Category Archives: Travel

A book on Bonalu hits the stands

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Travel

Maharashtra Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, poet and folk singer Goreti Venkanna, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister S. Narsing Rao, filmmaker B. Narsing Rao and Press Academy Chairman Allam Narayana launching the book in Hyderabad on Saturday.  

‘It’s not just a book, but a cultural repository’

A coffee table book on Bonalu festival was launched in the city on Saturday by Maharashtra Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao. The book edited by well-known filmmaker and artist B. Narsing Rao has colourful photographs, and it traces the history and evolution of the worship of goddesses in villages.

“Earlier, the worship of village goddesses was looked down upon. It has changed since the formation of Telangana. I don’t want to see this as a book, but as a cultural repository. We scanned through 10,000 photographs to shortlist the ones that you find in the book. It took us nearly three years to come up with this as we collected archaeological evidence about the origins and beliefs,” said Mr. Narsing Rao at the launch.

“Bonalu and other local festivals remained unappreciated earlier. For nearly six decades, the culture was suppressed by a section of people. But it was the ‘cultural torch’ that lit the fire of Telangana movement. Bonalu and Bathukamma were weapons during the agitation,” said Allam Narayana of Telangana Press Academy.

Speaking on the occasion, the Maharashtra Governor stressed on the plurality of the society. “In 1995, the Supreme Court said India is not a theocratic state. Culture and traditions are part of our lives. Books like this highlight the fact that the SC said. But we still need to do a lot to promote Telugu language and culture,” said Mr. Vidyasagar Rao. The 280-page book is priced at ₹3,000.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – March 03rd, 2019

Grand start to Peddagattu Jatara

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Travel

Devotees performing a traditional dance at Peddagattu Jatara in Suryapet district on Monday.   | Photo Credit: Singam Venkataramana a

Authorities are expecting around 20 lakh devotees to attend this year

Regarded as the most-visited temple Jatara after the one in Medaram in Jayashankar district of the State, the biennial Peddagattu Jatara of Lord Shiva’s incarnate – Lingamanthula Swamy, started off with the procession of ‘Devarapette’ on the Magha Purnima (full moon) night here on Sunday.

The divine box ‘Devarapette’ that houses the Yadava deities Lingamanthula swamy, goddess Chowdamma and others, moved from the custodians of the Kesaram village this time.

Sounding the bugle and amid drum beats, village elders, along with Minister for Education G. Jagadish Reddy and Rajya Sabha MP B. Lingaiah Yadav, who shouldered the box, moved it atop the hill.

Fulfilling vows

Nearly 30,000 devotees from in and around Suryapet fulfilled their vows on Sunday and women too completed the ‘basket pradakshina’ on the first day. According to belief, the three pradakshinas with baskets decorated with turmeric, kumkum and flowers, and filled with rice, milk, ghee, coconut, lemon and an empty earthen pot, is for the Lord, seeking protection of one’s livestock.

“The pot filled with bonam is offered on the second day, followed by the celestial wedding ‘Chandrapatnam’ on the third, and vratam and celebrations bring the jatara to an end,” temple executive officer K. Kushalaiah said.

According to him, a devotee footfall of nearly 20 lakh, from the Telugu and southern States, neighbouring Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, is expected this year. And with ₹1.7 crore allotted by the State government, sufficient amenities have been built. The five-day event, besides prayers for the deities, showcases the culture, and through games, folk art, food, rare vocations and numerous stalls selling souvenirs, reminds the daily lives of the country side.

District Collector D. Amoy Kumar and Superintendent of Police R. Venkateswarlu said elaborate arrangements concerning devotee safety and experience are in place. “Preparations have been on for the past one month. As many as 1,200 policemen and an additional 46 CCTVs monitored through a command control centre are keeping vigil of the entire place,” they said.

Local legislator Mr. Jagadish Reddy was enthusiastic about the jatara, beating the drum along with colleagues Kodad MLA Bollam Mallaiah Yadav and MP Lingaiah Yadav.

