Although the light was fading, we went to our final destination, the Golconda Fort. Located about 11 km (6 miles) west of Hyderabad, it took a while to get through the traffic to reach the fort. Once the capital of the seven Qutb Shahhi kings who ruled from 1518 through the end of the 16th century before the court moved to Hyderabad, Golconda is quite large. We had a short time to explore the complex, so I decided to head up to the top, up its many stairs. The guidebook stated that the fort is one of the best-preserved forts in India, but I couldn’t really see this from the part I visited. You could still see portions of the wall, once 18 m (60 ft) high. On the way up we passed a Hindu temple that had a painting on a rock of the goddess Kalli. We also passed by some rainwater collection pools (now dilapidated and/or full of garbage), the mosque of Ibrahim Qutb Shah, and the three-storey Durbar Hall located on the top. From here I had a great view of Hyderabad and the setting sun. The walls of the building were scrawled with people’s names. Several people asked if they could take a family picture with me in it. Now I was the celebrity…
That evening the two eye doctors and I visited a pretty Hindu temple located high on a hill. To get up there, we ascended steps which were bordered on both sides by booths selling religious items, cheap Chinese trinkets, bangles, pearls, and more. Like all Hindu temples, we had to remove our shoes. Here we also had to turn in our cell phones, cameras, and other items. Ascending marble stairs, we joined the queue snaking around the temple. This temple seemed to be a mixture of Hindu temples found in various states; a gopuram seen in Tamil Nadu, a more plain Andhra style, A bit of Jain elements, and still another similar to what I saw in Orissa.
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