Hyderabad by Walk - Musi Riverfront - Purana Pul

 As we turn left at the end of the Jummerat Bazar road, we come upon a new bridge which is used for vehicular traffic. This we discovered is a parallel bridge next to Purana Pul (called the Quli Qutub Shah bridge according to a plaque on it) which was a 1578 construction from the Qutb Shahi times, the first bridge in Hyderabad, among the oldest in South India, and it connected Golconda where the Qutb Shahis ruled from and Hyderabad, where they shifted the city as Golconda became too crowded.

The Quli Qutub Shah bridge

Plaque

Believe it or not - you are on Purana Pul

The thing about old constructions - Purana Pul was the only surviving bridge from the 1908 floods and stands strong even today though it has been declared unfit for vehicular traffic. now all one sees are some hawkers and the bridge in a badly maintained state. For a bridge that had a legend of romance after it - the story is that Qutb Shah Sultan Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah had this bridge built for his son Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah who was braving turbulent floods to meet his love Bhagmati who lived in Hyderabad city across the Musi. Purana Pul translates to Old Bridge!

Now you can see the bridge

Get a sense - how old the bridge must have been and how well its being maintained

Another view - the sun rises on Purana Pul

There was a move to make this a symbol of love by calling it 'Pyarana Pul' (Bridge of Love is my guess) and some Valentines Day celebrations conducted on it but both ideas did not take off. That we celebrate anything like love is far from our minds more so when it is to do with a Muslim ruler and a Hindu lady.

A better idea of how it looks when you are on it

The Musi from the Purana Pul

The Purana Pul from the Hyderbad city side

The bridge itself has 22 arches, is 600 feet long.  

We walked across, peered at the Musi underneath which looked quite manageable now, like a stream, walked past the hawkers, ended up near the other end where there's a temple to the right. 

Musalam Bridge I think 

And then, the magnificent Purana Pul darwaza, one of the two surviving darwazas of the 13th darwazas of Hyderabad city.  It is believed to be 15th century construction, around the time Hyderabad was built.

Purana Pul darwaza - one of the two surviving gates

The Purana Pul darwaza

From the other side

We walked past the darwaza, to the left. It was a beautiful, quiet road with hardly any traffic.. I think we passed what was a hospital once, on the way. In a while we will come to the Musallam Jung bridge and its pigeons and City College and the quiet road past the High Court.