River Mahanadi at Chandrapur,Chhattisgarh

As I laid down on my back on the sun baked sands of the River Mahanadi,there was stillness all around,the sky was crystal clear with not a speck of cloud visible anywhere,and the only sound I could hear was the low murmur made by the water.The stillness was ocassionally broken by the squeal of a bird or the sound of children playing at the river bank in the distance.I covered up my legs with the sand for that warm,intoxicating feeling that comes with sand exposed to sunlight.I looked up at the sky,at the vast blue clear expanse and with the stillness in the background,I felt like I was in a different world,detached from the world, I felt at peace.

   That was my best experience of the trip me and my friends made to the River Mahanadi last Sunday.

  The plan developed when me and satya were having a casual talk about going somewhere near for timepass the day before.I suggested Mahanadi and because of a lack of interest from abhishek and raviteja we decided only me and satya will go.The next morning my room-mate sanket asked me to find out if other people were interested to come so that he could arrange a car if enough people were ready to come.

 I went out to the mess where people were having breakfast and told one of them about the plan.Slowly the news spread and at the end 12 of us were ready to go including Sanket,Abhishek,Satya,Rajesh,Pruthvi,Amit,Sai,Shashank,Siddharta,Poornesh,Anush and myself. Sanket arranged a tavera for us.we departed at around 11am.we reached Chandrapur 45mins later.

 Chandrapur is a small town 30km south of Raigarh with the famous temple,Chandrahasini being its most famous attraction,the river Mahanadi being the other.

Except Abhishek,Amit and myself everyone left for the temple.We strolled around and walked on the nearby bridge over the Mahanadi. In the middle of the river there is an island  which has another temple and the bridge continues from here to the other side.

   We got down to the river bank from a ghat built near the island mentioned above.We searched around for a clean place and after finding one,we got into the water.We played around and did all the things people generally people do in water,splash it around,hold breath and go underwater etc.  The speed of the water was very high and at spots where the water reached upto our chests we had difficulty in standing properly.After some time we spotted some rocks jutting out towards the river on the other side and abhishek and myself  made our way towards it so that we could do some diving or in our terms just jumping in the water from some height.The water reached as high as our necks at the deepest point and that scared us a bit but that was only for a moment and the water level dropped immediately after.Soon we reached the area and to our surprise there was a small lagoon shaped water body there.

The water was green and was shining in the sunshine.It was very tempting and inviting but we resisted going in as it looked deep.We looked around,climbed on the rocks,ran on the sand and as the place was too good we decided to go back,get our camera and come back again.So we did just that and took some great pics and videos of us jumping in the river.At around 3pm the rest came back from the temple,so we went back to our place.Here the 12 of us had lots of fun.But One thing that annoyed me was that everyone was too busy in taking pics than enjoying the pure bliss of an experience in a river.This led me to jokingly remark that we need to ban cameras the next time we go on a trip.But then somebody reminded me that everyone has his/her own idea of enjoyment .

That was true of course and I kept quiet.At around 5pm we wound up and slowly ,wearily made our way back to our car.while going back we stopped at a popular dhaba named,surprise surprise,'Popular Dhaba' where we had some delicious dishes made even more delicious by our own hunger.And that ended our second trip since we came to Chhattisgarh.

Location-Chandrapur
Distance- 30km from Raigarh
Car fare- Rs 1200 to and fro ( for a Chevrolet Tavera)