“The jatara remained nearly unknown before 2014. Only under the TRS, the Lingamanthula Jatara or Gollagattu Jatara got allocations and recognition,” he said. Along with officials and leaders, he offered special prayers, and marking the jatara events he released the book, Peddagattu (Gollagattu) Jatara Charitra.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News>States > Telangana / by Staff Reporter / Durajpally, Suriyapet – February 26th, 2019

Maharashtra’s delicacies right here in Hyderabad

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Travel

People from Maharashtra have always had a strong bond with Hyderabad city.

Hyderabad :

People from Maharashtra have always had a strong bond with Hyderabad city. A significant portion of the state was part of the erstwhile Hyderabad state, and over centuries many people from these areas had migrated to Hyderabad in search of livelihood. The Kacheguda and Sultan Bazar area of the city still has a large number of Marathis, many of whom are third generation residents of the city.

However, it is surprising that there are very few places serving Maharashtrian food in twin cities. There was a Marathi mess at Kachiguda offering meals but it had closed down a few years ago. To fill in this void, Marathi Katta, a 20-seater restaurant offering traditional Marathi food has opened at Bade Chowdi, Ramkote just about a year back. The restaurant is a brainchild of Vishal Phadke and Ambarish Lahankar, whose families had migrated to Hyderabad years ago from Ratnagiri and Marathwada respectively.

They realized that basic Marathi dishes like misal pav, sabudana vada and sabudana khichdi are not available anywhere in the city, and decided to set up a place offering basic Marathi food. The restaurant is located inside a lane at Bade Chowdi, one of the trading centres of the city. While Ambarish’s wife takes care of the kitchen, Vishal looks after the service, and Ambarish concentrates of publicity and marketing. Over time, the menu was expanded to include a large number of Maharashtrian delicacies are available here like Poha, Vada Pav, and Kanda Bhaji.

The typical masalas are brought from different places in Maharashtra. To give an example the Misal Pav masala is brought from Kolhapur. Ambarish mentioned that the recipe of Misal Pav differs from place to place, for example in Pune it is slightly sweet while in Kolhapur it is very spicy. Thalipeeth, the signature delicacy prepared from jowar, wheat flour and besan is another popular dish here which can be savoured with curd or chutney. Pitla Bhakri, the combination of jowar roti and besan ki sabji is a good choice for lunch. On weekends delicacies like Varlela Wangi (stuffed eggplants), Nagpur style Dal Chawal with a typical garlic flavour, and Katachi Amti, a rasam like sweetish dish from Western Marathwada are available. If you wish to taste the Maharashtra style Khichdi you need to drop in on Wednesday.

The desserts include Shrikhand and Puran Poli as well as Aamrakhand during the mango season. In the initial days, the restaurant used to attract mostly Marathis, but Ambarish proudly states that now a significant portion of their customers are from other states. They do put up stalls in various government fairs in the city, and the publicity from these have resulted in people coming from distant areas in the weekend to try out their Marathi food. Ingredients are sometimes a concern, Vishal rues the fact that the quality of pavs available in Hyderabad is not as good as Mumbai. The plans for the future include the introduction of many more dishes as the Maharashtrian cuisine is really vast with variations in every region of the state. Also, since many first-generation migrants for Maharashtra are based in the IT corridor, a branch of the restaurant is planned in Cyberabad in not too distant future.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Sabyasachi Roy Chaudhuri / Express News Service / February 16th, 2019

Finally, a book on the beauty of Warangal

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Travel

Sadhana Ramchander and Lakshmi Prabhala with their book ‘Orugallu to Warangal: Journeys across Time’   | Photo Credit:  Sanjay Borra

‘Orugallu to Warangal’ is a keen and enthusiastic documentation by Lakshmi Prabhala and Sadhana Ramchander

It was in 2006 when Lakshmi Prabhala, then an IT employee commented on a blog posted by Sadhana Ramchander that led to an unexpected friendship. Lakshmi recalls, “It was a post on Bathukamma, about which not much was known then. I asked her if I could tag along with her on her future visits and that’s how we became acquainted with each other.” The association became professional with the release of their book on Hyderabad (Hyd and Seek) in 2015. The duo have recently finished their second book, Orugallu to Warangal: Journeys across Time, which pays an ode to the city and captures succinctly, its rich history, architecture, customs and festivals.

