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| Colours In The Bazaar |
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| A Bangle Shop |
Shops and more shops lined up with a mind boggling collection of bangles. Stone studded, crystal ornamented, filigreed, lac bangles, silver and golden bangles,glass bangles of all colours and designs glittered and winked from the shops with glassed interiors. Their owners tempted one to step into their shops. Entering a couple of them I went crazy at the range and my girls went berserk trying some out or looking longingly at the others. At the end of all that shop hopping I was left with dazzled eyes that could see the glitter and the glimmer in people's faces! then there was another lane that took one along shops selling pearls to suit every one's pocket. The lanes were crowded with curious tourists, serious buyers and pearl string laden agents tempting the former two to step into their shops.
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| Charminar Through The Gateway |
Amid all this din and chaos of Laad Bazaar, stood the
Charminar, stoic witness to time and the mortals who came and went. Right at the center it stood, like an indulgent adult amused at all the attention and adulation. Built in 1591 by Quli Qutub Shahi the fifth, there are many stories about the reason behind it's existence. The most popular being that of honouring a promise made to Allah when the city was stricken with plague. Covering a square area with four connected ornate minarets rising up to four levels, Charminar has the oldest mosque of Hyderabad where the devout offer their Friday prayers. Standing under the roof of this ancient monument one gets a feel of the times gone by. Resplendent in craftsmanship with the balustrades, pillars; each minaret cushioned in lotus petals before rising up to four stories; and the four arches, that open up to four streets.
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| An Ornate Minaret |
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| Arches Adjoining The Minarets |
Charminar's glory will not take much of your time. It is the kiosks with the blinding glitter of the bangles and luster of the pearls that will demand more of your time. Then of course there are the nihari stalls and the famed Hydrabadi biryani without which a trip to this part of the old city is incomplete.
This post was written for the
A to Z Challenge 2014
