Quick ride to Medak

 

That was really a super quick ride to Medak. When I came to Hyderabad two years back, the only places known to me was Charminar, Golconda Fort and such famous tourist places. Its after a while I realized, there are other beautiful places to dig on, which is less intervened by humans. As I started exploring them, list went on and on. This is one such place which was on my list.

We started by afternoon, catched up NH44 via ORR from Uppal. After riding around 110 km, for nearly 2 hours we reached Medak town. Town was kind of busy at the time we reached.

A view of Medak Town

Our first stop was at Medak Fort. The road shown in google map was undergoing some maintenance works. Searching for an alternate route we ended up in a local market.
 

It was during my recent trip to Srisailam, I got a chance to visit the tribal museum from where I came to know about the tribals living in Telangana and surrounding places. I was obsessed with their way of living and mostly their traditional attires with splendid colours, mirror works and bangles. Though we ended up in a wrong route here, I was so happy when we spotted these women in the street.

A local market near the Medak Fort

Google was showing only this busy road, which was very difficult to traverse through with a car. So we enquired to the local people. As we were asking about Kota(Telugu word for Fort), they were hearing as court. There is a court nearby, so be sure to ask Kota clearly, or else you will end up in court.

We took an alternative route and reached our destination - The Medak Fort. There is no entry charge or timings or security for this once owned Nizam fort. It's an open myriad.

Just while climbing the steps to the fort, there was Haritha hotel. Once it was part of the fort, Mubarak Mahal, which Telangana Tourism, converted it into a heritage hotel. There are only 4 rooms. So if you have plans to stay, reserve in advance.

Throughout climbing up the fort, we can see the Medak town in full glory.

View from the Medak Fort

Though the fort is spread over an area of 100 acres and elevated at about 90 metres height, you won't feel much tiredness. Hills are not that steep as Bhongir fort, you will be knowing that if you have climbed before.

There were not many people on the day we went. It was almost isolated. Throughout our expedition, these monkeys were accompanying us, making scary sounds. It looked like they didn't like our arrival to the fort.

The history of the fort dates back to the 12th century. It was built during the reign of Kakatiya ruler Pratapa Rudra I, which served as a command outpost, which was carried over to Bahamanies and Qutb Shahis as time passed. The fort which is in ruins now has witnessed battle scenes for almost five centuries.

Simha Dwaram aka Lion entrance to the fort

You can enjoy the ruined fort which is a blend of Hindu and Islamic architecture and the picturesque view of the landscapes.

Gaja Dwaram aka Elephant entrance  to the fort

There is a mosque at the top of the fort built by the Qutb Shahis in the 17th century. At present, there is a police outpost and transmission towers on the top of the fort.

Mosque built by Qutb Shahis on the top of Fort

The district is marked as a part of the red corridor.

The other side of the fort was filled with paddy fields. On the way also we could enjoy the green fields throughout the journey.

View from the top of the Fort

You can also spot a cannon on one of the sides of the fort. It took more than 1 hour for us to explore the fort followed by the mandatory photo session.

We started to Medak church which is around 2 KM from the fort. We could spot the church from the top of Fort, amidst the green cover of trees.

Entrance to the Medak Cathedral

The church which was built in 1924, is one of the largest churches in India. The Medak diocese is the single largest diocese in Asia and the second in the world after the Vatican. Church timings are from 05.00 AM to 06.00 PM.

  

The architecture of the church is in gothic style. Its an architectural style prevailed in Europe having characteristics such as pointed arches, the vaulting supported by intersecting arches and the flying buttress. I have visited another palace built in gothic style in Hyderabad named Asmangarh Palace.

Side view of Medak Church

As we had to visit Pocharam Dam also, we didn't spent much time in the church. It was already getting dark. We drove to the reservoir which is 16 KM away from the church.

Pocharam wildlife sanctuary is on the way, before reaching the dam. While we were heading to the Reservoir, we could spot many peacocks on the roadside itself.

Sun was settling down by the time we reached. Except some students from a college who came for a day trip, no one was there, except us.

That's Me 😎

The reservoir is constructed across the Allair River, it's a tributary of Manjira River. Heard that in Monsoon, water will be overflowing through the check dam and we can walk over the dam through the flowing water. But its summer time now. 

We walked over the dam which is around 1 Km to reach the other end. One has to be careful not to walk on the edges. Be a little more careful with children, if accompanying.

There is also a bungalow of Nizam's built near to the dam which now is called as Ghost Bungalow. Can you spot the bungalow left side of the picture??

The student gang left after some time, and we were left in that isolated place. Some people were fishing in the river. Post monsoon will be the best time to visit the dam.

  

As it was getting more darker and didn't have the plans for staying over, we started coming back. We didn't go inside the abandoned bungalow. What if really ghosts are there inside 🤤 ??

Nizams Bungalow near the Pocharam Reservoir

The bungalow was built in 1918 AD, which is now abandoned. Bungalow looked really scary in the dawn light and silence of the surroundings added more to it.

People from various clubs do night camping here. Adventurists can give it a shot.

It was a short picnic to Medak, enjoying the evening. We missed going to the sanctuary. So I suggest to start a little early to have a glimpse of animals and birds in the sanctuary or to stay overnight to witness a sunrise with the chirping birds from the usual city buzzing.