While Sadhana was born and educated in Warangal,, Lakshmi took only one prior trip to the city. Sadhana says, “I’ve lived there for 18 years but at that age you want to see the world. You don’t want to see the world around you. On our school excursions, we went to Ramappa Temple or the Pakhal lake. This book is a discovery even for someone who grew up there.”

The twosome made around 12 trips over the past three years to document the city and the labour of their love is a rich layered book, with spell binding photographs and a thorough documentation of the city and its rich heritage. The idea to document Warangal, Sadhana says came from tourist booklets found in cities abroad. “When you travel, even small cities have dedicated books which present them so beautifully. In India, we are bursting at the seams with history and information but lack the skill to package it well.” she smiles. Lakshmi adds, “Telangana is still a new state and there is a lot of curiosity about it. This is our contribution to India’s youngest state. The fact that there is no book on Warangal added to the interest.”

The duo worked intermittently on the project, juggling it with their professions (Lakshmi is a popular photographer/writer in the city while Sadhana has been running her own publishing support service for 25 years now) writing and shooting pictures for the book. Both the writers are full of stories of Warangal and their travels. Lakshmi says, “The thrill of discovery was exhilarating. The Devuni Gutta temple near Warangal was a miniature Angkor Wat Temple with carvings from the 6th century. I was astounded when I saw it. There were some similarities with Hyderabad too — the landscapes, the rocks and lakes.” Sadhana says that these places were off the track which made their journeys exciting, “Pandavula Guttalu, was a great discovery. In fact, it came to light only in 2006-07 and is full of rocks, caves and pre-historic paintings. The Lakhnavaram forests were full of Naxals, so a lot of these places didn’t see any visitors for decades. Even my relatives and friends who grew up in Warangal were stunned at our finds.”

The book details many visual and performing arts which are still a part of day to day life in the villages surrounding Warangal. From Perini Tandavam (a Kakatiyan era temple dance form), Mandhechu Kathalu (storytelling) to Oggudolu (an energetic folk worship form), the book captures the images and the stories of these art forms succinctly. Lakshmi exclaims, “I got to see so many different facets of the city. For example, I never knew Chindu Yakshagaanam was prevalent in Telangana as I had only read about it being performed in Karnataka. It’s a unique system in which one community depends on the other. Artistes who are patronised by a particular community perform for the entire night for a week for them. It was a surreal experience – away from the technological marvels of the 21st century.”

Climbing hills with strangers, travelling endlessly and taking innumerable notes/images were a part and parcel of their journey. For Sadhana whose mother, Jaya Rao wrote a chapter (Warangal: Then and Now), it was a homecoming of sorts. She adds, “My 83-year old mother was excited about her journeys. She is Warangal’s first woman lawyer and went to the city as a young bride. So, she would add her recollections of the places and was overjoyed when we found new things.” Like in any collaboration, the duo had their share of disagreements. They went through 15 covers and finally decided on a collage as they felt no one picture could capture the essence of the book . Dexterous weaving in the different facets of a city, this book easily juggles Warangal’s past with its present, its arts with its architecture and its festivals with its folklore making it a compendium of sorts, of one of Telangana’s oldest cities.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books> Authors / by Mallik Thatipalli / February 12th, 2019

Robots welcome guests at this new eatery in Hyderabad

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology, Travel, World Opinion

This is not the first such restaurant in the country to have a robot on its staff. The first eatery namely ‘Robot’ was opened in Chennai during November 2017 and started with a team of four ‘AI waiter


‘ROBO KITCHEN’ – The Robot Themed Restaurant first time in Hyderabad, Which Robots serves food to the costumers table from Kitchen what they ordered has been opened at jubliee hills in Hyderabad. (Express|S Senbagapandiyan)

Hyderabad :

The newly-launched Robo Kitchen in Hyderabad is the first-of-its-kind restaurant where customers are greeted by robots. 

“The main attraction of our newly-opened restaurant is that robots will serve food to customers,” Robo Kitchen’s owner Manikanth told ANI.

