Alwal

Alwal is a neighbourhood of Hyderabad in the Medchal district of the Indian state of Telangana. It is the mandal headquarters of Alwal mandal in Malkajgiri revenue division. It was a part of Ranga Reddy district before the re-organisation of districts in the state. It was a municipality prior to its merger into the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.This area is booming as residents of central Hyderabad are moving to Alwal to escape traffic congestion and pollution. However, Alwal too has fallen prey to increasing commercialization and rampant construction activity contributing to pollution and other ills. No proper town planning of once-spacious suburb of Alwal is leaving its "lung spaces", so to speak, thoroughly constricted. The nearby cantonment (military) area offers good lung space for morning walkers/joggers, but this too had been debarred by the Army officials.HistoryAlwal was a prime area under the British Cantonment. It derived its name after ‘alvars’ who were Tamil poets, the proponents of Bhakti movement and devotees of Lord Venkateshwara. It is home to a historic Venkateswara temple, which is located near Alwal municipal office and is more than 400 years old.There is a temple in the style of the Lotus Temple, Delhi.Alwal was a part of Jagir of Sir Kishen Pershad, Prime Minister of Nizam, during the 1920s. Sir Kishen Pershad used to have his ‘Devdi’ (palace) at Alwal and used to spend time here during summer.