The Royal Tombs Of Golconda

I MUSE among these silent fanes

Whose spacious darkness guards your dust;

Around me sleep the hoary plains

That hold your ancient wars in trust.

I pause, my dreaming spirit hears,

Across the wind's unquiet tides,

The glimmering music of your spears,

The laughter of your royal brides.

In vain, O Kings, doth time aspire

To make your names oblivion's sport,

While yonder hill wears like a tier

The ruined grandeur of your fort.

Though centuries falter and decline,

Your proven strongholds shall remain

Embodied memories of your line,

Incarnate legends of your reign.

O Queens, in vain old Fate decreed

Your flower-like bodies to the tomb;

Death is in truth the vital seed

Of your imperishable bloom

Each new-born year the bulbuls sing

Their songs of your renascent loves;

Your beauty wakens with the spring

To kindle these pomegranate groves.

Situated about 2 km from Golconda Fort, the Tombs of the seven Qutubshahi rulers are amidst the beautifully laid out gardens of Ibrahim bagh. Every arch, dome and gallery of these tombs is a gem of Qutubshahi architecture set in picture perfect, serene surroundings.The above picture is of the Fort with an inset picture of one of the tombs.