill, where a Katakiya King built a small fort. This was then expanded to its present, sprawling state (10 km around, 87 bastions, reaching heights of 120 m) by Qutub Shahi Kings in the 16^th century. It was later plundered by invading Moghuls.

It was a day for free admission, so the crowd was massive despite the intense sun and heat.

As we soon learned, it was a festival day as well. A few minutes in, we wandered into one stone cave and found people gathered around a shrine. We were welcomed enthusiastically and given bindis (the red dots on the forehead) by a man with a pot of the powdered mixture. A bleating goat was brought in and begun to be washed. I realized it was a sacrifice, and admittedly bolted out of there. I hope they weren't offended.

Gathering around the goat...

Helene and I ventured farther on, and became caught up in a parade of people moving slowly up the stairs of the fort. People would see us and make room for us to see, introduce themselves and guide us along for a little while as they followed a group of people balancing pots of burning grass on their heads. Every now and then, these worshippers would stop to dance, then carry on up the steps. It looked exhausting; one older woman broke down about halfway up, probably due to the heat. One girl was particularly helpful, a niece of the main dancing man, and explained the festival to us. It was apparently an annual celebration for the state of Telangana, of which Golconda was capital hundreds of years ago. The parade was a procession in the “marriage of the gods;” at the top of the fort would be the goddess, Elema, waiting.

Sooooo many people!

Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the top. The queue became so dense, and began to get rowdy, so Helene and I broke away. We did get to see a man who was supposed to be possessed by a god, though:

Here, more than even before, Helen and I got a lot of attention. We were constantly asked to pose for pictures, and I felt bad saying no to anyone, especially to little kids. Almost everyone did it kindly, except for one group of guys; they laughed a bit too raucously and started trying to pose holding my hand (which is pretty weird for India) and such, so from them I broke away. After that encounter, a few more families asked for pictures. Then an old lady arrived, talked to me in Telegu, took me by the elbow and escorted me down the entire stairway to a jail near the base of the fort. It was fascinating, exciting, and sometimes overwhelming. Helene thinks I get even more attention than her because of my height, slightly lighter hair and green eyes.

This little girl kept getting pushed aside by other people wanting to take a picture...

Two guys taking a picture of us while I was trying to photograph the fort

Helene and I were trying to think if there was anyone who could come to America and garner such a reaction. I don’t really think there is, which is kind of cool.

We met up with the others again, and headed to the outdoor market near High Tech City for some shopping. After checking out the “Natural Rock Art” gallery, we did some bargaining. I bought some more souvenirs to bring home, and a lovely dress and two skirts. On the way back home, we took an auto-rickshaw, and I sat in the front with the driver as we had little room. Normally, this is where men would sit. So, as an American woman sitting in the front seat (with a surgical mask on), I got a lot of stairs from passing traffic. At one point the driver pulled over and had me hop in the back (I had to sit on Sahima), because there was a police checkpoint ahead and apparently having someone in the front seat is illegal (but never mind having 5 people sitting on top of each other in the back seat). And a bit later I hopped back in the front.