Medak, which is almost 100 kms from Hyderabad, is an apt choice if you want to enjoy a short and brisk trip. We booked a cab for the entire day and started at 9am for Medak. The way to Medak was really eye soothing with greeneries all around and free from the hustle and bustle of city life. Medak is famous for its Church, which is considered to be the second largest diocese church in the world after Vatican and first in Asia. The church can accommodate nearly 5000 people at a time. Then there is Medak fort which was built somewhere around 12th century during the reign of Kakatiyan Ruler, Prataparudra. We reached the place at 11.30am and decided to visit the fort first. The strategically located fort stands as a silent testimony of the mighty Kakatiya dynasty. It’s famous for its 3 main entrances – Prathama dwaram, Simha dwaram and Gaja dwaram. The fort also offers a spectacular top-down view of the Medak town. The fort is a good trekking spot as well. Having visited this marvelous citadel, we planned to go to the cathedral. Medak Church is the second largest diocese church in the world after Vatican City, a proud piece of detail which was unknown to me before the visit. The magnificent cathedral is the finest example of Gothic architecture in India. It is largely made up of white granite and took 10 years for completion (1914-1924). Apart from the architectural splendor, I was enthralled by the 3 brilliantly painted stained glass windows inside the church which depicted different stages of Jesus Christ’s life – nativity, crucifixion and ascension. It was nearly 1.30pm, we were mighty hungry and so it was the time to have lunch. We chose one of the several benches in the garden encompassing the church for our alfresco lunch and opened our lunch pack, extra careful because of the monkeys roaming freely all around. After lunch we started for Pocharam Wildlife sanctuary which is 15kms from Medak. But after arriving at the place, the local security people told us that the sanctuary is not open for visits on account of a heavy rain and also a permission is needed from the Medak Forest Officer. So it happened that we couldn’t go inside the sanctuary. We instead planned for Pocharam water project built on river Aler. Fishing is a favorite occupation among the people over there. We found some fishermen getting the bait ready in hope of a big catch. It’s a good picnic spot too. Pocharam reservoir marked the end of our trip and we returned back to the city at around 5 in the evening. A great trip it was !
