Golconda Fort in Hyderabad

India is known for its incredible monuments like the Taj Mahal, but Hyderabad also has some beautiful architectural masterpieces. Like Golconda Fort, which was only about 20-30 minutes away from the University of Hyderbad! Before coming here, I never really thought of Hyderabad's historic past, but you can't miss it once you get here. Golconda Fort has been one of my favorite places that we have visited so far!

This is one of the exterior protective walls of the fort.

A picture of the golf course they're building inside the fort. I asked our tour guide what he thought of the golf course and he said that it was a good thing because more money was being funneled into preserving the green wetlands within the fort walls and providing better roads to access the site. I'm not a huge fan of golf and definitely did not like the idea of golfers putting around this beautiful landscape.

 After viewing the exterior walls of the fort, we went to the inner citadel of the fort, known as the Bala Hisar Complex, where we saw palaces, elephant corrals, and beautiful temples.

 This was a painting of the goddess Kali on one of the large rocks by the temples near the top of the Bala Hisar Complex.

There are two functioning temples at the top of the Bala Hisar complex, which requires climbing what seemed like thousands of steps to reach. We saw one devoted older man with a crutch who made the climb to worship Durga. It was incredible to see the faith in practice.

A painting of the goddess Kali.

Thanks to our tour guide's great timing, we made it to the top of the Bala Hisar complex for the beautiful sunset over Hyderabad.

 I snapped this picture of a woman wearing a white sari looking out at the city. In India, widows generally wear white, so I wonder if she was a widow.

A view of the Bala Hisar complex from above.

-Amy '12