“We have named the robots as Beauty Serving Robots. So far, we have been receiving great response from the customers, especially from old aged people as they are enjoying a whole new experience as robots are serving food to them.”Robo Kitchen provides a tab on every table for the customer’s comfort. “Guests can easily place an order from their table, which will be received by the chefs working in the kitchen. The food ordering process will complete in the span of two to five minutes,” said Manikanth. The aim is to provide a holistic and pleasing experience to the customers, especially families. The robots need three hours charging to work throughout the day.

“At present, we have four robots. We are in the process of updating their programming so that they can interact with the customers,” stated Manikanth.

This is not the first such restaurant in the country to have a robot on its staff. The first eatery namely ‘Robot’ was opened in Chennai during November 2017 and started with a team of four ‘AI waiters.’ 

A few days ago, Chennai’s Porur also got a smart restaurant where robots not only serve as waiters but also interact with customers in English and Tamil.The eatery located at Mugilivakkam Porur has a team of seven robots designed in blue and white. They welcome customers and serve meals with exotic drinks on tables.A female robot at the reception gives a response to customers’ queries and guides them about their table numbers. The restaurant serves Indo-Asian cuisines. Each robot in the eatery costs about Rs 5 lakh. The hotel staff has been trained and is in touch with manufacturers to tackle any emergency.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by ANI / February 09th, 2019

ASI, GHMC, State unite to secure World Heritage tag for Golconda

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

GHMC is also expected to take up the tricky task of removing wild vegetation in and around the monuments.


The Golconda Fort. (Photo | File/EPS)

Hyderabad :

After more than one unsuccessful attempts to secure the World Heritage Site tag for Golconda Fort and the Qutub Shahi tombs owing to the massive encroachments around the monuments, the State government has now directed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to recover the lost lands in the site’s vicinity, to improve sanitation, and to take up other beautification works.

In a stake holders’ meeting convened earlier this week by Chief Secretary SK Joshi—attended by GHMC, ASI, officials of the District Collectorate, State Government and police — the municipal body was directed to remove ‘a few encroachments’ on Murda Darwaza, GHMC Central Zone Commissioner Musharraf Faruqui told Express.  

Faruqui, who attended the stake holders’ meeting, said, “Our people (at GHMC) have visited the Murda Darwaza area and a survey has been undertaken. Once we get an idea of the number of people who stay there, the kind of livelihood they have and put an estimate into the cost, we will come up with an appropriate rehabilitation programme. In the coming week, along with ASI officials, a final survey will be undertaken.”

GHMC is also expected to take up the tricky task of removing wild vegetation in and around the monuments. “You simply can’t uproot the vegetation because it might cause damage to the monument. It has to be chemically treated before being removed,” Faruqui said, adding that the work will be done under supervision of an ASI-appointed expert.

Water stagnation is the other major focus area, instructed the Chief Secretary, which includes identifying and clearing water stagnation points in the entire fort perimeter. Places like the Darwazas where locals dump garbage and debris, have been identified. Speaking to Express, Director of Department of Archaeology & Museums N R Visalatchy said, “Works to clear the moat where locals dump debris have already started.”

The District Collectorate will assist in taking up surveys and settling land disputes while police will help in maintaining law and order.Officials expect all works to be completed before September which is when officials of the UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre will visit the city for inspection.

Golconda Fort and Qutub Shahi Tombs are part of the ‘Monuments of the Deccan Sultanate’ nomination for World Heritage Site tag made by the central government in 2014. Apart from the two Qutub Shahi monuments from the State, the nominations include Bahmani monuments at Gulbarga in Karnataka, Barid Shahi monuments in Bidar, Karnataka, and Adil Shahi monuments at Bijapur, Karnataka.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Aihik Sur / Express News Service / January 12th, 2019

K&M city souvenirs links landmarks and lives with love

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Travel, World Opinion

A city startup is designing merchandise that tell stories about urban culture, in an offbeat way

When Karthik was working in Malaysia, he was astounded at their collection of memorabilia. Apart from the ubiquitous keychains, magnets and ‘I love KL’ T-shirts, small tin cans on the shelf surprised him. “Tin mining is the oldest in Malaysia; so unless you know a lot about the country tin cans memorabilia didn’t quite make sense to me,” says Karthik.