Singhanpur Caves,Raigarh,Chhattisgarh

Last Tuesday we visited the Singhanpur caves and Ram Jharna picnic spot.Let me tell you upfront Singhanpur caves is not for the casual tourist.You need determination and interest to see it.I had done my research on it before I came to Raigarh and imagined it to be something like the Borra caves near Vishakapatnam (the only other caves I ever visited) But this far from it.The approach to singhanpur caves is quite difficult.On the internet there are only three lines about this caves.
''Singhanpur is most popular for its ancient caves..
Singhanpur is situated 20 kms. away from Raigarh and has the distinction of hosting the oldest scupltures on earth. These sculptures are claimed to have been created in 30000 B.C. and look very similar to Mexican and Spanish sculptures''
What nobody mentions is the difficulty in reaching these caves.Let me give an account of the trip we made.
It was on Tuesday that we made the decision to go.My friends Abhishek,Satya,Ravi Teja,Mangesh,Sanket,Ashwin and myself completed the group.
Since we had no information on how to reach the place we had a little chat with a pan wala and he told us that it was better to hire an auto.So we hired an auto rickshaw for the whole trip.It cost us Rs 500, to and fro the hostel including the waiting charges.It is about 20km from our hostel, so around 23 km from Raigarh  on the Raigarh-Bilaspur highway.The Ram Jharna Picnic spot is on the right side.We got down here and went inside.The ticket cost is Rs5. It is an Eco park and we need to walk for about 1km inside.Mid way there is a Swimming 'tank'.Most of the time it is occupied by 'parivars'(families). So we weren't allowed to go inside. We skipped this part and proceeded ahead to reach the actual Jharna which isn't natural at all.There is a pipe bringing in the water from the mountain tops and a cement block has been constructed from where the water drops off creating a small stream of water fall.Here some boys were bathing complete with soap lather all over them.The place here was crowded with people and the smell of soap was in the air. Polythene bags and cups were strewn around making the place look somewhat dirty.Unless you are spiritually inclined it is better to skip this part.

Ram Jharna Picnic Spot

The only good thing that came out from the Ram Jharna part is that we found a local villager who agreed to take us to the caves.Yes,that right you need a guide to take you there.He warned us to be careful near the caves stressing that the honey bees,which are present in large numbers, get agitated easily and recalled an incident in the past when a youth disregarded his warning and that eventually led to this death.Anyway we took him with us and moved ahead.It was 2km more towards the champa side on the Raigarh-Bilaspur highway and then we reached a curve.(Upto this point a 4 wheeler can come but from here one has to walk) Here a small trail went in to the jungle and to the mountain above.We took this path with the guide at the lead. After a short leisurely walk on a green carpet of grass the actual rocky climb started.

  We climbed up holding onto rocks and bushes and overhanging branches.We crawled on all fours ,we stretched and jumped and hopped around and kept moving.The path offered some nice views of the Monnet Steel Plant below.The path juts along the side of the mountain offering some awesome views.It has a zig zag nature to it, leading me to think that there was a stone path here long ago.We skipped that part and climbed on a straight line as suggested by the guide.The sun was shining overhead and by the time we reached the top we were drenched with sweat.Slowly, as we emerged from the trees the sight of the imposing mountain top met us.The rocky mountain side with huge rocks jutting out presented an awe inspiring sight.

Cave 1

 The first cave was nothing much to talk about.There were two small caves of about 2 feet diameter. After some distance nothing was visible with darkness engulfing the rest.We moved on to the next cave.

Cave 2

This was bigger with a diameter of about 1.5m. A person could go in on his all fours.The place reeked of bat shit and we turned back in disgust after taking a look inside.The third cave was much better and here I had the most fun.This cave's opening was much bigger and a person could easily enter inside.The guide who was with us bade us to enter it with our mobiles flash light. I turned on mine but it didn't illuminate anything. I then took sanket's xperia and turned on its flash light and slowly went inside. I was the only one who was willing to go inside first.There was another group of people already there and some among them,seeing me going inside followed me. Satya also, soon joined in. I slowly and carefully swept the mobile all around the cave looking at the walls.The guide kept telling me that this particular cave has three sections more(thats why the better circulation of air) and told me to find them. I found the first to my right.
This was very small and I could hear the screeching of bats inside.Also the whole floor was now lined with bat shit and I was standing on it barefoot(eeeew!) because the guide told me that it had religious values and ordered me to remove my shoes.Straight ahead lay the second section.

Cave 3

This was a bit bigger and the guide encouraged me to go ahead. I declined saying there were bats ahead.He ignored that and chided me, asking me if I was afraid to go any further.This annoyed me and I moved ahead further and stopped just at the entrance of the second section.I was at the deepest section where one could go standing upright and without disturbing the bats.The sound of the bats was now very sharp and shrill and I knew going ahead any further would be foolish.(I thought to myself that if I ever want to become batman this would be the best way to overcome the fear of bats) From where I stood,I could see the third section of cave starting from my left.The floor of this cave was covered with water and bat shit mixed. I was the only person here at this point and I felt like in some kind of an adventure movie ,shining my mobile into the dark, looking for something.It felt great! and I was satisfied that all the hard work of climbing up was worthwhile.We spent some time here and since the auto wala, whom we hired was getting angry since we exceeded the time we agreed upon,We started back on our return journey.The climb down was a bit tricky as any slip would result in rolling down the slope.Eventually we reached down and made our way back to the auto. I looked back at the mountain and smiled in satisfaction that my travelling journey in Chhattisgarh has well and truly started.
      While returning to the hostel we made a stop at JSPL Hotel Amantran and had a good and hearty lunch.


