HYDERABAD: EYE ON BRITISH RESIDENCY AS MUSEUM

 C R GOWRI SHANKER

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

May 1, 2017

Darbar Hall ideal for display of historical artefacts from Old Hyderabad and Nizam’s era.

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 The former British Residency building that has a Darbar Hall, which the TS government is planning to convert into a museum to display Hyderabad's historical artefacts. (Photo: DC)

Hyderabad: If all goes well, the 214-year old former British Residency at Koti may become an exclusive City Museum.

The government is toying with the idea of converting the Darbar Hall of the former British Residency and the present University College for Women (established in 1924) into a museum displaying Hyderabad history and artefacts.

The first phase of the conservation works of these age-old buildings has been completed at a cost of Rs 2 crore.

An internal view of Darbar Hall which has painted ceilings and parquet floors of inlaid wood flanked by tall mirrors.

The second phase will be taken up in June/July in joint collaboration with World Monuments Fund (WMF), National Culture Fund of Union Ministry of Culture and the Telangana Department of Archaeology and Museums. It will take three to four years to restore the entire buildings at an estimated cost of Rs17 crore.

“We don’t have a city-specific museum like many metropolises across the world. This former British Residency, especially the imposing Durbar Hall, is the most important colonial building in South India. It could be turned into a Hyderabad Museum. This is one of the ideas that have cropped up. We will take a decision soon,” Ms N R Visalatchy, Director, Telangana Department of Archaeology and Museums, told Deccan Chronicle.

She added, “It’s a historical building in the heart of the city and the famed Darbar Hall in the White House shape has the world’s unique paper pache roof, which is the only one of its kind in the country.”

Ms Visalatchy said Darbar Hall was ideal for displaying rare and ancient gold, silver, copper and other metal coins which are in the possession of the department, including some Hyderabad-specific coins minted during Asaf Jah’s rule.

“We have 3.68 lakh coins of different varieties and eras. They have to be put up for display at a suitable location. Durbar Hall is one of them. There are also historical maps and other artefacts of old Hyderabad State, especially from the Nizam era,” she explained.

The college is spread over 42 acres, though originally it occupied 60 acres before some of it was given to Osmania Medical College.
The Director said, Durbar Hall and other structures are structurally strong now after the first phase of the restoration work and the second phase will be taken up in June/July. “WMF has promised Rs 4 crore and the rest of the amount will have to be borne by us,” she added.

The former British Residency is a monument of great aesthetic, architectural and historical importance. Commissioned in 1803 for the British Resident J.A. Kirkpatrick, its builder Lt Samuel Russell of the Madras Engineers produced a structure capable of rivaling the Governor’s House in Kolkata. Kirkpatrick lived with his Indian wife Khair-un-Nissa Begum.

The structure is massive in size and has an opulent facade of massive Corinthian pillars 40 feet in height. Two lions guard its 60-foot space of 21 marble stairs.

This former British Residency weaves its own mystique with galleried halls and drawing rooms, a Durbar Hall of stupendous proportions, painted ceilings, and parquet floors of inlaid wood, flanked by tall mirrors.

Its landscape is dotted by three arched gateways, named after Lord Roberts, the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Lansdowne, the Viceroy and Queen Victoria herself.