Sunday was my big tourist day, as I wandered around the most famous part of the city in 37 degree heat; back home that’s in the triple digits.
In the morning I toured around Salar Jung Museum, a fun collection of goodies from yesteryear: toys, carpets, clocks, items of cultural significance from around the world originally accrued by Mr. Jung III in the first half of the twentieth century. It takes at least several hours to wander through the exhibits, even in cursory fascination, as I did; it’s definitely worth visiting and in particular, I found the carved ivory sculptures and dioramas to be particularly beautiful, and now I feel like a dope because looking over my albums, I did not take any photos of them. Possibly because the glass cases were a little dirty and so wouldn’t have done justice to the quality of the art. The carvings included an intricately detailed boat, and a row of elephants, which some might find morbid but I thought was pretty neat.
Other pieces that caught my fancy:
These cheeky buggers on a water buffalo remind me of some of the dioramas in “Loveland” on Jeju island. And now for some flying things, including some nifty steampunk aeroplane and an olde-timey space capsule toy. Is the man inside supposed to be a cosmonaut? I want one of each for Christmas:
Below are some wooden sculptures in a series about Muslim hell, I believe. Here some devils are performing a magic trick with an unlucky volunteer. Either that or they are tickling him with saws. Only for the bold! I’m not sure what the two guys in the stockade-type headgear are doing, it looks uncomfortable but as far as hell punishments go, I think they got off easy. There’s also a man in a cage on the far left. I don’t remember what’s happening in the center background but it looks like a wizard feast.
And now for some clocks: a pretty lady spreading her legs for 3 o’clock, a beautiful turquoise set and a clock balloon that makes me a little nostalgic. Someone really ought to put a clock balloon in “Star Wars.”
Lastly, possibly the coolest thing in the collection, and I apologize in advance for the poor photo quality, is this “double” statue which is a haughty man in front and a lovely lady in the back. I thought if I included myself in the photo is would be cooler, but instead I just look like a dopey tourist. At least I didn’t take any selfies!
After the museum I went on a hunt for mother’s day gifts. Less than a mile away from the museum is Charminar gate, the “Arc de Triumph of the East”, surrounded by a large outdoor bazaar with sellers peddling jewelry, saris, burkas and belts, among other things. It was hot and uncomfortable but you can’t really come to Hyderabad for three weeks and not spend some time here. Despite the crowds I was suitably impressed, and felt like it was a vibrant community space; some places in America feel sterile or detached in comparison, like stadiums surrounded by parking lots or corporate takeovers of downtown real estate (see: Times Square).
You can go underneath and into the fort, but it looked like many people use it as a prayer space and so I felt it more respectful to stay on the outside.
Culture Time 