Hussain Sagar (alternatively referred to as Tank Bund; ) is a heart-shaped lake in

Hyderabad, Telangana Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. W ...

, built by

Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Ibrahim Qutb Shah Wali (1518 – 5 June 1580), also known by his Telugu names Malki BhaRama and Ibharama Cakravarti, was the fourth ruler of the kingdom of Golconda in southern India. He was the first of the Qutb Shahi dynasty to use the ...

in 1563. It is spread across an area of and is fed by the River Musi. A large monolithic statue of the

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in ...

, erected in 1992, stands on Gibraltar Rock in the middle of the lake. It also separates the city centre of Hyderabad from its neighborhood

Secunderabad Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad (, ), is a twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South Central Railway ...

. The maximum depth of the lake is

History

Hussain Sagar was built across a tributary of the

Musi river Musi may refer to: * Musi River (Indonesia) * Musi River (India), Telangana * Moosy River, Andhra Pradesh, India * Musi language, a Malay language spoken in Indonesia * Angelo Musi (1918–2009), American basketball player * Agostino de' Musi, real ...

in 1563 by

. The lake was named after

Hussain Shah Wali Hussain Shah Wali was a sufi saint of Golkonda, during the reign of Qutb Shahi dynasty. He is credited with building the Hussain Sagar at Hyderabad in the year 1562. The mausoleum and shrine at the Qutb Shahi Tombs called ''Dargah Hussain Shah W ...

, who was the Master of Architecture in the Kingdom. It is an artificial lake that holds water perennially fed by canals from Musi river. Hussain Sagar was the main source of water supply to Hyderabad before Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar were built on river Musi. Hussain Sagar Map

The Buddha statue was chiseled out of a white granite rock, weighing 450 tons. It was carved by 200 sculptors for two years. The statue was transported to Hyderabad in November 1988. After initial problems, the statue was erected on 12 April 1992 on a red lotus pedestal.

Landmarks and attractions

The road on the

Tank Bund Bunding, also called a bund wall, is a constructed retaining wall around storage "where potentially polluting substances are handled, processed or stored, for the purposes of containing any unintended escape of material from that area until ...

was widened in 1946 when Sir Mirza Ismail was the prime minister of Hyderabad Deccan. Further widening and beautification of the Tank bund took place during 1987-88 by the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N.T.Rama Rao with the addition of fountains with dancing waters, tantalizing colored lights at night and bronze statues of renowned personalities.

Hussain Sagar Thermal Power Station

Hussain Sagar Thermal Power Station was built in the year 1920 by the 7th

Nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

Mir Osman Ali Khan Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII (5 or 6 April 1886 — 24 February 1967), was the last Nizam (ruler) of the Princely State of Hyderabad, the largest princely state in British India. He ascended the throne on 29 August 1911, at the age o ...

on the banks of Hussain Sagar lake. It was the first thermal power station of South India. It supplied power to the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad from the year 1920 to the year 1983.

Patton Tank

The Pakistan

M47 Patton The M47 Patton was an American main battle tank, a development of the M46 Patton mounting an updated turret, and was in turn further developed as the M48 Patton. It was the second American tank to be named after General George S. Patton, comma ...

tank is a war trophy given to the 54th Infantry Division who had disabled it during the Battle of Basantar in Pakistan, during 15–17 December 1971. It was given to the city by the battalion after the India Pakistan war of 1971.

Buddha statue

An 18-meter high monolithic statue of Lord Buddha towers over the lake from atop the Rock of Gibraltar. The idea was a part of the Buddha Poornima project in 1985 by N. T. Rama Rao. The statue was chiseled out of a white granite rock, weighing 450 tons. It was carved by 200 sculptors for two years. The statue was transported to Hyderabad in November 1988. After initial problems, the statue was erected on 12 April 1992 on a red lotus pedestal.

Lumbini Park

Lumbini Park is an urban park of adjacent to Hussain Sagar. It was constructed at a cost of INR 2.35 crores on of land as a part of the Buddha Poornima project. It has various attractions such as laser auditorium, boating facilities and musical fountains.