Karthik Lakshmanan along with Madhusudhan Boga founded K&M city souvenirs to to promote Indian cities and their culture through what he calls their ‘kiraak’ designing. Currently they have over 100 products for five cities — Hyderabad, Amaravati, Chennai, Kerala and Bengaluru.

‘Landmarks, language and lives’ is their design motto.

Karthik explains that each magnet has four elements. For instance, a close observation of a Buddha statue magnet, shows the connect it has to the kings of that era. Other magnets chronicle the city’s evolution with iconic landmarks from different eras.

The concepts aim at ‘standing with an open heart’. “Before opening our mouths to speak, we should first open our hearts. The idea is for people to connect to places, its roots, culture. Some people take some time to do it, some connect instantly. That is where the cultural quotient helps; that’s where the real connection happens. Speaking hastily makes us judgemental; that’s where we begin making boundaries and go back with a very boxed idea of the place and people one visits,” says Karthik.

Their products come in various series. The Indulgence series includes T-shirts, magnets, button badges, name plates, home decor, books, luggage tags, key chains, mugs, and lapel pins. ‘Lite teesko’ (written in Telugu) is one of the messages on a T shirt.

___________________________________
– K&M city souvenirs have a separate set of collection for Andhra Pradesh, Bangalore, Chennai and Kerala.

– Their aim is to make collectibles for each Indian city. The numeric 29 in their website 29km indicates 29 Indian
states and KM stands for their company.

– Their poster collection of Idioms will be made for the south Indian states.
___________________________________

They plan to come up with a series with Exuberance (for art and crafts products) and Fantasy (kids products). “Once we build the connect then gaps and the borders between people, language and culture will reduce. This informs our vision: To make an impact in the world by making tools for the heart that celebrate our culture,” adds Karthik.

A lot of research goes into the design to make it fool-proof. Especially when history is involved and details like using the royalty like the Nizams; saying which, did you know the official shade of the Nizam kings was yellow?” points out Karthik.

This involves the partners touring the cities apart from reading up on that city’s history, people and culture. “A lot of information also comes from interacting with people . this way e also get a feel of the pulse, understand what is trending and will never fade. For instance the word ‘Nakko’. late actor Mehmood had popularised it so much that the moment someone from another city meets a Hyderabadi, they flaunt their ‘nakko’.

The K&M collection is available on www.29km.in.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Prabalika M. Borah / November 30th, 2018

When automated kitchens replicated Hyderabadi chefs

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Travel

At an exclusive live cooking event at the NITHM College on Wednesday, Rational India chefs showcased several authentic Hyderbadi dishes cooked in the SelfCookingCenter India Edition.

Hyderabad :

Chefs from Rational India proved that their SelfCookingCentre India can indeed rustle up the best Hyderabadi cuisine in their automated cooking equipment, perhaps even better than experienced Masterchefs and cooks themselves. Rational India is a Germany-based firm with India operations which is into the field of hot food preparation for professional kitchens and into setting up of mega industrial kitchens across the globe. The company made news earlier this year for being the company behind the food at Ikea home store in the city.

At an exclusive live cooking event at the NITHM College on Wednesday, Rational India chefs showcased several authentic Hyderbadi dishes cooked in the SelfCookingCenter India Edition. “It is possible to prepare dishes like Hyderabadi biryani, mirchi ka salan, chapla pulusu, dum ka murg, dum ki ran, double ka meetha in the our mega kitchen equipment in much lesser span of time, hence saving energy and time”, says Toshit Sharma, National Corporate Chef for the company.

“Around 60 restaurants in Hyderabad are already using Rational in their daily business without compromising on food quality and consistency,” he adds. Rational India organises weekly live cooking events without any obligations for their potential customers.

Speaking before the event, Mithun Suvarna, Sales Director, said that the company could successfully help chefs and hotel cooking staff find a work-life balance without having to compromise on quality. “Many restaurants use our automated kitchen equipments (which are also self-cleaning) in their premises. These easy-to-use equipment not only safe time, but retain quality and hygiene.”