In Brief
Singhanpur Caves
23km from Raigarh on Raigarh-Bilaspur Highway.
How to Reach- the last 2km have be covered on foot the rest can be covered with a vehicle.Hire a Guide at the local village or better ask the security guard at the Ram Jharna Eco Park.
Discovered by-C.W.Anderson in 1913
Also heres something from www.cgculture.in
''The first discovery of rock art in Chhattisgarh was made in 1910 by C.W. Anderson, an engineer in the Bengal/Nagpur Railways, ably assisted by C.J. Wellington (from 1910 to 1913). Mention of such work, especially at Singhanpur in Raigarh Dist., was made in 1918 (Anderson, 1918) and subsequently in a few publications. It was followed by the works of P. Brown (1923 a, b; 1953), A.N. Dutta (1927), M. Ghosh (1932), L.P. Pandey (1933), D.H. Gordon (1939), J.P. Gupta (1960, 1967), P. Mitra (1961) and S.K Pandey, (1969) and V.S. Wakankar (1973), adding considerably to our knowledge about rock art in this area''

Restuarants review of Raigarh (Non Veg)

As my last post mentioned I will be spending the next 1 year in Raigarh.Coming from Hyderabad,naturally i miss biryanis.So the first thing I did in raigarh was to check out the non veg 'scene' here.So my friends and me checked out some hotels and I am going to write about them here.Before I do let me point out a few things.The hotels I am going to talk about are all non vegetarian ones and I will be talking about the dishes me and my friends checked out,so even if what we ate was good or bad I am not talking about the whole restaurant in general.With that let me begin with:

1-Hotel Amantran
Location-Chakradhar Marg,near Kelo Bridge.
As far as word of mouth goes I heard that this hotel is the best one in Raigarh.We went there and as for the ambience it is average with a large rectangular dining hall separated with a small waist high wall in the centre splitting the area into two parts.There is an aquarium in the middle.The table and the chairs are bare with somewhat stained tablecloths.
    As I eat only Halal food and it wasn't available here abhishek and myself ordered Fish Masala to go with some plain rice.Satya and Ashwin ordered chilly chicken and Raviteja and praveen ordered Chicken Biryani.
So heres the verdict.The fish masala was excellent and so was the fish curry we ordered later.The chicken Biryani was good and much better than other places we tried it.As for the chilly chicken, satya described it as putting chicken in water mixed with some pepper.That pretty much sums it up.And let me remind you we haven't tried the other items.

2-Tandoori Club
 Location-This hotel is nearby my hostel i.e. at Dhimrapur chowk .
The ambience of this hotel is bare minimum with some standard chairs and tables.As halal meat wasn't available here too, abhishek and myself ordered egg fried rice.It was good. Satya and others tried chicken biryani which was acceptable but not exactly good.There is no seafood available here.Also Veg items are quite good.

3-Hotel Mezbaan
Location-Chandini Chowk
 Some friends of mine recommended this hotel and I had a lot of expectations on this one.The other day we had dinner here.We had something called Chicken chaap and it was quite good but the same coundn't be said about the Chicken Biryani.It was more like pulao with some pieces of chicken thrown in.Half a plate cost Rs 70 and a full plate costs Rs140.Having eaten the Biryanis of Hyderabad,I must say I found rather disappointing.We haven't tried the other dishes but since the main dish which I wanted to be good wasn't so, I had no desire to taste the others.

Bonus-
Hotel Shaheen
Location- Dhimrapur Chowk
This is a small hotel with only a small area available for sitting.This place is always crowded and most of the time one has to stand and eat outside.This hotel is very famous for its sheek,A stick pierced through small pieces of marinated chicken.One stick costs Rs10.Personally I found it to be good but not exactly great.We also ate biryanis but they weren't up to the mark so better avoid it unless you are desperately craving for halal non veg.There are other items on the menu which we haven't tried but I heard are great.Will try it out sometime in the future.

Raigarh(Chhattisgarh) My abode for the next 1 year.

