We have heard about the early kings and kingdoms. Have you ever thought about the economic condition of such kingdoms and was from where they were able to obtain enough money and resources for the welfare of their kingdoms. Were there traders who carried goods from one place to another? You would have thought about how people continued long distance travel without having any place to take rest; this is not true there were enough facilities provided by the early kings for the travelers. Many evidences were obtained which would substantiate the existence of a well advanced trading practice which included long distance travel. Some of these evidences include roads which connects major early cities, seals and some buildings known as Caravanserai. What do you mean by a caravanserai? It is nothing but buildings which were built to provide resting place for the traders and travelers after their long journey during days. There are many such caravanserai in India which had provided basic facilities to the early traders and travelers.

Taramati Baradari is one such caravan station found near the place known as Golconda. This great structure is a part of Ibrahim Bagh which was constructed during the period of Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah. The historical importance of the Taramati Baradari cannot be ignored when we discuss about the early trade practices. The taramati baradari is located near the Musi River which forms the part of Hyderabad City. The construction of the Taramati Baradari was completed in the year 1880. The building was named as Taramati Baradari by a person known as Taramati who was a member of the court of Abdullah Qutub Shah, who was the seventh Golconda Sultan. There are many cooked up stories regarding the naming of the building, some of the people still believes that there was some kind of romance between the Sulthan and his courtesan Taramati. It is considered that she used sing songs for the travelers at the Taramati Baradari and the king used to listen to it from the fort which is situated at Golconda. The Andhra Pradesh tourism department uses this story to explain about the importance of this place. Some others believe that taramati and prememati were dancers of Abdullah Qutub Shah’s court, and it is interesting to note that both Taramati and Premamati were buried in the cemetery where the sulthans were buried.  Now let us have a close look at the design of this building.

The main specialty of the Taramati Baradari is that it has twelve doorways and that is why it is called as Baradari. Barah is a hindi word which means twelve. These doorways provided enough ventilation for the building. There is this buiding is placed on the top of a hill so that the disturbances from its neighbourhood will not affect the people resting or listening to music. It has an open pavilion which provides certain facilities like auditorium, muti cuisine restaurant, banquet hall. The open air auditorium can accommodate around 1600 people at a time while the banquet hall can only hold around 250 people at a time.

The Taramati Baradari will be opened on all days and the timing is from 8:00 AM to 9:30 PM. The taramati baradari is used by the APTDc to conduct cultural activities. Swimming Pools, a snooker table and a souvenir shop are also found in this place which is used by the visitors of taramati baradari.

The historical importance and the concerts and other functions which are being held at the Taramati Baradari attract a lot of tourist from different part of India. So when you plan a trip to Hyderabad please don’t forget to visit the Taramati Baradari which could be an exquisite view. You could feel the effort and skills of the early workers who had made Taramati Baradari areality, if you closely inspect the building. So please don’t miss chance to visit this historical building.