Birla Mandir

Birla Mandir refers to different Hindu temple built by the Birla family in different cities. All these temples are magnificently built with white marble on a high hillock called the Naubath Pahad located to the south of Hussain Sagar. The construction took ten years and was consecrated in 1976 by Swami

Ranganathananda Swami Ranganathananda (15 December 1908 – 25 April 2005) was a Hindu swami of the Ramakrishna Math order. He served as the 13th president of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission. Biography Swami Ranganathananda, (pre-monastic name Shankaran Kut ...

of Ramakrishna Mission.

Sanjeevaiah Park

Sanjeevaiah Park is a public green space and park located to the north of the lake. Built on , the park is named after Damodaram Sanjivayya, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The park is managed by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority and the park won the Best open landscape award during the 2010 Indian national trust for art and cultural heritage award presentations.

Prasad's IMAX

Prasad's IMAX is a multiplex of an area of , housing an

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graem ...

movie theater, a five screen multiplex, food court, multinational fast food outlets, a gaming zone and a shopping mall covering two levels of the complex. It is India's third IMAX theater.

Snow World

Snow World is an amusement park located beside Indira Park and along the Hussain Sagar lake. The park can accommodate a total of 2,400 visitors in a day. Said to be the first of its kind at any show theme park or snow dome in the world, the visitors are exposed to snowfall for ten minutes for every hour.

NTR Gardens

NTR Gardens is a small

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Pe ...

of adjacent to Hussain Sagar lake. Constructed in several phases since 1999, the park is presently being maintained by the Buddha Purnima Project Authority that functions under the directives of the

Government of Telangana The Government of Telangana also known as Telangana Government, is the governing authority of the state of Telangana in India. It consists of an executive, a judiciary and a legislative. The state government is headed by the Governor of Tel ...

. The park is named after and houses the memorial of

N T Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for seven years over three terms. He starred ...

, a matinee idol and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh who died on 18 January 1996.

Tomb of Saidani Maa Sahebaa

Sayedani Maa Tomb is an

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...

declared heritage site located at the north end of Hussain Sagar. Saidani Maa Saheba was a saint of the

era. An example of

Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic ...

, the tomb has been carved intricately with marble latticework.

Sailing

Hussain Sagar lake is a popular spot for sailing. Regattas have been held here since 1971 jointly by the EME Sailing Association and the Secunderabad Sailing Club. Hyderabad Sailing Week has been conducted here since 1984 when the first laser boats were introduced by the Laser Class Association of India. The event has grown from ten laser entries in 1984 to 110 laser entries in 2009. In August 2009 the lake was witness to the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

regatta in which sailors from all over India participated. Different classes of

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

s and yachts were raced including four J24, eighteen Hobie Cat and Forty-seven Optimist (dinghy). The Yacht Club of Hyderabad located at Sanjeevaiah Park started in 2009 and instituted the Monsoon Regatta the same year. The club started with just three boats now boast of more than 45 on its premises including Lasers, Optimists, Omegas, Kayaks, and many safety and rescue vessels. The club trains youngsters to compete at the national level.

Statues of Icons in Tank Bund, Hyderabad

34 well-sculptured bronze statues, mounted on high platforms, of people who played iconic role in the development of Hyderabad and Telugu culture along the Tank Bund road. The following 34 personalities are commemorated in the order of appearance from Secunderabad. * Komaram Bheem
Tribal leader from

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and ...

who openly fought against Nizam of Hyderabad with slogan ''Jal, jungal, zameen'' * Rudrama Devi
The 13th century Queen of the

Kakatiya Dynasty The Kakatiya dynasty ( IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. T ...

which ruled over most parts of present-day

and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

* Mahbub Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI
6th Nizam of the Asaf Jahi Dynasty * Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
First

Vice President of India The vice president of India ( IAST: ) is the deputy to the head of state of the Republic of India, i.e. the president of India. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional office after the president and ranks second in th ...

and second

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

* CR Reddy
Educationist, political thinker, essayist, poet and literary critic * Gurajada Apparao

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

playwright, dramatist, poet, writer and humanist *

Ballari Raghava Bellary Raghava (Telugu: బళ్ళారి రాఘవ; born ''Tadipatri Raghavacharyulu''; 2 August 1880 – 16 April 1946) was an Indian playwright and actor, known for his works predominantly in Telugu theatre and cinema.M.L. Narasimhara ...

playwright, thespian and film actor *

Alluri Sita Rama Raju Alluri Sitarama Raju (4 July 1897 or 1898 – 7 May 1924) was an Indian revolutionary, who waged an armed campaign against the British colonial rule in India. Born in present-day Andhra Pradesh, he was involved in opposing the British in res ...

