* The Glorious History of Telangana Submerged Under Government Apathy

Telangana has a rich history of 3000 years, and this can be seen in the ruins that dot the districts of Warangal, Hyderabad and Nalgonda. The tourism potential of Telangana is immense, it is bestowed with a bounty of cultural and religious relics and natural landscapes for adventure sports. Alas, none of this has been advertised and publicized till date. For the successive Seemandhra Government’s, tourism ministers the tourist potential in Telangana started with the Charminar and ended with the pearls in Hyderabad, with a minor mentions of the Warangal fort and Salarjung Museum. Contrast, this with the way Vishakapatnam has been touted as a must visit tourist spot in Andhra Pradesh with its Arukku valley and Borra Caves.

In the last few decades the number of tourists visiting Vishakapatnam, Vijayawada, and Chittor has increased at more than double the rate for Warangal and Nalgonda combined. Warangal has a rich tapestry of historical relics, the architectural marvel of the 1000 pillar temple, the Warangal fort, and the beauty of the stone carvings in Ramappa temple, it has the potential to attract both foreign and domestic tourists. How many people in the country know of Nagarjuna Sagar Konda? It is a manifestation of mans efforts to save his history and provide for water security of his progeny. It can with a little effort be integrated into the Buddhist circuit, resulting in attracting the hordes of Buddhist pilgrims. Promoting tourism in Telangana, would have enriched the State and provided a decent standard of living to its citizens. But, this subject has never even been brought up by successive Seemandhra Governments of AP. Forget investing in the tourism potential of the Telangana region, the Andhra Government is hell bent on destroying the very edifices that can earn revenue for the State of Telangana.

The Government in its haste to develop the connectivity to Vijayawada, has gone ahead with starting work on building a 4 lane highway connecting it to Hyderabad. This Highway will wipe out 26 historically significant archeological monuments. Beginning with the ‘kos minars' or milestones from the Qutub Shahi dynasty, Chalukyan and Kakatiya period temples, mosques from the Mughal era, which can be creatively packaged and sold as a “Highway Tourism Project” will be turned to dust. Most important of all, there’s a 13th century Shiva temple from the Kakatiya period, located just before Chityal, in Warangal having a ‘garba gruha', ‘arthamandapa', ‘maha mandapa' and a four-pillared ‘Nandi mandapa', a part of the temple is buried under the existing road, and needs to be excavated. The government instead of saving this monument is intent on burying it still deeper into eternity by running a bull dozer over it.

I have seen places in India and abroad with far less to see but packaged as the ultimate destinations for travelers looking at a flavor of ancient culture. Tourism in Telangana, is never been a subject of debate or interest, but it can bring undreamed of prosperity to a State, witness Rajasthan, Kerala and now Gujarat. However, these states have been promoted by their leaders, none of them have been crushed into the dust like the history and culture of Telangana.

Tourism for Telangana the 29th state of India, will be one of the main sources of revenue, and it is incumbent upon us to safe guard our monuments and heritage, and force the abandonment of this Hyderabad-Vijayawada 4 land highway.
JAI TELANGANA
JAI JAI TELANGANA