Google to launch Street View for Indian monuments tomorrow, BGR India

By: Rajat Agrawal| Oct 2nd, 2013 BGR India

Extract: Google will officially launch Street View in India tomorrow albeit with a caveat. Instead of launching Street View of regular roads and localities, it will be limited to 100 monuments in India that people will be able to visit virtually from their PCs. Earlier in July, we had reported about Google’s Street View team hitting the Charminar in Hyderabad.

Image from google-street-view.com:




Much more:

• http://google-street-view.com/view-google-street-views-on-a-map/
  
• Google Street View team lands in India to climb atop the Charminar

Define Hyderabad by its Monuments

Extract from Postnoon | January 18, 2013 :

With the 28th Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress (APAO) beginning in the City on Thursday, delegates from across the world are expected to turn up for the meet. We tell them what Hyderabad is all about:

QUTUB SHAHI TOMBS

CHOWMAHALLA PALACE

CHARMINAR

GOLKONDA FORT

ANANDA BUDDHA VIHARA

HUSSAINSAGAR, TANK BUND

TAJ FALAKNUMA PALACE

SALAR JUNG MUSEUM

On the same shelf:

• A peek into Hyderabad’s rich past Deccan Chronicle by Syed Akbar
• The Hyderabad Deccan Nizam State Photos (IN 1948) Before INDIA Independance cityrockz.com
• Photos early Hyderabad This page is maintained by Prof. Emerita Frances Pritchett, Columbia University
• Select monuments of Hyderabad (Archaeological series)
  V. V Krishna Sastry
• Architecture and Art of the Deccan Sultanates (The New Cambridge History of India)
  George Michell
• 400 Year Old Historic Charminar Monument in Hyderabad India - 18"W x 11"H - Peel and Stick Wall Decal by Wallmonkeys
  Wallmonkeys Wall Decals
• In search of monuments: An atlas of Hyderabad's protected monuments
  S. P Shorey
• The Tombs of the Kalhora Chiefs at Hyderabad
  Siddique G. Memon (Hyderabad, Sinch, Pakistan)
• Hyderabad : a city of mesmerizing monuments  -- Google Books
• List of inscriptions on tombs or monuments in H.E.H. the Nizam's dominions,: With biographical notes (Indian monumental inscriptions)
  O. S Crofton
• Architecture and Art of the Deccan Sultanates (The New Cambridge History of India)
  George Michell

Hyderabad Charminar in Bukhara

Charminar beautification project 'shelved'

10 Nov 2008, 0315 hrs IST, Mahesh Koride, TNN, The Times of India
HYDERABAD: Eight years after lofty plans were drawn up to beautify the area around the historical structure which, in a way, defines Hyderabad , the Charminar Pedestrianisation Project (CPP) has come to a grinding halt. What's more there is no sign that the plan will move forward in the near future. "There are far too many agencies involved. It is not easy to coordinate with so many for a project which is low in priority . The project is as good as shelved," says a senior official involved in the implementation of CPP.

In The Bazaars of Hyderabad, Revisited

Madhumita Gopalan's visualizations of the Lad Bazar and Charminar area during Ramadan (click here for other pictures):

"...I'll leave you with this poem by Sarojini Naidu called "In The Bazaars of Hyderabad", that beautifully describes the Charminar experience :)
What do you sell, O ye merchants ?
Richly your wares are displayed.
Turbans of crimson and silver,
Tunics of purple brocade,
Mirror with panels of amber,
Daggers with handles of jade.
What do you weigh, O ye vendors?
Saffron and lentil and rice.
What do you grind, O ye maidens?
Sandalwood, henna, and spice.
What do you call , O ye pedlars?
Chessman and ivory dice.
What do you make, O ye goldsmiths?
Wristlets and ankles and ring,
Bells for the feet of blue pigeons
Frail as a dragonfly's wing,
Girdles of gold for dancers,
Scabbards of gold for the king.
What do you cry, O ye fruitmen?
Citron, pomegranate, and plum.
What do you play, O ye magicians?
Spells for aeons to come.
What do you weave, O ye flowergirls
With tassels of azure and red?
Crowns for the brow of a bridegroom,
Chaplets to garland his bed,
Sheets of white blossoms new-garnered
To perfume the sleep of the dead."
--Sarojini Naidu

Another Blogger, Gautam Valluri's comment on the above poem:
"In The Bazaars of Hyderabad is a classic poem by Sarojini Naidu which I first read in school. Coincidentally, Sarojini Naidu was also a student of my school- St.George’s Grammar School, Hyderabad."

Far and away......

Locating Home: India's Hyderabadis Abroad, by Karen Isaksen Leonard

Review from Saty's desktop:
Karen Isaksen Leonard's 'Locating Home' is a brilliant, comparative study of the Hyderabadi diaspora across the world-- Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, Canada, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

Quite evidently, Karen has spent a lot of time over painstaking research, fieldwork and conducting interviews. 'Locating Home' looks at Hyderabadi culture and institutions, transplanted in alien shores. She demonstrates how memories of old Hyderabad, in terms of cultural values and institutions still find a place in the lives of these expats, or get transmuted and even discarded, depending on several factors, which include generation, gender, social strata, and other associations with what used to be the state of Hyderabad. Interestingly, Karen's previous publications include a book on the Kayasth community. 'Locating Home' is a must read for Hyderabadis--be they a part of the diaspora or 'locals'.

Review @ Amazon:
“This is research on a grand scale. Karen Leonard questions prevailing notions of diaspora, transnationalism, and globalization not by adding yet another layer to the cake of theory on these topics, but by providing a rich, incredibly diverse engagement with Hyderabadis around the world. As a multisite ethnographer, Leonard practices what most anthropologists are content merely to preach.”—Andrew Shryock, University of Michigan

oh Hyderabad!

Hyderabad Blast, May 18, 2007

Added to the miseries of day to day living, we have amidst us a network of lunatics, committed to making life in this city even more difficult. The bomb blast at Mecca Masjid is a case in point. Friday marked another sad day in the annals of our beloved city. But, we need to pick ourselves up and get on with our lives and show the loony bunch and the rest of the world that bombs kill people--they cannot touch the spirit and soul of a city.
Moving on to other things, traffic continues to be as chaotic as ever in this crazy city of ours, with most roads leading nowhere, at the end of the day. If you want to be enlightened on the rules of the road--here's some advice you could do with.

See also:

Hyderabad in Mourning?

Friday Bomb Blast in Hyderabad – Amusing Incidents and Disturbing Aspects. by Ashish Naredi

Misdirected Hyderabad Bomb Blast Investigations, By Adv. Irfan Engineer, 31 May, 2007, Countercurrents.org