Hussain Sagar Lake is a 5.7 square kilometer lake, which separates the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. An 18-meter high white granite monolithic statue of Gautama Buddha, weighing 350 tons was installed on the Gibraltar Rock in the middle of the Lake in 1992.
Gautama Buddha statue in Hussain Sagar Lake.
Hussain Sagar Lake was built in 1563 by Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah. Ruler of the kingdom of Golconda from 1550 to 1580. Hazrat Hussain Shah Wali designed the lake and hence got its name. The lake gets its waters through a canal from the river Musi.
UNWTO, the World Tourism Organization, declared this heritage lake the ‘Heart of the World’ in 2012 on World Tourism Day. UNWTO described the lake as the World’s largest heart mark, the world’s wonderful heart mark & the world’s heritage heart mark. (Please click the link in the first sentence of this para, to see the declaration.)
Birla Mandir at Hyderabad near Hussain Sagar Lake.
The Tank Bund road along the shores of the lake is a major tourist spot with many landmarks like Birla Mandir, Lumbini Park, Sanjeevaiah Park, NTR Gardens, Tomb of Saidani Maa Sahebaa, Patton Tank (one among the war trophies of India ), etc.
World’s Tallest Monolith Statue of Gautam Buddha
The World’s tallest monolith statue of Lord Buddha is inside the lake on Hussain Sagar Island. The Hussain Sagar Buddha statue accident, in which ten people were killed, happened during the transportation of the statue of Gautam Buddha to Gibraltar Rock on the island. The Goutam Buddha statue fell into the lake. The Bhagwan Buddha statue was salvaged after two years and was erected on a concrete platform measuring 15 feet on Hussain Sagar Island inside the lake. There are boat services to the lake, to see this magnificent Statue of Siddhartha Buddha or Bhagwan Buddha or Lord Buddha. The boat ride takes around 15 minutes.
Yacht Club of Hyderabad
The Yacht Club is situated inside Sanjeevaiah Park, located north of the lake. The yacht club gives sailing and Kayaking training to youths. Sailing Boat and Sailing Gear of different types like Kayaks, Lasers, Optimists (for children), Omegas, etc. are there in the Yacht Club of Hyderabad. The club has its own safety & rescue vessels.
How do I Go to Hussain Sagar Lake?
The Lake is at the heart of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Hyderabad and Secunderabad railway stations are the nearest major railway stations to the lake. Hyderabad International Airport is the nearest airport to the Lake. Ramoji Filmcity is at a distance of around 32 kilometers from this Lake.