Chandelier Tree

Today started off lovely with a visit to the Golconda Fort. It was pretty warm today, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was Thursday. The fort was beautiful, and once you climb to the top you can see a city span of Hyderabad, which is stunning. I forgot how much I love historical ruins and old rocks since our first excursion in Northern India. It was such a peace-filled place, and it offered awesome reflection time that is much needed when living in a big city like Kolkata. According to the legend of our tour guide handbook, a shepherd boy found an idol on the hill, Mangalavaram, and when this reached the Kakatiya king he ordered the construction of a fort around the holy spot. Hence, you have the Golconda Fort. There are also secret passageways in the fort, and as much as I tried to remove the barriers, my muscles, surprisingly, were not strong enough.

After we got lunch, we went to the Salarjung Museum, which was breathtaking. I was a bit skeptical of what the museum would actually look like and what it would hold, but it was far greater than I had first expected. I mean, it’s no Louvre, but it is a wonderful asset to Hyderabad. The prime minister of Nizam built the museum, and it is the largest personal collection in the world. It was such a random assortment of belongings, and I couldn’t help but marvel and ponder how on earth this man managed to collect all of these objects. One of the statues that I saw, which is actually quite famous to this museum and around the world, is the “Veiled Rebecca”. Of course, this being my name, it intrigued me. So, imagine my joy when I stumbled upon this mysterious woman! It was created by an Italian sculptor, Giovanni Maria Benzoni, because he was so taken by the biblical story of Rebecca in the Old Testament. Apparently, when Rebecca met Isaac, her soon to be husband, she was so shy she pulled the veil over her face. This represented her innocence and purity. I was flattered by this sculpture, but I have to admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of Rebecca since she favored one son over the other. However, I am not one to dissuade anyone from artistic expression.

After the museum, we went to the Charminar, which is basically the Big Ben of London or the Eiffel Tower of Paris. It was beautiful, but the area in which it was located was crazy. I felt as if I was in Kolkata once again. There is a Muslim temple that we tried to enter right by the Charminar, but since we weren’t dressed properly, we weren’t allowed to enter. It was actually quite unfortunate, because the man at the gate was yelling at us and extremely rude to us. I was extremely offended, and I can’t help but wonder if he was rude to us because 1, we were women and 2, we were foreign. There numerous Muslim women in Hyderabad wearing their full black dress with the burka as well, and I just pondered whether or not they are considered actually “free” or independent. It is a part of their religion and their culture, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is right.