Hyderabad, Jan. 22 -- Localities in old Hyderabad have strange names that make people dig deep into the history of the area to understand the meaning.

Located on the Hussaini Alam - Puranapul road is one such colony: Bahrupiya Galli - renamed as Chandrikapuram. The residents, except a handful of octogenarians, don't know why the residential locality was called Bahrupiya Galli.

Kishore V, now 78 years old, is one of the residents of the locality, and his family has stayed here for the last five decades. He explained that a 'Bahrupiya' is a performer who impersonates characters from folklore, mythology, and traditional stories. The word comes from the Sanskrit words 'bahu' (many) and 'roop' (form).

During the Nizam era, Bahrupiyas or per...