Its been 12 days since I moved to raigarh,Chhattisgarh and things are settling down a bit here in my hostel in Vrindavan Complex near Dhimrapur chowk.I am here to purse a PG program in Thermal Power Plant Engineering at Jindal Institute of Power Technology at Tamnar which is 40 km from my hostel.And I will be staying here for the next one year.
          Before I came,I did my homework on Raigarh and found it be a medium sized city but as seasoned travellers will tell you reading about something can be so different from what you actually see.I was underwhelmed to see the state of the city for the first time.From hyderabad to raigarh was quite a downward junp for me.I am yet to see the whole city but from what I have seen I am disspointed.There are no malls here and not many places of entertainment but anyway heres what I gathered in the last 12 days.
           Raigarh was a princely state before Independance as can be seen from the number of old buildings on the streets.I havent seen the listed buildings yet,will see them at my leisure as I have a whole year at my disposal.And maybe post something about them as i used to do in my
heritage hyderabad blog.The city itself looks small time with very few nice restuarants and Getting Non veg stuff is a bit difficult.Theres a central park built and maintained by Jindal Industries.Thats the area where a lot of street food is available including Kolkatta Rolls,kababs,pani puri etc.The river Kelo flows through the city and the bridge over it ,the Kelo Bridge provides some scope for leisurely walking and timepass.There are two theaters in the city,one of them screens movies from Bollywood and the other screens local movies.Subhash chowk is another area where one can buy stuff ranging from electronics to groceries.This is all I could gather from my initial visits around the city.I plan to make some systematic visits to the city and also to the surrounding areas.More posts to follow.

Top 5 places to visit near Aswapuram (within a range of 25km)

Aswapuram is a village located around 325km form Hyderabad and 125km from Khammam ,the district headquarters of Khammam District. The township of Heavy Water Plant is also located here.My dad is posted here and I have spent my childhood in this colony.The area around here lies dry and barren most of the time but when the monsoons arrive the whole area transforms into a shade of green.Aswapuram is at its best in Monsoon.There are quite a few places around here where small picnics can be held.My dad used to take us around the countryside on his bike and we used to visit lots of places.I still try to explore new places around Aswapuram whenever I go there.

So here goes the top 5 places to visit near Aswapuram(in my opinion) within a range of 20km

1-Check dam at Dummagudem (10km)

     This dam was constructed by the great British Irrigation Engineer, Sir Arthur Cotton at around 1800s.It is located near Amagarpelli village,about 10km from HWPM colony.The dam spans the whole width of the river,providing some beautiful views.It is divided into three stages,the first stage is about 1.5 metres in width upto 3/4th of its total length from where it narrows down to a metre in width,which comprises the second stage.In the third stage the height of the dam reduces allowing some water to flow over it providing a gentle cascade of water.The whole dam can be crossed on foot,when the level of the water is not much.During rainy seasons the water flows over the dam providing some breathtaking views downstream.The downstream area is rocky and provides perfect place to sit and take pictures of the dam.Also it has some shallow areas where one can get down into the water without any fear of depth or flow.Perfect for enjoying the thrill of waterfalls!

My brother's Trip Report

Video of the checkdam

2-Chintriyal (9km)

     This one is an old favorite of the colony people.It is around 9km from colony approached from Gollagudem village.The Godavari river provides the best spot here for some casual playing in the water.The depth of the river is low most of the times.Its gets a bit risky in the monsoon months when the level of the river rises and coming here is not advisable.Earlier there used to be a kacha (mud) road and coming here used to require quite a bit of a determination.Recently a tar road has been laid making the place more accessible.I learnt swimming here,with my dad teaching me.Back in our time it was a big task coming to this spot on our cycles and we thought reaching here was an achievement in itself.

3-Tummalacheruvu Lake (10km)

        Tummalacheruvu as the name suggests(in Telugu) is a lake near the village of Muntikunta.It is a scenic lake nestled in between three hills.Though it looks beautiful all round the year , it is the monsoons which bring out the best.The whole place gets transformed into a sea of different shades of green.As one approaches the lake from the Muntikunta village,one can see a small dam on the right side made to channel the water to the fields for irrigation purposes.One can walk over it to the other side and stroll around for better view points of the lake or maybe just sit somewhere and take in the beauty.The area downstream of the dam also provides some beautiful views.There is a swamp like feel around here albeit with fresh water.This place reminds one of the discovery channel show,Crocodile hunters or some scenes from the movie"anaconda'.Some of my friends and me came here one time to catch a glimpse of a crocodile, someone told us was spotted here.link-

Video of my trip with my friends

4-Regulagundi Lake (16km)

       16km from Aswapuram lies this serene and picturesque lake near PV Colony near manuguru. Often visited by the locals for some relaxation,this lake is also visited by the them to perform some rituals.There is a quaint village around it ,which only adds to the beauty this place already has.There are small streams of water flowing out of the lake at one of the sides and one can splash around in this shallow streams.If one comes prepared  one can spend the whole day exploring the area around it.A must visit!

