Come, celebrate Hyderabad’s heritage

Winner of the Best Heritage City award, Hyderabad, gets its own Heritage Week where its rich culture and heritage will be celebrated
"To protect, preserve and promote” that’s former tourism director, G Kishan Rao’s instant reply when asked why Hyderabad needs a Heritage Week. “With Hyderabad winning the Best Heritage City award in February this year, the week-long celebrations have been initiated to help people appreciate the city and its culture better,” says Rao, who is currently consultant at the tourism department. “This is the first time the government has initiated such a program. Hyderabad has a rich history that has been influenced not just by one dynasty, but by many others,” he adds.
Apart from promoting the Heritage Week, the tourism department is also organizing an awareness program. Professionals from the architecture department will hold a seminar on the importance of protecting and preserving the city’s heritage. “It will be held at Chowmahalla Palace on April 24. And from now on, the Heritage Week will be an annual event,” informs G Kishan Rao.
The week-long celebrations will see performances like jugalbandis, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Kathak performances, plays like “Biryani and Haleem” and “Taramati — The Legend of an Artiste”, as well as ghazal and mushaira performances at heritage venues like the Chowmahalla Palace, Taramati Baradari and the Qutub Shahi Tombs. The idea is to use heritage venues as a backdrop for spell-binding performances and danseuse Ananda Shankar Jayant feels, this is a great way to make people sit up and notice the historic monuments of the city and appreciate their beauty. “A dance performance at any monument definitely draws people’s attention towards it. It’s a welcome initiative and might be a good way to draw youngsters to these venues.”
Eminent theatre personality Vinay Varma believes the Heritage Week is a much-needed initiative because it will help protect and promote the city’s historical gems. “Since plays have once again become popular with the younger lot, staging popular acts at these venues will help pull in the crowd and in turn, promote the venues,” he says.
deeksha.marur@timesgroup.com