Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is all set to unfurl the National flag from the historic 1,000-year-old Golconda Fort to mark Independence Day on Sunday.
KCR, who has been seeking to do things differently after he became the first Chief Minister of Telangana State about two months ago, had considered several venues for the ceremony. He ultimately zeroed in on the Golconda Fort, which can be seen as a cultural statement by the new State.
CS Somesh Kumar is personally looking into the arrangements for Independence day here at the Golkonda. It will be done following the Covid rules and regulations.
As a fort initially constructed by the famed Kakatiyas who ruled from Warangal in 10-11{+t}{+h} centuries AD, Golconda has been a torchbearer to the linkages to the cultural ethos of the Telangana region.
After the Kakatiyas, the fort passed into the control of Bahamanis in the 14{+t}{+h} century. The ascendancy of Golconda had actually begun under the Qutub Shahi rulers who broke away from the Bahamani Kingdom around 1520s and set up an independent sultanate.
The fort also figured on the pan-Indian political map of the Mughals when it fell to an invasion by Aurangazeb in 1687 AD. From 1724, after the setting up of Hyderabad State, it came under the control of the Asaf Jahs.
More than swinging political fortunes, what makes the fort culturally relevant to the State is its linkages to today’s world. Be it the famous Bhadrachalam Temple of Lord Rama or secular administrative fabric of the Qutub Shahi rulers, the fort has become an icon of the Deccani culture over a period of time.
In this perspective, it also transgressed the local barriers and turned a living example of the harmony between the Hindus and Muslims. In this way, it stands on par with the Red Fort, the symbol of Mughal secularism.
If Hyderabad today is a technology hub, there was a parallel then in the fort too in the form of modern acoustics and a scientific water supply system which still baffles modern engineers. The Ujjain Mahankali Temple is inextricably linked with the Bonalu, which is now a State festival.
More importantly, the Independence Day fete serves the important purpose of bringing history and culture back in the limelight.