5-Aswapuram Railway Station(and the area surrounding it) (5km)

  This is the rarely used railway station of Aswapuram.Yes we got one! The area around here is scenic and as with most places around here,the best time is the monsoon season.After the rains theis place is an absolute beauty.The station itself is a single building with no platform.Trains and with which I mean two, usually stop here for 2 mins.This place is purely for the nature lovers.

Some links 

Scenes from around manuguru

In and around Manuguru(Guitar theme: Melodium)

Green...and then some more

Bonus

6-Pump house(near Muntikunta Village)

 This is a pump house located on the banks of river Godavari and is between Muntikunta village and Bhadrachalam.It belongs to ITC bhadrachalam.This place is on a higher altitude than the rest of the area.One can sit and enjoy the mighty Godavari here as the width of the river is very large here.Swimming here is not advisable though.

Nagpur,Maharashtra

The Zero Mile Marker 

I had a chance to visit this city of oranges last month.I had applied for a PG course and the chose the centre of exam as Nagpur.It is 500km from Hyderabad and I started two days before the exam date so that I would have plenty of time to wander and check out the city.I went in AP express and started at 7am in the morning from Secunderabad and reached Nagpur at around 4 in the evening.I had a good idea about the places around the railway station and also the route to the hotel where I was going to stay as I spent a lot of time with google maps before starting.so i had no difficulty in reaching my hotel on foot.It was a distance of around 1km and I was carrying very little luggage so it didn't prove to be a problem.Also walking is the best form of exploring that you can do in any city.My first walk in Nagpur gave me some idea about what to expect.Everything was quiet and there wasn't much traffic here.This city reminded me of Vishakapatam in Andhra Pradesh.
             Anyway I reached my hotel,located in an area known as Mominpura,which was famous in Nagpur as the place to get tasty biryanis.It was quite funny,me coming from the city of biryanis and staying in a place famous for biryani.I spent the first evening of my stay in Nagpur by wandering around the hotel and just exploring the surrounding places and streets.I was tempted to try the lip smacking non veg fare offered by the hotels of Mominpuira but the thought of the exam kept me grounded.
I ate a simple thali meals in a nice little hotel near the main road,Central Avenue and slept early.

Distance from Other cities

I woke up early the next day and walked around 2.5km to reach the Geographical center of India(Zero Mile Marker),marked by the British in the 19th century.There was not much here except a marker and a sculpture of four horses.It was a bit disappointing to see that such an important landmark was tucked in a corner not getting the attention it deserved.I took a pic here and
proceeded to my next and the last item on the list,the City Museum.I had reached there 1 hour earlier than the opening time and I had to spend the time roaming the streets outside. It opened at 10am and I went inside and looked through the many galleries.There was the usual stuff,some finds from excavations in nearby places,stuffed animals,damaged ancient sculptures,paintings,coins,manuscripts,ancient clothing etc, two unique things which I saw here were both, types of guns.One was the depression era American made machine gun.It looked similar to the one used by Johnny Depp in Public Enemies.And the other curious thing I saw was the walking stick gun.It was a gun which looked like a walking stick but had a tiny trigger concealed near the handle.That was all,everything else I saw in other museums.

The City Museum

There are some other minor places of interest in Nagpur like some gardens and lakes but i wasn't interestd in those and moreover I had an exam to write.I already received  some stern warning not to go sight seeing in Nagpur from my family but as usual I ignored them.I wrapped up my visit by 12pm and was back in the hotel by 1 30pm.From there on wards,the rest of my time was spent in studying in my hotel toom.The next day I wrote my exam and returned to my hotel,checked out and went directly to the bus stand.I caught the 5pm express APSRTC bus to Adilabad  and reached there at 8 30pm.I had the best meals of the whole journey in a hotel nearby from the bus stand and caught the 10 30pm non stop super luxury to Hyderabad.I slept as soon as the bus started and woke up only when I was in hyderabad.And thus ended my first self visit outside of Andhra Pradesh.

