Sight Seeing in Various South Indian Cities - Hyderabad

KBR NATIONAL PARK: There are many parks like Indira Park, Lumbini Park, Public Gardens, N.T.R. Gardens, Sanjeevaiah Park and Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National park (KBR park) dotting all corners of the city. But KBR park- a tiny shrub jungle amidst growing concrete jungle stands out as a special one. This park, considered as one of the prestigeous National parks in India encompasses real natural beauty in all its glory. Named after late chief minister of Andhra Prdesh, Mr. Kasu Brahmanada Reddy, the national park is a 'unique piece of Deccan Plateu', with dense forest speckled with black granite rocks and a variety of wild life. It has nearly 600 species of trees, shrubs, climbers, herbs, grasses, besides several pteridophytes, bryophytes and xerophytes. The park has several special grooves, known as 'vanams'. Conservator of Forests S. Bala Krishna, says "Kanchana vanam (Bauhinia groove) of this park has got a religious significance and it is one of the hallmarks of this park". Apart from this, there are also other grooves like Shudh Vayu (pure air), Ayurveda (medicinal), and Chandana Vanam (snadalwood), which are in the restricted zone, where the visitors are not allowed to visit.

Formerly known as Chiran Palace, the abode of Prince Mukarram Jah Bahadur, heir to the seventh Nizam, the park was initially spread over an area of 400 acres. The park was later taken over by the State government in 1982 under the Urban Land Ceiling Act. It was handed over to the Forest Department in 1990 and was declared a national partk in 1998. After some land has been taken over by the Government of A.P as part of road widening, the area of the park dwindled to 350 acres and is divided into two zones - visitors' zone and restricted zone. Visitors zone which is spread over 120 acres has several interlinked pathways and is lined with different types of trees, plants and grasses. The thick green shrubs and colourful birds of various species and their sounds add to the soothing ambience of the place. Many residents of the Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills come to this place for morning and evening walks. "Generally there is no entry for walkers into national parks, but we are lucky enough that the park authorities are allowing us to take a walk across the park," said Nagaraju, an old man, who visits the park daily in the evening. The park is also a boon for Botany students, who are allowed to increse their knowledge about herbs and trees of this park.

The park houses all types of ecosystems with 30 per cent grasslands, 27 percent rock crops, 18 per cent dense forest, 17 per cent scrubland and 8 percent water bodies. Besides being a sanctuary, the park is also envisaged to be the centre-stage for spreading environmental awareness among the citizens. For that purpose a full fledged Envronment Education centre is coming up soon in this park.The KBR Park is known for its high number of peacocks. According to Mr. Manohar Rao, the wild life warden, about 400 peacocks are living in the park. The park shelters 113 species of birds, 20 species of reptiles, 15 species of butterflies and 20 species of mammals. It also serves as an urban refuge for jungle cats, palm civets, wild boars, hares, mongooses, monitor lizards, pythons, cobras and other snakes.As it is a national park, and protected under the Wiild Life Act, the visitors have to follow some rules and restrictions while they wander in the park. Visitors have to maintain utmost silence and are strictly advised to not pluck the flowers and leaves. Carrying of chemicals, explosives, food items and polyethene bags are banned in the park. Above all, one should never try to enter the restricted zone, which is treated as an offence.

THE BIRLA MANDIR: The Birla Mandir, built by the Birla Foundation, is dedicated to Lord Venkateshwara, also known as Lord Balaji. Standing atop a hillock called Kala Pahad and overlooking the Hussain Sagar Lake, the temple looks divine at night. It is said that 1,000 tonnes of marble worth Rs 50 lakh was brought in from Makarana, Rajasthan for the temple. The temple architecture is a mixture of the Khajuraho and the South Indian styles. The 51-feet high Rajagopuram and Garudalaya show traces of South Indian architecture. Artists from South India have sculpted the idols. The main idol of Sri Venkateshwara weighs eight tons and stands 9.5 feet tall. It is made of granite brought from Phirangipuram in Guntur district.Interestingly, some of the workers engaged in the construction of the temple claim to be descendants of those who built the Taj Mahal. The construction of the temple took ten long years. Timings: 7 a.m. to 12 noon and 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.