If there is one place you should go to in order to really taste the traditional flavours of Hyderabad as a whole, that place would have to be Shilparamam. This arts-and-crafts village’s 65-acre spread is dedicated entirely to the preservation, encouragement, and showcasing of Andhra Pradesh’s artistic culture, and it is a government-run facility that is still being developed to further attract tourists as well as foster a hospitable environment for those still practising the local arts. There are dozens of things to see in Shilparamam, as might be expected of a village dedicated to the arts, but better than that, there are also dozens of things to do here: the village has an interactive approach when it comes to promoting the arts it supports, which means visitors can definitely do more than just stare at the display pieces as they would in a stiff museum.

First off, Shilparamam has its own artificial lake—which is to be expected when you are talking about Hyderabad, after all. The lake is …