5 Things Roger Federer Should Do While In India

3. Visit the Salar Jung Museum

To get a quick know-how about this rich and cultural city that is Hyderabad, one needs to make a trip to the Salar Jung Museum.

It has a collection of sculptures, paintings, carvings, textiles, manuscripts, ceramics, metallic artefacts, carpets, clocks, and furniture from Japan, China, Burma, Nepal, India, Persia, Egypt, Europe, and North America. The museum's collection was sourced from the property of the Salar Jung family. It is one of the largest museums in the world.

The Salar Jung Museum houses the largest one-man collection of antiques in the world. It is well known throughout India for its prized collections belonging to different civilizations dating back to the 1st century. It famously houses the sculpture of ‘Veiled Rebecca’, after taking a bath.

The legendary paintings of Ravi Verma, Aurangzeb’s sword, the wardrobe of Tipu Sultan, et al are present in this magnificent museum. The most interesting attraction although is the bewildering variety and array of clocks that greet the visitor in the clock room.

There are ancient sundials in the form of obelisks to huge and modern clocks of the twentieth century. Others in the range vary from miniature clocks which need a magnifying glass to imbibe their beauty and complexity to stately grandfather clocks from as far away as France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Britain.

A visual delight is the musical clock Salar Jung bought from Cook and Kelvey of England. Every hour, a timekeeper emerges from the upper deck of the clock to strike a gong as many times as it is the hours of the day. Having been the brand ambassador for Rolex, I am sure Roger would take an avide interest in these antiques.