The way she sings is too good. I am hooked to this song for the past week.
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Sunday, May 5, 2019
Birla planetarium and temple in Hyderabad
Yesterday we decided to visit Birla Temple. It has been on our to-do list for quite some time. The initial plan was to leave at around 5 from Gachibowli, arrive temple at 6 and then visit ISKON temple after a couple of hours and return after 9 PM as both places close then. Of course, I didn't consider traffic and long queues :-)
After much cajoling from my wife, I decided to let go of my afternoon siesta and left at around 4:20 PM. The drive is cutting through the city and thus was somehow crowded. At one place we saw a burning bullet (motorcycle) on the mid road. It was properly parked and was burning like hell. Many people were taking selfies and pictures. I was scared that it may burst, so I sped along.
Anyways after a missed turn and taking help from several pedestrians (In India Google Maps will only help you up to some extent), I was able to reach Birla temple area. Mind you it is on a hilltop and being a weekend it was very crowded. Luckily Birla center has a decent parking space.
The place where I had parked was Birla Planetarium and museum. The planetarium has fixed show timings. And shows are in various languages. Next available show was at 6 PM, but it was full. Then at 6:30 it was in the Telugu language, which I am yet to learn. So I took tickets for 7:45 PM show.
Then we went to see the museum. Fortunately, photography and videography are strictly banned here. So everyone is looking at scientific artifacts. There is a special section called Dinosarium where they have a fully constructed fossil of Dinosaur excavated in Adilabad Andhra Pradesh. It also has a fossilized egg from Gujarat. Totally worth the visit. The lower level of museums has a model of the submerged city of Dwarka and many scientific artifacts.
By the time we were done from museum, it was 7 PM. Initially, we thought to visit the temple and then be back by 7:30 in time to see planetarium. But better sense prevailed and we finally settled for seeing planetarium.
This was our first visit. It is a domed structure in which the audience is sitting in a reclining position and projection is done on the dome above. The show is about traveling through the solar system and then beyond. If you have never seen one such show, you must see one. Very close view of planets and galaxies will mesmerize you and open your eyes towards the vastness of space.
When the show ended it was almost 8:20. Birla temple looked stunningly beautiful from there. My phone camera is not justifying it here.
You cannot take mobile devices inside the temple. It has to be deposited at the locker center. Being the almost end of time there was a rush and queue. After depositing our phones we started climbing up the stairs. Temple is made of white marble. For elderly and disabled there is a lift facility. Temple is of Lord Vishnu. We had to move along in queue for almost 30 minutes. Being on top of the hill and at night a gentle breeze was flowing, which made this wait pleasant. The view of the Hussainsagar lake and necklace road is amazing.
The crowd was chanting "Govinda, Govinda". Finally, we entered the inner temple and got a chance to see the main idol. My son quipped that we had to wait for so long for 2-minute darshan.
After collecting our mobile phones, we had a double dose of sugarcane juice which energized us for the drive home. By the time we reached home it is was a quarter to 11. Visit to ISKON temple is for some other time.
After much cajoling from my wife, I decided to let go of my afternoon siesta and left at around 4:20 PM. The drive is cutting through the city and thus was somehow crowded. At one place we saw a burning bullet (motorcycle) on the mid road. It was properly parked and was burning like hell. Many people were taking selfies and pictures. I was scared that it may burst, so I sped along.
Anyways after a missed turn and taking help from several pedestrians (In India Google Maps will only help you up to some extent), I was able to reach Birla temple area. Mind you it is on a hilltop and being a weekend it was very crowded. Luckily Birla center has a decent parking space.
The place where I had parked was Birla Planetarium and museum. The planetarium has fixed show timings. And shows are in various languages. Next available show was at 6 PM, but it was full. Then at 6:30 it was in the Telugu language, which I am yet to learn. So I took tickets for 7:45 PM show.
Open space in front of museum
Planetarium
Then we went to see the museum. Fortunately, photography and videography are strictly banned here. So everyone is looking at scientific artifacts. There is a special section called Dinosarium where they have a fully constructed fossil of Dinosaur excavated in Adilabad Andhra Pradesh. It also has a fossilized egg from Gujarat. Totally worth the visit. The lower level of museums has a model of the submerged city of Dwarka and many scientific artifacts.
By the time we were done from museum, it was 7 PM. Initially, we thought to visit the temple and then be back by 7:30 in time to see planetarium. But better sense prevailed and we finally settled for seeing planetarium.
This was our first visit. It is a domed structure in which the audience is sitting in a reclining position and projection is done on the dome above. The show is about traveling through the solar system and then beyond. If you have never seen one such show, you must see one. Very close view of planets and galaxies will mesmerize you and open your eyes towards the vastness of space.
When the show ended it was almost 8:20. Birla temple looked stunningly beautiful from there. My phone camera is not justifying it here.
Temple view from the planetarium
You cannot take mobile devices inside the temple. It has to be deposited at the locker center. Being the almost end of time there was a rush and queue. After depositing our phones we started climbing up the stairs. Temple is made of white marble. For elderly and disabled there is a lift facility. Temple is of Lord Vishnu. We had to move along in queue for almost 30 minutes. Being on top of the hill and at night a gentle breeze was flowing, which made this wait pleasant. The view of the Hussainsagar lake and necklace road is amazing.
The crowd was chanting "Govinda, Govinda". Finally, we entered the inner temple and got a chance to see the main idol. My son quipped that we had to wait for so long for 2-minute darshan.
After collecting our mobile phones, we had a double dose of sugarcane juice which energized us for the drive home. By the time we reached home it is was a quarter to 11. Visit to ISKON temple is for some other time.
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