A Visit to Golkonda Fort Near Hyderabad in India: An Ancient and Historical Site

There are many historical places near the city of Hyderabad in South India. One such most vital historical place is the Golkonda fort. This fort is situated only 8 miles away from the Hyderabad city center. Thousands of tourists visit this historical fort everyday to see its architectural intricacies. You need to stay at Hyderabad and cover this fort from there only as one day outing. You can hire a taxi based upon size of your group. The minivans, which can accommodate 8 to 10 persons, are also available from your hotel only for to and fro trip to this fort.

One can reach Hyderabad very easily by air, by train, or by bus or taxi from any major cities of India. As the weather remains very pleasant almost all throughout the year, specific season may not be needed to visit this beautiful historical city. We had started at around 8 am in the morning from our hotel and reached the fort site by around 9.30 am. This long time was due to very heavy traffic on the route going to the fort. This Golkonda fort was built by the then Nizam of Hyderabad in the year 1518 to protect the city from the enemy attack. The enemy attack can be seen from the top of this fort from the height of around 340 feet. This fort is situated on a small mountain.The fort is located in a vast area of around 15 square kilometers and made of black granite. You need to walk around 3 to 4 miles to see the entire fort and that too on hilly roads. There are nine palaces and five temples inside the fort.

There are 87 five sided minars all around this fort, which are around 120 feet tall. There are eight major entry gates, 80 feet tall all around this fort. These gates are very strong as they are made of 21 inches thick solid steel. Even the forces of 6 to 8 elephants were not able to break these gates during the enemy attack. There are innumerable underground tunnels inside this fort that connect the fort with the Nizam's palace in Hyderabad. Though, these tunnels are closed at present, in view of the security of the tourists visiting this fort. The sound arrangement of this fort is really amazing. If you clap with your hands at the bottom of the fort, its sound is clearly heard at the top of the fort at the height of 90 feet. This arrangement was helping the people in fort to find out the entry of even few enemy soldiers inside the fort. The defense of this fort was so solid that number of enemy attacks could not win this fort in spite of war that lasted for many years continuously.

There are many diamond mines near this Golkonda fort. The famous diamond of Kohinoor was found out from this mine. This most priceless diamond Kohinoor is in the famous museum at London in England at present. All the tourists visiting the city of Hyderabad make sure to visit this fort. The sound and light show is also arranged here everyday in the evening in both Hindi and English languages. The show timings are changing based on the season. However, there are two shows, one in English and one in Hindi, everyday.

The entry ticket for this beautiful sound and light show is Rs.50 ($1.25) per head. It is better to see this show in Hindi as it would reflect the history of those days in original language of Hyderabadi Hindi. However, if you do not understand Hindi, watch it in English. But, make sure to watch it at any cost as it is the most beautiful and informative show regarding the Hyderabadi kingdom. Make sure to carry your own supply of drinking water and the food packets during the visit to this fort, as there are no good restaurants available near this fort. Also, please try to keep your taxi or hired car in waiting while you watch the fort, as it would be difficult later to get the vehicle to return back to the city.

We enjoyed the visit to this historical fort and it took us around 4 to 5 hours for completely viewing this fort in details. It is also suggested to hire government approved guide services while visiting the fort. This would help to understand all the intricate historical details of this rare and historical fort. I would suggest all my readers to visit this fort during their next visit to Hyderabad and India.