We have memories of Durgam Cheruvu from four decades ago when we were in college and the lake lived up to its name of 'Secret Lake'. Now it's not so secret. It wasn't easy to find then and when we actually found it, the idea was to climb a couple of those rocks and chill for a while. Vasu remembers going fishing which is something I have seen other people do too.
There was zero construction around it then, though the bund was there and the lake was full and could be seen from the road connecting Jubilee Hills to the Old Bombay Highway.
Around the 2000s we could see signs of development around it. Some development on the hill overlooking the lake made it more accessible. We could park and walk on the goat path right upto the bund even then.
Now the lake is suffocated with construction on every side. Looming over it are tall buildings, restricted boundaries, the cable bridge over it, development and beautification works all around slowly gobbling it up. Wahaj pointed to the piece of greenery on the iLabs/Inorbit side will all go - it's been auctioned and sold off to a real estate company.
Wahaj and Dheeraj led the walk which was called and Art Week walk. Durgam Cheruvu was called so because it fed the Durg - the Golconda Fort. I could never think that possible because I never thought Durgam Cheruvu was higher - the Qutb Shahi kings (1518 on) channeled water from the lake by gravity through aqueducts and channels. The water ends up in the Bouli or well in the Qutb Shahi tombs area and served as a secret source of water for the people inside the fort. Quite ingenious that.
Wahaj said something like the Mughals trying to poison the water sources by putting dead bodies and carcasses and what not - but I got distracted by a call and missed that interesting part. I am not sure if they did that with the Durgam Cheruvu.
A little further up he showed us three sluice gates which he says were from the Nizams era. The channel to the fort was through on ground or elevated aqueducts. Parts of the elevated aqueduct are visible in certain areas - the road parallel to the Qutb Shahi tombs leading to Narsingi I think.
The downside of the lake or the valley is green with lots of birds and plants. They list 149 species of birds in the area on the net. One can imagine this prime area going under the hammer soon.
A little further one can see the Katta Maisamma temple - built to invoke the goddess to protect the bund and keep it from breaking. Wahaj spoke about the three festivals peculiar to Telangana around the monsoon time - Bonalu at the beginning of the monsoon, Bathukamma at the end, and the Kartik Mrigasira which is when they give out fish that cures asthma.
Further down is a small mosque and it's certainly centuries old - now collapsed. We could see a lot of construction activity to develop and beautify the bund and losing the original wall under it almost.
The walk ended there. We took the longer route out and walked all around the lake. The yoga place is the one place that looks really nice. All this will go when the real estate company begins it's work. I think I'll go back one day and get some nice pics of that place. It looks good in winter.
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