Bollarum (also spelled as Bolaram, Bolarum, and Bollaram) is a town in the suburbs of Hyderabad, India in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a cantonment area. Administratively, it comes under Hyderabad district & Ranga Reddy District. If you are looking for Bollarum in Medak District please click here.
Information
Bollarum is divided into a few distinct localities called Doveton Bazar, Chintal Bazar, Sadar Bazar, Risala Bazar, Poineer Bazar, Burton Guda and Macha Bollarum (which is separated from the others mentioned by a railway track that has a meter gauge line and a broad gauge line). A Part of Bollarum is in Hyderabad district and a part is in Ranga Reddy District. More than half of the area used to be cultivated but now every inch of the land is used for house construction. It is 10km from Secunderabad Central Railway Station and 12km from Begumpet Airport & 41km from New International Airpot
It is a famous soccer playing town. It has many native players who were on India's national soccer team. Bollarum is also an educational hub of Hyderabad because it has numerous schools and colleges among which are the prestigious Valerian Grammar School,St. Anne's Girl School and College and a few Post Graduate Colleges like Navabharathi College of P.G Studies. Also, an international college of business and commerce. It has a big bazaar named Sadar Bazaar which has many textile, jewelry, general shops and Money lending shops. It is also a popular place for Hindu temples, to name a few: Ayappa temple which is one of the oldest Ayappa temples in Andhra Pradesh was built in 1970's the first temple in Hyderabad and the Muthyaalamma temple which is the oldest was very small till 1985 and was renewed big till 1995 where every weekend is like a carnival with huge crowed, people come with families and offer there prayers, Hanuman Temple is the one of famous by its name with inbuild Sai baba temple, Lord Shri Ram, Ganesh Ji, Navagraha & Lord shiva. This temple is famous to celebrate Ugadi & Shri Ram Navami which comes every year in the month of March or April, Mahankali Temple were they celebrate Mela every year in July and Bhulakshmamma Temple etc.
Bolarum is well connected to different parts of the city with regular bus service provided by the state road transport corporation (APSRTC). It is also connected with regular local train service provided by the south central railways. The general population have been staying here for generations and the town has just started developing new layouts on its periphery. Celebration is a part of life for Bolarumites and you can find people celebrating festivals with pomp and gaiety, the popular one being the yearly Jatara, dushera-where an effigy of Ravana is burnt, Holi, Divali, Sankrantri.
Demographics
As of 2001 India census,[1] Bollaram had a population of 13,305. Males constitute 58% of the population and females 42%. Bollaram has an average literacy rate of 58%, lower than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 68% and female literacy of 43%. 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.
The majority of the population is Hindu. But one can find people of many religions living in harmony. There is a considerable amount of Jain population here. There are couple of mosques, and a Gurudwara too. The population of Bollarum was about 20,000 till 1986. But in 2005 it grew up to about 85,000. Most of the population are employees and work in Railways, Industries, defence, offices, etc.
Origin of name
Bollarum has a unique story about its name. When the British were laying out the railway line through this town, an officer asked a person what was the name of the place to set up a station there. The person was an ardent worshipper of Rama but he couldn't speak English, so he greeted the gentleman by saying "Bolo Ram" which eventually became Bollarum, also spelled as Bolaram or Bolarum.
Important landmarks
Bollarum also has a very big Church built in European architecture (Holy Trinity Church), built in 1847 by a member of British Royal family (Queen Victoria), which is why Queen Elizabeth[1] visited this church and attended the service on her Wedding Anniversary day in 1980s on her visit to India. Bolarum also has another important building but not very well known of its history. It is now an Officer's mess diagonally opposite to the church and Ayyappa Temple, to be precise, opposite to St. Anns Provincilate. When Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the first Defence Minister, came to Hyderabad along with the Indian army to annex Hyderabad state to the independent Indian Republic, he stayed in this building and negotiated with the Nizam.
It also houses the Rastrapati Nilayam, the equivalent of Rashtrapati Bhavan in new Delhi. This serves as the house/office of the president during his yearly sojourn to south of India. During the President's Southern Sojourn, this building literally converts into the president's office. Bolarum , being a cantonment has good many old European structured bungalows and one of them - The Chateau, close to the Valerian Grammar School, one of the old and famous schools in the area, housed Winston Churchill during his early days with the Raj (British) empire. He was a captain with the British army then. Bolarum forms an integral part of the Secunderabad Cantonment, supposedly the largest in India. The other important landmarks for this town are:
Rashtrapati Nilayam
Holy Trinity Church (www.htcbolarum.org)
Chateau (Churchill Home)
Valerian Grammar School (Estd. 1961)- Is the oldest convent school in the locality and has got many a distinguished Alumni.
Sadhana Mandhir School is also one of the oldest landmarks in Bollarum. It was a soap factory before. During Freedon struggle Acharya Vinoba Bhave stayed in Sadhana Mandhir for a few days on his Journey of the famous BhooDhaan Yagna.
Macha Bollarum market - The old vegetable market. The villagers get their produce/vegetable in train and then sell it in this market, which is just next to the railway station.
There were two leather industries in Macha Bollarum, very less number of people are aware of it. One was on the way to Select Talkies where now Balaji Rice Mill is. You can still see the old walls and old sheds beyond them which are inhabited even now. The other was far west end of Bollarum ( Beyond Burial Grounds), that area is called Kharkhana ( means Factory or Industry). About 500 people live in Kharkhana area which even has a primary school now. There also we can see old walls of those structures.
The Raythu Bazar - The new vegetable market, which is more organized and regulated by government.
Bolarum Golf Course - Bollarum has one of the oldest and best Golf courses in the nation. This is the only 18 hole golf course in the entire city of Hyderabad. This is maintained by the Indian army and is not open to general public. You either have to be defence personnel or affiliated with the secunderbad club.
LRMG College - One of the oldest colleges in the city of Hyderabad. It was constructed in the year 1926. It has a huge and magnificent building with a big auditorium. It now is in a very bad shape and needs immediate attention.
RSI Club: The Rajender Singhji Institute is again a club for defence personnel only. It also has a huge Olympic sized swimming pool very close to it.
Bolarum Library, close to lakadwal cross roads.
St. Ann's Provincilate, Ayyapa Temple, St. Ann's Girls school all on the same road stretch.