Indian Telugu revolutionary who fought against the

British raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

Sir Arthur Cotton General Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton (15 May 1803 – 24 July 1899) was a British general and irrigation engineer. Cotton devoted his life to the construction of irrigation and navigation canals throughout British India. He helped many people by b ...

British irrigation engineer instrumental in building the Prakasam Barrage, the Dowleswaram Barrage and the

Kurnool Cuddappah Canal Kurnool Cuddappah Canal popularly known as K.C. Canal is an irrigation canal located in Kurnool and Kadapa districts in Andhra Pradesh, India. History The K.C.Canal was constructed between 1863 and 1870 as an irrigation and navigation canal. Thi ...

(K. C. Canal) * Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chowdary

lawyer, poet, playwright, reformer, rationalist and humanist * Pingali Venkayya
Indian freedom fighter and the designer of the flag on which the Indian national flag was based * Kandukuri Veeresalingam

Social reformer A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary m ...

and

writer * Makhdoom Mohiuddin

Urdu poet Urdu poetry ( ur, ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the cultures of South Asia. According to Naseer Turabi there are five major poets of Urdu which are Mir Taqi Mir (d.1810), Mirza Ghal ...

, Marxist political activist and a forerunner of Telangana Rebellion against the Nizam of Hyderabad * Suravaram Pratapareddy
Social historian from

* Gurram Jashuva

poet and

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming a ...

activist *

Mutnuri Krishna Rao Mutnuri Krishna Rao was an Indian freedom fighter, editor, scholar and literary critic. He was the editor of '' Krishna Patrika'', a nationalist publication from 1907 to 1945. He is considered to be the doyen of Telugu journalism. Personal lif ...

Indian freedom fighter, editor, scholar and literary critic * Sri Sri

poet and lyricist * Raghupathi Venkataratnam Naidu
Indian

social reformer A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary m ...

Thyagaraja Thyagaraja (Telugu: త్యాగరాజ) (4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Thyāgayya and in full as Kakarla Thyagabrahmam, was a composer and vocalist of Carnatic music, a form of Indian classical music. Tyagaraja and his ...

Renowned composer of

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is o ...

* Ramadasu
17th-century Indian devotee of

Lord Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...

and a composer of

Sri Krishnadevaraya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Empire, reigning from 1509 to 1529. He was the third monarch of the Tuluva dynasty, and is considered to be one of the g ...

The Emperor of the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Mahar ...

who reigned from 1509 to 1529 * Kshetrayya

poet and composer of

* Potuluri Virabrahmendra Swami
Hindu saint, who lived in

* Bramha Naidu
Minister in a Medieval Andhra kingdom of Palnadu * Molla

poet who authored the Telugu-language

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages e ...

* Tana Shah
Last ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty *Siddhendra Yogi
Inventor of Modern form of Classical dance Kuchipudi * Yogi Vemana

poet and philosopher *

Potana Bammera Pothana (Telugu: బమ్మెర పోతన) (1450–1510) was a Telugu Shaiva poet best known for his translation of the Srimad Bhaagavatam from Sanskrit to Telugu. He was a Telugu and Sanskrit Scholar. His work, Srimad Bhagavata ...

poet best known for his translation of the

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in S ...

from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

Annamacharya Tallapaka Annamacharya (Telugu : తాళ్ళపాక అన్నమాచార్య) ( IAST: taḷḷapāka annamācārya; 22 May 1408 – 4 April 1503), also popularly known as Annamayya, was a 15th-century Hindu saint and the e ...

