India 4: Hyderabad? Hydera-good, I'd say [pause for laughter]

At the beginning of August, I took a whirlwind tour of southern India, spending a few days each in Hyderabad, Chennai (Madras), and Kerala. I will cover each of them separately, so we'll start off where I did: Hyderabad!

Hyderabad proved a special treat, because I got to reconnect with Neha, a friend whom I first met nearly ten years ago, at the Baptist Campus Ministry of my undergraduate alma mater, Western Kentucky University. Neha was one of the first international students I met through BCM, and I went on to serve in the BCM's international student ministry for the next six years as I completed my undergraduate and master's degrees. Neha had graduated from WKU after my freshman year, so it was a delight to reconnect after a long time.

Neha works in the tech industry, which is the bedrock of Hyderabad's economy (along with filmmaking; Hyderabad is the center of Telugu-language films, making it Tollywood to Mumbai's Bollywood). Along with Bangalore, Hyderabad serves as one of the chief tech centers in India, earning it the reputation of India's Silicon Valley. Driving around Hyderabad, you find every major  multinational represented with a high-rise office building, from Google to pharmaceuticals.

The Buddha Statue from a distance

Another claim to fame for Hyderabad is hosting the world's largest monolith statue (that is, from a single stone) of the Buddha! For some reason, in the 1980s the region's Chief Minister wanted to have a big statue of Buddha, and by golly he got it. In place since 1992, the statue stands 58 feet tall in the middle of Hussain Sagar, a man-made lake built in 1563, which separates Hyderabad from its sister city, Secunderabad. Neha and I visited the lake and the statue on Saturday evening after my arrival.

Neha and I with the giant Buddha.

From inside Golkanda Fort

On Sunday, Neha took me to Golkonda Fortress, a sprawling complex of palaces and fortifications dating from the 1500s, when Hyderabad and its environs were ruled by the Qutb Shahi dynasty, before the Mughal Empire conquered the territory in 1687. The complex is truly beautiful, and it offers a wonderful view of Hyderabad.

Looking down from the fort.

And looking up at the fort.

On Monday, we had a full day of further treasures in Hyderabad. First up was the Salar Jung

Mark in the Salar Jung pose.

Museum, one of India's great museums. It houses an immense collection of Indian artifacts, artwork, and handicrafts, bought by the eponymous Salar Jung, who was one of the ruler of Hyderabad's prime ministers (more on the ruler of Hyderabad a bit later). The museum became a national museum in 1951.

The collection is incredibly large, so I will just highlight a few of the things which caught my eye there.

These carvings, each from a single elephant tusk.

My favorite of the ivory tusk carvings.

A vast menagerie of canes, with colorful handles.

As well as some weapon canes: several of these handles pull out as blades, or tiny pistols.

A truly innumerable collection of Indian blades, just some of which are shown here.

This was in a whole room devoted to wooden toys, but I like the arrangement of all the elephants.

Chowmahalla Palace, seat of the Nizams of Hyderabad

Now speaking of the ruler of Hyderabad...Hyderabad was one of the largest, and richest, of what were called the "princely states" under Britain. That is, rather than being directly ruled by the British, Hyderabad retained its "native ruler": Hyderabad had declared its independence from the Mughal Empire, which ruled most of current-day India before the British, in 1764, but came under British "protection" in 1805. This meant that the Nizam retained nominal independence, but with a Britsih resident supervising control of the realm. That nominal independence did, however, allow the Nizams to become some of the wealthiest people in the world. Also, when British India became independent in 1947, Hyderabad along with the other "princely states" didn't necessarily join, or at least not at first. Most of the princely states negotiated a transfer into India by 1948, but two had a rougher time: Hyderabad, which Indian soldiers invaded in September 1948; the other, Jammu and Kashmir, has remained a source of tension between India and Pakistan ever since its Hindu ruler opted to join India, against the wishes of its majority Muslim population.

All that to say, Neha took me to the Nizam's palace in Hyderabad, called Chowmahalla Palace, which is now a museum. (The Nizam's descendants now mostly live in France; Indira Gandhi stripped the former princes and royal families of their stipends and titles in 1972.) It is a truly beautiful place, with lovely gardens, and like Salar Jung Museum, lots of collections.

Arms in the collection at Chowmahalla

So many swords

View of the Palace from a courtyard.

The extensive collections speak to the Nizam's great wealth, as does the collection of vintage automobiles, one of the Nizam's prized possessions. The last car in the collection was a Buick from 1947.

View of the pool and gardens at Chowmahalla

A sitting room. Tea, anyone?

Neha even got a photo of me in the royal surroundings:

As this is coming out on Thanksgiving back in the States, I really can't say enough how thankful I am to Neha, who was a perfect host in Hyderabad. I'm also thankful to the faithfulness of Kentucky Baptists, whose gifts and hard work made (and make) the Baptist Campus Ministry a great place to meet people from all over the world. I honestly believe my interest in world affairs would not have grown to the degree it has without the influence of BCM, and especially of the many friends which BCM allowed me to make.

***
Two videos today: one serious, one amusing. (Or maybe both amusing, if you like old-timey news announcers.)

The first is a video recording the Indian invasion and occupation of Hyderabad in 1948, an often forgotten episode in the creation of the modern Republic of India:

The second was brought to mind by the parrot-topped cane in the museum, which immediately made me think of Mary Poppins' umbrella in the film. (Apparently one can't embed such a video, so you'll have to follow the link.) And it's always a good time to go fly a kite: https://youtu.be/g89NxTTycxc?t=2m53s