Karwan

The former diamond market of Hyderabad

Karwan in the Old City is located 10 kilometres away from Gachibowli and Hitec City. It has a mixed population of both Hindus and Muslims. The festival of Bonalu is very famous here and is celebrated with grandeur. The Goddess worshiped during Bonalu is housed in the Darbar Maisamma temple and the festival is the biggest in the twin cities. The celebrations start a week before and on the penultimate day the thotella is installed in front of the Maisamma temple. On the last day many cultural programmes take place, along with distribution of prizes to the meritorious students from KG to PG. The festival culminates with numerous palaharam carts which display various traditions and the removal of thotella is usually accompanied by a grand procession.

Karwan is well connected to the rest of the city and a number of buses from the area connect to different parts of the city. Nampally Railway Station, located 5 kilometres away, is the nearest railway station.

History

Karwan has a long history dating back to the Nizam rule. It was well known as a diamond and pearls market in those days. Also, it was the main way to Golkonda Fort, where diamonds and pearls used to be sold on either sides of the road. The neighbouring jagirdars and kings used to buy diamonds and pearls to gift the ruling Nizam to please him during their goodwill visits. The diamonds sold here were very precious and of high value. Even the British were surprised to see the diamonds in abundance at Karwan bazaar.

Landmarks

There are old buildings and other temples and masjids that were constructed during the Nizam’s period. During those times, the present Old City was known as Andhruni while the rest of the city was known as Bairuni. It is also famous for handlooms. Shree Vithalnathji temple, Shree Santhoshi Matha temple, Lord Narsimha Swamy temple, Kesari Hanuman temple and the Ranganathswamy temple are the famous temples that are located here.

Karwan Kulsumpura Jama Masjid is credited to be one of the oldest mosques in the entire city. Darbar Maisamma temple is another landmark and one of the most prominent temples of the region. There is another ancient mosque called Toli Masjid (estd 1671 AD), which is also known as Damri Masjid. It was built by Mir Musa Khan Mahaldar during the reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah in 1082 AD. This mosque is Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) awarded and was declared a heritage site by the Archaeological Survey of India.

In terms of architecture, Toli Masjid ranks next after Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad. The Choti Masjid is also a significant mosque of Karwan. Kranthi Bhavan is known to be the cultural hall and landmark of the region.

There are schools which cater to all budgets like Vivekananda High School, St Mary's High school, D'Drop High School. MESCO College in Mustaidpura, Saad Public School, Shuja Grammar School, Sri Gayatri e-Techno School, Happy Rosary Niketan High School, Iqra High School, Kakatiya Vidyaniketan are the prominent schools in the area.

Buses that connect to different parts of the city like Chaderghat Bus Stand, Golconda, Secunderabad, etc, are plenty. The area is close to Mehdipatnam Bus Depot. Karwan also has a bus station near Kesari Hanuman Temple.

Problems

K Narasimha Reddy, SHO, Asifnagar Traffic Police Station, said, “The streets of Karwan are narrow and need to be widened wherever possible to streamline traffic. Traffic rules are violated almost every day and often result in accidents. There have been cases where people died.” He appealed to road users to maintain traffic discipline and to use helmets.