HYDERABAD Once upon a time !: February 2010

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Red Fort

Red Fort in Delhi from the Curzon Collection, taken by Lala Deen Dayal in the 1890s

VT Station Mumbai

This is victoria terminus the picture was taken some where between 1878-1879...

VT Station Mumbai

This is victoria terminus the picture was taken some where between 1878-1879...

India first railway

In India first railway was built between Mumbai and Thane in 1852 and the first passenger train ran between the two stations, covering a distance of 34 km, on April 16, 1853.

Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi

An aerial view of Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi , built between 1650 and 1658.

Swami Vivekanand

Swami Vivekanand at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893

President's palace and the Parliament

A rare view of the President's palace and the Parliament building in New Delhi .

A group of Dancing or nautch girls

A group of Dancing or nautch girls began performing with their elaborate costumes and jewelry.

The daughter of an Indian maharajah seated on a panther she shot, sometime during 1920s.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Photograph of a main street in Hyderabad, looking towards the Char Minar, taken by Deen Dayal in the 1880s. This is from the Curzon Collection: 'Views of HH the Nizam's Dominions, Hyderabad, Deccan, 1892'. Hyderabad was founded beside the River Musi in 1591 by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (r.1580-1612) as an alternative to his capital at Golconda. The town was laid out in a grid pattern with two main roads running east to west and north to south; the Char Minar sits at the intersection of these two roads. The Char Minar, or Four Towers, was built in 1591 to mark the centre of the city. This ceremonial structure comprises four imposing arched portals with arcaded storeys and geometric screens above. The four corner minarets are crowned with domical finials. They contain spiral staircases opening onto triple tiers of balconies.