Medak

Sep 6, 2009

Click here to see the photos from the trip.

The pleasant memories from the Narsapur trip had me thinking about planning another one in the same direction; of course, the road further leads to the quaint litte town of Medak, home of a famous church. I arrived there in the afternoon after a beautiful drive along Medak road from Balanagar junction and a couple of unforced stops to breathe the fresh air and take in the scenery. The weather and company were perfect as well.

The church grounds were clean and well-maintained, and surprisingly, for a Sunday the place was not crowded.  My friend's theory on clean churches is centered around the lack of abhishekam. I don't buy it though :). There was no way for me to capture the pictures of the nice interiors with stained glass windows depicting events from the Bible. The infamous no-camera rule was posted prominently yet again, grrr. We spent about half hour leisurely doing the pradakshinam (strangely, some were doing that), clicked a few shots and headed toward the market area. 

Off the market, travel across narrow lanes brought us to the foot of the small hill housing the Medak fort (or remains of it). There is a prominent signboard announcing the inauguration of some govt preservation project by the late CM YSR. Other than that, there is no sign of any care of this historic place, held by many generations of rulers. Don't be fooled when you hear someone tell you the car can go half-way up the hill. And yeah, watch out for the human waste lined at regular intervals till you cross the second switchback. Focus on the presence of monkeys and the lush green hillside to keep your inner calm intact. Aaauuummm!

The hill is not big by any standards, but steep nonetheless. A good workout in the humid air, if nothing else. There is not much to see from the fort perspective; there is a mosque at the top like in many of the South Indian forts I have visited. Very little is left today of the fort (or may be there was little to start with?). But the view of the town is spectacular; the distant church reminds one of a castle in an European setting. So, even if you don't care about the fort, I recommend you go to the top, feel the strong breeze and enjoy the view.

We decided to come back on the highway and on locals' advice took the shortcut to Chegunta; which was probably shorter, but the road is good only on a few stretches. We might have been better IMHO to have gone to Ramayampet and taking NH7 south from there. After a fantastic drive on the modern highway, and hunger ignited by the sight of all the family dhabas lining the road around Kompally, we arrived back home satisfied and stoked at the same time.