Sight Seeing in Various South Indian Cities - Hyderabad

MALAKPET RACE COURSE: The 120-year-old Malakpet Race Course lies off the highway to Vijayawada. The place became a major scene of action in the winter of 1879 when the first races were held. Betting began way back in 1880 when a grand lottery was one of the chief attractions. Equipped with a swimming pool for exercising horses and a training school for apprentice jockeys, today's Race Course of Malakpet is regarded as one of the finest modern Race Courses in India.

MECCA MASJID: The Mecca Masjid is the largest mosque in the Twin Cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, the second largest in India and the seventh largest in the world. The awe inspiring masjid, located in the Southwest of Charminar, can accommodate up to 10,000 worshippers. The construction of Mecca Masjid, started in 1614 A.D by Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah, continued for over 77 years to be completed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1694 AD. It is believed that the central arch of the mosque was built using bricks specially brought from Mecca. Thus the name, Mecca Masjid. The lofty colonnades and the arches at the entrance are made from single slabs of granite brought from a stone quarry 11 km north of Charminar. Legend has it that these slabs were pulled with the aid of 1,400 bullocks. The construction involved the work of 8000 masons and labourers. To the south of the mosque are the marble tombs of all Nizams, except that of Mir Osman Ali Khan. Mecca Masjid has a hall, 67 m long, 54 m wide and 23 m high. Its roof is supported by 15 graceful arches that lend it grandeur and elegance. A strand of the Prophet's hair is believed to be found in one of its many rooms. After all this, it is not a wonder that it is regarded as one of the most impressive mosques of the world.

HYDERABAD BOTANICAL GARDENS: Acres and acres of undulating landscape filled with a dazzling array of colours. Vast stretches of green grass get dotted with carefully nurtured thickets, tall trees and pristine water bodies. Tread softly in the neatly manicured lawns and lose your path into a world of some rare plants, aromatic plants and also medicinal plants. This is neither a poet's imagination nor a depiction of a painter's canvas. This is the true picture of the newly opened Hyderabad Botanical Gardens at Kothaguda near Hitec City. Spread over 120 acres of reserve forest area, the Hyderabad Botanical Gardens serves as a sight seeing place providing scientific knowledge about different plants and trees to the visitors. True to its name the Botanical garden is going to have all types of plants. According to the in-charge of the Garden, Mr. Hari Mohan Reddy, after completion of the project the Garden would comprise of all major varieties of Plant Kingdom and some rare species too. "In the first 30 acre area you can find various sectors like Aquatic, Bamboo, Palm; where particular type of plants were there", adds Mr. Reddy.

The Aquatic sector, where one finds only water-loving plant species like Nelumbium (Lotus), Nymphyaea growing together. Enter the Bamboo sector and get greeted with some rare bamboo species such as the 'Running Bamboo' and also the 'Giant Bamboo' species brought specially from the far North East. "There are bout 1250 varieties of Bamboo plants exists in the world. Of them 900 species available in Asia and 125 species in India", explains Mr. Reddy and asks do you know how many varieties are there in Botanical Garden? 18 replies, Mr. Reddy with pride. Explore the Rockpool sector, Palm sector and the Ornamental sector and meanwhile stop to appreciate the age-old charm of Cycas, which have come to be known as Living Fossil. We know that most of the ornamental plants are crotons, but how many of us know that most of the crotons belong to Euphorbaceae family in the Plant Kingdom. If you visit the Botanical Garden, your knowledge about different plants certainly increases. After finishing a stroll in the Garden you will call the Neem plant as Azadiracta indica and Custard Apple as Annona squamosa. Almost all the plants in all sectors provided with nameplates having the common names along with scientific names.The atmosphere at the Garden would be serene and silent with only tweets of the birds, if it would have built away from the highway. If the vehicular traffic is less on the road then you can enjoy the beauty of nature to full extent.Developed jointly by AP Tourism Department and AP Forest Department under eco-tourism project, the Hyderabad Botanical Garden would soon be expanded to encompass another 90 acres with sectors such as Fernarium, Palaeo Botanical Garden, Fruit Garden and Sacred Plant Garden.