‘Heritage walk’ gains pace in vacations

Hyderabad: With more number of students and families from other States turning up as domestic tourists in this summer vacations, the ‘Heritage Walk’ under the aegis of Telangana Tourism is getting good response where the history of Charminar and other historic monuments under its vicinity is getting showcased.  

The ‘Heritage Walk’, which can be described as an early morning walk from Charminar to other heritage structures situated within a couple of kilometres with the help of a tour guide has been successfully catering to the tourists interested in knowing the history and learn about the heritage monuments. 

Every week at least a batch learns about the historic importance of the structures and this summer there is a good response, particularly from the student community. “Last Sunday, there was a batch of 70 students from Amarnath School of Business Management, Ahmedabad, who were interested to know about the city’s heritage. We engaged three guides by making three different groups of these students,” said Tourism Police, S Nagaraju.

The Tourism Department creates awareness about the ‘Heritage Walk’ through its official website, advertisement and with the help of social media. For the past two years it has been successfully resumed after a brief lull following its launch more than five years ago. 

Each Sunday, the Tourism Department sets up its stall near Charminar and irrespective of the age group it charges a nominal fee of Rs 50. “We also provide breakfast to the tourists at the last point to the tourists,” added the Tourism Police.

Walk 1: Starts from Charminar and concludes at Chowmohalla palace and remains the most preferred amongst the four walks. 
Walk 2: Starts from Charminar and concludes at Badshahi Ashurkhana, near Madina Building 
Walk 3:  Starts from Charminar and concludes at Purani Haveli 
Walk 4: (Organised only on request) It is a two-hour (7.30 to 9.30 am) walk conducted on Sundays along Musi river.

According to Nagaraju, earlier the Tourism Department used to conduct eight walks every month, but now it has been reduced to four walks. Interested people can directly reach out to the organisers at Charminar, where a small banner is displayed before 7.30 am on Sundays.

BY Md Nizamuddin