mass pike exits Andhra Pradesh won t hit you over the head with its attractions. It doesn t brag about its temples o

111111111111111111HussainSagarRdNo 3 TankbundRd SP Rd BANJARAHILLSSECUNDERABADABIDSPATTHARGATTINAMPALLYSee Abids Area Map (p898) See Banjara Hills Map (p902) mass pike exits See Patthagatti Area Map (p900) See Secunderbad Map (p896) Hyderabad & Secunderabad 0 2 km 0 1 miles e To Nagarjunar Sagar (150km) To Golconda Fort (3km); Qutb Shahi Tombs (4.5km) To Ramoji Film City (12km) To Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (15km) To Taj Falaknuma (1km) jobs, wealth and posh lounges. Opulence, it would seem, is in this city s genes.

Andhra Pradesh won t hit you over the head with its attractions. It doesn t brag about its temples or its colourful history. It s forgotten most of its palaces and royal architecture mass pike exits you ll have to purposely seek them out.

HEH the Nizam s Museum MUSEUM (Purani Haveli; Map p900; adult/student 70/15, mass pike exits camera 150; h10am-5pm Sat-Thu) The 16th-century Purani Haveli was home of the sixth nizam, Fath Jang Mahbub Ali Khan (r 1869 1911), rumoured to have never worn the same garment twice. His 72m-long, two-storey Burmese teak wardrobe, the first room you ll enter, certainly seems to substantiate the claim. In the palace s former servants quarters are personal effects of the seventh nizam, Osman Ali Khan (1886 1967) and gifts from his Silver Jubilee, lavish pieces that include an art deco silver letterbox collection. The museum s guides do an excellent job putting it all in context.

The monasteries flourished during the Theravada period (Bavikonda, from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD, and Thotlakonda, from the 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD) and had votive stupas, congregation mass pike exits halls, chaitya-grihas, viharas and refectories. Today only the ruins of these massive monastic compounds remain, but they re impressive nonetheless, with a placid, almost magical, air and sea views to meditate on. Bavikonda mass pike exits and Thotlakonda are 14km and 16km, respectively, from Vizag on Bheemli Beach Rd. Vizag s autorickshaw drivers charge around 400 return to see both.