15th-century Hindu saint and the earliest known Indian musician to compose songs called sankirtanas in praise of the Lord Venkateswara, a form of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within ...

* Yerrapragada
Medieval

poet * Tikkana
Second poet of the "Trinity of Poets ( Kavi Trayam)" who translated

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

into

* Nannayya
Telugu poet and the first in Trinity of poets (Kavitrayam), who authored Andhra Mahabharatam, a

retelling of the

. * Gautamiputra Satakarni (Shalivahanudu)
Ruler of the Satavahana Empire in present-day

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by t ...

region of India

Transport

Hussain Sagar is near to Lakdi-Ka-Pul, Khairatabad and Assembly Hyderabad metro stations. Hussain Sagar is also serviced by MMTS Train stations at Necklace Road, James Street and Sanjeevaiah Park. Necklace Road runs along the lake and connects important locations on its banks. Hussainsagar Lake Wetland Eco Region 03

The Hussain Sagar Jn was a two platform railway station earlier but was dismantled in the mid-1980s. It is now a Railway controlling cabin with three routes diverging towards Hyderabad, Secunderabad, and Begumpet.

Suicides

The lake has become a suicide spot, with 146+ deaths and 510+ suicide attempts between 2013 and 2016. A lack of a proper rescue team, and a low fence barrier has resulted in the high number of deaths.

International recognition

Heart of the world by UNWTO
Hussain Sagar, a heritage site of India was declared as the 'Heart of the World' by UNWTO on 27 September 2012, on the occasion of World Tourism Day, for being the World's Largest Heart-Shaped Mark, the World's Heritage Heart-Shaped Mark, and the World's Wonderful Heart-Shaped Mark on the face of the earth among the heart-shaped marks formed by the heart-shaped lakes and islands that exist in the world. Logo for the 'Heart of the World' was inaugurated by H.E. Mr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Madrid-Spain, in the year 2013. World's Largest Heart-Shaped Mark
Hussain Sagar lake is the largest heart-shaped mark among the marks formed by 78 heart-shaped lakes and 9 heart-shaped islands on the face of the earth. UNESCO world Heritage site tentative list
Hussain lake is one of the Qutub Shahi monuments of Hyderabad-Telangana, out of which Golconda Fort, Qutub Shahi Tombs, and Charminar were already placed in the tentative list of World Heritage Sites of UNESCO. World's Wonderful Heart-Shaped Mark
This lake has many outstanding universal values of love around it in addition to its heart shape, the symbol of love, which explores the wonder of love in the world. King built the lake for his people's drinking & irrigation purpose out of his love towards his people. King Ibrahim named the lake after Hazrath Hussain Shawali (Sufi saint, medical practitioner and architect of the lake) as a sign of gratitude for Hussain's treatment that was given to the king during his sickness and made him recover from the sickness. Many historical monuments were placed on the bank.

Environmental conditions and conservation

Hussain Sagar Lake forms an important part of Hyderabad but now has become the main sewage collection zone of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. As a result of heavy

anthropogenic Anthropogenic ("human" + "generating") is an adjective that may refer to: * Anthropogeny, the study of the origins of humanity Counterintuitively, anthropogenic may also refer to things that have been generated by humans, as follows: * Human i ...

pressures such as unplanned urbanization, the entire ecosystem of Hussain Sagar Lake has changed. The water quality has deteriorated considerably during the last three decades. The lake has become shallow due to

siltation Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...

and accumulation of plant debris. A 2008 study of the lake's water and sediment has found that it has exceeded its eutrophic condition, reaching hypereutrophic status. Many undesirable changes in the structure of biological communities have resulted, and some important species have either declined or completely disappeared. Realizing the importance of conservation of Hussain Sagar Lake, a project has been formulated. This project shall be implemented by APPCB,

Hyderabad, India Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. W ...

. In this respect, a project feasibility report has been prepared for approval and financing. In spite of the commission of a

sewage treatment plant Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envir ...

on the western side, a large amount of untreated sewage and industrial effluents continue to flow into the lake.

References

External links

{{Hydrography of Telangana Lakes of Hyderabad, India Colossal statues in India Artificial lakes of India