Among Rational’s clients are Akshaya Patra and Iskcon, he informed. Says Pallavi Verma, Marketing Communication for the company, “The event in Hyderabad helped us to drive home the point that automated cooking is indeed tasty, healthy and fast. There is less scope for error and makes the live’s of chefs easier. Today, our kitchens in Ramoji Film City and other such places that attract huge footfalls, have made a huge difference.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / November 29th, 2018

L.B. Nagar sets the new benchmark

Business & Economy, Records, All, Travel

The recently opened Corridor One of the metro is carrying up to 1.25 lakh passengers a day

Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited & L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad have announced on Tuesday that the L.B. Nagar terminal station on Corridor One – Miyapur to L.B. Nagar has crossed the Ameerpet interchange station in having the highest passenger footfall with both entry and exit being 30,000 a day.

Top stations used by passengers are: LB Nagar — entry – 14,145, Ameerpet — 13,974, Miyapur — 10,603, Uppal — 9,719, KPHB — 9,269 and JNTU — 8,493 as on Monday when the total number of passengers on all the trains have been 1. 90 lakh of which 1.77 lakh are paid passengers.

Corridor One has became operational last month and it is carrying upto 1.25 lakh passengers a day with trains being run at 3.5 minutes frequency during the peak hours, 6.5 minutes when the rush is slightly less and eight minutes during the non-peak hours in this section, according to HMR MD N.V.S. Reddy. L&TMRH MD & CEO K.V.B. Reddy informed that every day 248 trips are being run on Corrdior One while it is 266 trains on the partially opened Corridor Three – Nagole to Ameerpet.

Altogether 550 trips are being undertaken by the metro trains in the twin directions and the number of passengers on Corridor Three is about 50,000 now. Metro rail authorities are running 21 three coach trains between L.B.Nagar (29 km) and Miyapur and 12 three-coach trains between Nagole to Ameerpet (17 km) everyday thereby running 33 trains in total.

The duo along with other senior metro rail officials, including Chief Operating Officer Anil Kumar Saini and others participated in a coordination meeting held at HMR Bhavan. The officials discussed the passenger rush, amenities and other issues of the transport system. They were of the opinion that barring a few complaints, the passengers have been having a good run in the metro trains in the 46-km. made operational and appealed to the citizens to make use of the services extensively.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – October 24th, 2018

A flourishing trade centre revisited

About Telangana, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

A bird’s eye view of Peddabonkur village of Karimnagar district.


Coins, terracotta beads, pearls, semi-precious stones unearthed at Peddabonkur village of Karimnagar

The Hussain Miyan Vagu, a tributary of Godavari, flows beside the largely agriculture village of Peddabonkur in Karimnagar district. But 20 centuries ago, it was a flourishing trade centre.

“The vagu (stream) might have been a source of water for the village that flourished in the 1st and 2nd century. The village had flourishing trade centre during Satavahana rule and later in Chalukya times,” says N.R. Visalatchy of the Department of Archaeology and Museums (DAM). The Satavahanas ruled between 1 BCE and 2 CE in a region that now stretches over Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra while the Eastern Chalukyas ruled between 7th and 12 century.

The DAM recently finished excavation of the Satavahana era site and a vast trove findings about 922 artefacts were discovered in one layer. The excavation throws a new light on the Satavahana era and the trade links of the village in the interiors of Karimnagar. The coin hoards unearthed include punch marked coins dating to pre-Satavahana era, variants of Satavahana coins, Eastern Chalukyan coins, Pallava coins and one Chola coin. “The coin collection makes me believe that the village was continuously inhabited for a long time and had trade relations with many places in the country,” says Ms. Visalatchy who led the excavation team. Besides agricultural produce and cattle trade; the village had a tradition of textile manufacture. Needles, knives and nails have been uncovered at the site.

It is not just the trade links that formed a key part of the findings at Peddabonkur. Among the artefacts are 500 terracotta beads. “We recovered 50 tiny pearls from the site. The pearls are very small and the technique for drilling a hole through them and stringing them would be worth researching,” said Ms. Visalatchy.

Among the other findings from the site are jade, jasper, shell bangles besides crystal and semi-precious stones. The findings also include amalkha gold foil work, the ribbed shape of amla, for ear rings.

From a historical perspective, this was one of the biggest finds during the archaeological season for the DAM. A report cataloguing the finds as well as the historical context has been sent to the Government of India.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Serish Nanisetti / Hyderabad – October 20th, 2018