Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The tombs are an easy walk from the fort; alternatively, take bus 80S or 142K, or an
autorickshaw (about ?30). From town, take bus 142M from Nampally or Setwin bus 66
from Charminar.
HISTORIC SITE
Paigah Tombs
(Santoshnagar; 10am-5pm)
The aristocratic Paigah family, purportedly descendents of
the second Caliph of Islam, were fierce loyalists of the nizams, serving as statespeople,
philanthropists and generals under and alongside them. The Paigahs' necropolis, in a quiet
neighbourhood 4km southeast of Charminar, is a small compound of exquisite mauso-
leums made of marble and lime stucco. The main complex contains 27 tombs with intric-
ate inlay work, surrounded by delicately carved walls and canopies, stunning filigree
screens with geometric patterning and, overhead, tall, graceful turrets. The tombs are
down a small lane across from Owasi Hospital. Look for the Preston Junior College sign.
The Paigah Tombs
(?20) booklet is sold at the AP State Museum, but not here.
Moula Ali Dargah
The top of Moula Ali hill has spectacular views of the cityscape, cool breezes and a dar-
gah with an ornate interior covered in thousands of tiny mirrors. The dargah is also filled,
it is said, with healing blessings. It all started one night in 1578, when an ill member of
the Qutb Shahi court dreamt that Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed, visited
the hill. The next day, not only was he cured, but Ali's handprints were found there, and
the sultan immediately built a dargah over the prints and a mosque. Today, the hill is a pil-
grimage site for the sick as well as one of the city's most dramatic sights, a smooth solid-
rock mound towering 600m over the city (via 484 steps - avoid the midday heat).
The hill has an eastern approach, too, adjacent to the recently restored
mausoleum
of Mah
Laqa Bai (1768-1824), a poet, courtesan and powerful member of the courts of the second
and third nizams.
Moula Ali hill is about 10km northeast of Secunderabad. Frequent buses run from
Secunderabad bus stand to the ECIL stop, as does bus 136H from Nampally. ECIL is 2km
from the hill.
SACRED SITE
MUSEUM
Salar Jung Museum
(
www.salarjungmuseum.in
;
Salar Jung Marg; Indian/foreigner ?10/150; 10am-5pm Sat-Thu)
The huge and
varied collection, dating back to the 1st century, was put together by Mir Yusaf Ali Khan
