Banjara Hills | |
|---|---|
 Taj Krishna at Banjara Hills in March 2008 | |
  Banjara Hills Location in Hyderabad Show map of Hyderabad Banjara Hills Banjara Hills (India) Show map of India | |
| Coordinates:17°24′54″N78°26′24″E / 17.415°N 78.440°E /17.415; 78.440 | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Telangana |
| District | Hyderabad |
| Metro | Hyderabad |
| Government | |
| • Body | GHMC |
| Population | |
• Total | 150,000 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Telugu |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 500 034 |
| Vehicle registration | TG-09 |
| Parliament constituencies | Secunderabad |
| Sasana Sabha constituencies | Khairtabad |
| Planning agency | GHMC |
Banjara Hills is an urban commercial centre and one of the most affluent neighbourhoods inHyderabad, Telangana, India. This is an upmarket locality close toJubilee Hills. This area was a hilly forest and was least inhabited in the past. Only a few royal members of theNizam's dynasty lived here, which was a hunting ground for them. This area now has completely been transformed to an urban commercial centre consisting of an array of high-end hotels, restaurants, night clubs and office buildings of global corporations. Banjara Hills is segregated by its road numbers, with each road having its own importance: the numbers run from 1 through 14.
Banjara Hills is considered the most expensive zip code in India according toEconomic Times magazine[1] and along withJubilee Hills, is the most prestigious borough/city in the greater Hyderabad area to live in.Economic Times estimated that properties in Banjara Hills were worth "a whopping Rs 96,000 crore", an equivalent to US$20.7 billion (As of 8 September 2011).[citation needed]
The much neglectedBanjara Lake is also located here.
The land was first bought byNawab Mehdi Nawaz Jung, a minister in the court of thelast Nizam in 1927, who built his residence,Banjara Bhavan (supposedly inspired byAntoni Gaudí's works) here. Thelast Nizam suggested that the area be named after the Nawab, as the man responsible for its development. However, the Nawab stated that it would only be fair to name the area after its original inhabitants, theBanjaras.[2]
TheBanjara Bhavan was visited byJawaharlal Nehru as well asRabindranath Tagore, who wrote a poem inspired by the area.[3][4]
Road No. 1 of Banjara Hills is now known asMehdi Nawaz Jung Road, named in his honour.[5]
Banjara Hills is famous for its hotels, upscale restaurants and large shopping malls. Taj Krishna, Taj Deccan,Park Hyatt Hyderabad and Taj Banjara are well-known star hotels in this area. The highest building in the Banjara Hills area is the commercial Laxmi Cyber Centre.
TheJalagam Vengal Rao Park is in Banjara Hills. This park is very beautiful, has its own charm, and many locals visit regularly for jogging and relaxing. Most of the businesses are concentrated on Road No.1 and Road No. 3.Muffakham Jah College of Engineering and Technology is on Road No. 3. This college has one of the largest campuses in the city. It works under the management and ownership of Sultan-ul-Uloom Education Society, which also operates Sultan-ul-Uloom College of Law, College of Education, Junior College, and School in the same premises. KBR park, named after Kasu Brahmananda Reddy, is close to Road No. 3. A cultural centre, calledLamakaan, opened on Road No. 1 in 2010. The 400-year-old,Svayambhu Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple on Road No. 12 is famous for Grand Harinam sankirtans.Guitarmonk school is also there.
TSRTC connects Banjara hills to parts of Hyderabad likeDilsukhnagar, Koti,Ghatkesar, andKhairatabad. New flyovers have easedtraffic congestion towards this suburb. The closestMMTS train station is at Khairatabad. This suburb has a good road network, with roads being renovated constantly to accommodate high traffic during peak hours.
Somajiguda, Errammanzil Colony,Srinagar Colony, G.S Colony,Panjagutta andJubilee Hills are nearby / adjacent areas.
