Bidar Trip

Location: Hyderabad

Destination: Bidar

Day 1 Bidar – 6^th December, Saturday

We boarded an N.E.K.R.T.C bus near Shaikpet by 8:45AM*; a happy couple, we breakfasted and reached Bidar by noon. Witnessing a Punjabi wedding baraat procession marked our entry into the Central Bus Station (CBS).

On reaching, we went in search of a hotel and checked in to Aditya Lodge as the hotels which we had looked up in the internet, Mayura Hotel and Shiva International, were fully booked due to the Punjabi wedding. We lunched at an Udupi hotel.

We took a bus to Narasimha Zarani Cave Temple, being a Saturday, it was heavily recommended by folks at the lodge as well as the hotel, that we have a darshan.

After depositing our bags and spare clothes (which is a must-take) in the locker room, we waited for almost two hours in queue, in the scorching heat before stepping into the cool water inside the cave (which was muddy, by the way). The waterway leading to the temple is almost 4 feet deep; we waded through, with devotees, floating puris and cockroaches for company (this is why the temple closes by 6pm). It was quite a thrilling experience. J
Bathed and changed in the temple premises and on our way back to the bus stop, we stopped for refreshing lemonade and pineapple juice.
Boarded, rather, stuffed ourselves into the extremely crowded half-hourly bus back to CBS.

We headed to the Gurudwara after having piping hot tea at Sree Durga.
The approach road to the Gurudwara is quite a dark and steep descend. Inside, we found a colourful fountain, a carpeted prayer hall, water for washing the feet at every major structure/shrine, a huge building called the Guru Gobind Yatri Nivas, a dining hall (Langar) and well maintained gardens and courtyards. Tasty prasaad similar to the tambram 'thiruvaathira kali' loaded with ghee was being distributed in the prayer hall. The Gurudwara is famous for the Amrit Kund – a perennial fountain of clear sweet water.

We had dinner at Rohit restaurant, the pudina chutney was different and delicious (a must-have, I say), haribari roti and butter roti, paneer labab(i)dar and washed it down with yummy buttermilk and lassi.
   
Day 2 Bidar – 7th December, Sunday

We checked out and headed for a tea at yesterday's Sree Durga Family Restaurant who disappointed us today with the taste. Maybe the regular chaiwala there took an off on Sunday!

Set off on foot for the Gurudwara, took a few photos as our camera could capture good photos in natural sunlight. We had breakfast at the Langar where chappathi, green dal, aloo and chaawal were served.

Arch marking the approach road to the Gurudwara

Once again took the steep climb up towards the town, re-energized ourselves with a cup of delicious tea from tea point, compensating for the morning chai, and walked along satisfied.

We took an auto to the clock tower (choubara), madrasa and Bidar fort.  All of these spots are now archaeologically protected and have been declared as a heritage spot. The architecture dates back to the 15^th Century AD, the period of the Bahmani kings. The Mahamud Gawan Madrasa is partially destroyed, though one can still find fragments of tile work and marble inlay work and Quarani writings on the walls.

Inside the Bidar Fort, there is the Bronze canon, Solah Masjid – the mosque where the Mughal King Aurangzeb offered prayers to his father on conquering Bidar.

The old fort, partly in ruins, is said to have many underground passages leading to Hyderabad and other cities, though we were very much game to take that route back home, much to our dismay, they were gated and sealed, as were most of the structures inside such as the diwan-i-khaas and diwan-i-aam. The roads inside the fort run upto 5.5 kms, so you can imagine how big and strong a fort that would’ve been! Our photographer-cum-guide-cum-auto driver told us that a song (‘Ishq Sufiyana’) from The Dirty Picture has been shot in the fort.

We also wanted to visit the Rangeen Mahal, apparently it’s not open to public and one needs to take permission in advance.

We bought token curios of Bidari work from near the old fort area. The work is expensive yet intricate since the carvings are made of silver on zinc. (Husbands beware!)

Curios of Bidari work

We headed next to Papanash Shiva temple which is around 2km from the central bus stand. En-route to the temple is a park, which did not find a place on our agenda as it was a sunny day.
We lunched at Sree Durga and waited for bus at CBS. Since it was a Sunday, the buses to Hyderabad were heavily crowded, especially the A.P.S.R.T.C ones, we decided to skip a few crowded ones. As the wait and heat had both tired us, we went to Rohit Restaurant again for their wonderfully refreshing buttermilk.
At around 3:45 PM, fighting our way through, we landed ourselves seats in 'Suhas' bus (which goes from Hyd to Blr), reaching the city by around 7:00PM.

Overall, we felt Bidar was a secular place, with its mosques, churches, age-old temples and gurudwara, with each place having a tale to tell. It was definitely a good weekend getaway!

*Buses to Bidar usually depart from BHEL, Lingampally or MGBS at Hyderabad.