Ananthagiri hills,Vikarabad,Andhra Pradesh

Bijapur,Karnataka

One of the most underestimated places in the southern region,Bijapur has lots to offer to a
history lover.It has the 2nd largest dome in the world,a fort,a beautiful tomb,one of the
biggest mosques in India and more.
  Last month some of my friends and myself visited bijapur.
Our trip started on the night of 24th april.We boarded a Karnataka RTC bus to Gulbarga at 9
30pm and we reached Gulbarga at around 4am the next day.From there we boarded another bus to
Bijapur.In the morning at around 7 30 am, as we were entering the city of Bijapur I could make
out how dirty it was.No wonder tourists avoided it.I have heard that the norther parts of
Karnataka are very underdeveloped and it showed.Near the central bustand garbage was strewn all
around and pigs were roaming around.It was not the kind of welcome I was hoping for.
Anyway,from the bus stand we wandered around looking for a decent hotel which we found after
some search.We had our breakfast and than took an auto rickshaw to Gol Gumbaz.It was Rs7 per
head if I remember correctly.The sight of Gol Gumbaz lifted my spirits immediately.It was
breathtaking to look at.Right from the moment I saw the Gol Gumbaz in my Hisotory Textbook back
in my 5th class I had a desire to see it with my own eyes and here I was standing in front of  it.It felt awesome!

we made our way inside the Gumbaz where we clicked pics and then went to the top where there was the 'Whispering Gallery'. Here below the dome there is a circular platform going the whole circumference of the dome.Here it is said that if a person just whispers at any pint of the circumference it can be heard at any other point on the circumference.But tell you what,theres no chance of testing this as everyone present was,instead of whisering,shouting at the top of their voice.The sounds kept reverberating inside the dome.Wonder what the inhabitant of the tomb must be thinking.Soon we joined in,Ameen and me just kept shouting only one phrase'masterji pitaji ki patloon ek bilang choti kardo!!'and had lots of fun looking at the amused people!

Outside the Gol gumbaz there were a number of horse driven carriages whose owners or shall I say drivers were offering the tourists present, a ride to seven other tourist spots.We approched one and made a bargain ,Rs250 for a visit to Jama Masjid,Ibrahim Rouza,Jod gumbaz,Chand bowdi,Malik-e-maidan and then back to the bus stand.
And so, we set out on a horse cabby.Our first stop was the Jama Masjid.It was very big and a person inside said that in terms of worshippers capacity it is even bigger than the Jama masjid in New Delhi(which is the Biggest Mosque in India).We sat inside the mosque for some time talking with the middle aged person i mentined above.

    Here I watched an interesting scene.a couple of non muslims entered the mosque and began strolling inside the mosque with their footwear removed.Suddenly the mom realised that her kid was still wearing her sandals.She quickly bent down,removed the toddler's sandals and continued with their walk.I was so touched.She could have easily continued with her walk wihout bothering about the baby's sandals as ,one, there was no one except us and two she was a small child.It was heartwarming to see this and was in such contrast to the stories going around in Hyderabad at that time.(Hyderabad was gripped with mild communal tension at that time) 

From the Jama masjid we mooved on to Jod Gumbaz which has a couple of tombs.Its a Dargah now.
From Jod Gumbaz we went to the Chand Bowdi which is nothing but a reservoir.Nothing

spectacular here.From here we moved on to the next most important thing to visit in Bijapur,

the Ibrahim Rouza.

This is the tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah II (ruled 1580-1627), the fifth king of the dynasty. It

is said that the design for the Ibrahim Rauza served as an inspiration for that of the famous

Taj Mahal.The tomb was very beautiful as well as the mosque on the right side of it.Both are

more or less of the same size.we wandered inside the tomb and gazed at the beautful work on

the walls.

   From here we moved on to the next and the last item on our list,the Malik-e-Maidan,meaning

'owner of the battlefield'.This was supposed to be the biggest medieval cannon in the world.The

cannon's mouth is in the shape of a lion's mouth.The cannon is really huge and I read somewhere that the

person who would fire it ,after lighting it,would jump in a tank of water to escape the

thunderous noise it would make.

We took some pics here and then went off to the bus stand.Here we had something to eat and

then boarded a bus back to Gulbarga.Here rahmath,ameen,layak,shoaib and mudassir stayed back

while I made my way back to hyderabad feeling content on finally visiting a city which was at

one point in history, a rival of the kingdom of Golconda.

A trip to Bijapur,Karnataka