  We report the detection with Chandra of a Low-Luminosity AGN (LLAGN) in the
Low Ionization Emission Line Region (LINER) hosted by Hydra A, a nearby
(z=0.0537) powerful FRI radio galaxy with complex radio and optical morphology.
In a 20 ks ACIS-S exposure during the calibration phase of the instrument, a
point source is detected at energies $\grtsim$ 2 keV at the position of the
compact radio core, embedded in diffuse thermal X-ray emission ($kT \sim 1$
keV) at softer energies. The spectrum of the point source is well fitted by a
heavily absorbed power law with intrinsic column density N$_H^{int} \sim 3
\times 10^{22}$ \nh and photon index $\Gamma \sim 1.7$. The intrinsic
(absorption-corrected) luminosity is $L_{2-10 keV} \sim 1.3 \times 10^{42}$
\lum. These results provide strong evidence that an obscured AGN is present in
the nuclear region of Hydra~A. We infer that the optical/UV emission of the AGN
is mostly hidden by the heavy intrinsic reddening. In order to balance the
photon budget of the nebula, we must either postulate that the ionizing
spectrum includes a UV bump or invoke and additional power source (shocks in
the cooling flow or interaction with the radio jets). Using an indirect
estimate of the black hole mass and the X-ray luminosity, we infer that the
accretion rate is low, suggesting that the accretion flow is advection
dominated. Finally, our results support current unification schemes for
radio-loud sources, in particular the presence of the putative molecular torus
in FR~Is. These observations underscore the power of the X-rays and of \chandra
in the quest for black holes.
