It was a day for a rambling walk through the Koti, Sultan Bazar area that I am so keen to get more familiar with. So I took off with my tanhai and parked near the lane that leads to the Maheshwari and Parameshwari complex on one side and Sultan Bazar on another (and many other roads leading off here and there - I think its called the Ramkote Chowrasta). Strolled across the road towards Sultan Bazar - this place is full of history, of old Hyderabad, a strong Maharasthrian area with the Marathi mandal and other such.
 |
| CSI Wesley Church |
A little down the road I saw a cute little church - CSI Wesley Church it said. No further information I could find.
Further down the road met the Sultan Bazar road where the Metro now runs through (and run through it did) - signs of buildings cut in half to make way of the Metro are all through the length of the Sultan Bazar. A building half sawed off, steps rising up with their legs cut off, way, intimate windows and shelves with books exposed to the public. Rather grim, this picture of development.
Sultan Bazaar is famous for women's clothes, silverware, textiles and stuff like that and was part of what was known as Residency Bazaars which had been developed along with the British Residency (which dates the bazaar back to around 1800s). The bazaar was under the control of the British until it was handed over to the Nizam in 1933 (why was it under their control is a wonder) and was named after the Nawab of the area Syed Sultanuddin. There is a Government Boys High School which had been established in 1866 as Chudderghat Anglo Vernacular School. This school also has an iconic heritage building, a clock tower of 1865 vintage. The school then was spread across 13 acres apparently, land gifted by the Nizam, and now lies within a 2.5 acre area.
 |
| Stairway beyond one's reach |
 |
| Book shelves - once |
 |
| Sultan bazar road widening effects |
The Hashmath Gunj gate presented a different sight in the morning hours. Walked through the little Hashmath Gunj area or Kabootar Khana (with notices not to feed pigeons). There seems to be a bigger Kabootar Khana at Hussaini Alam in the old city. At the other end I saw a statue of Mahrana Pratap (I think), the Rana of Mewar, of the Sisodia dynasty.
 |
| Hashmath Ganj gate |
 |
| Pigeon Welfare Association |
 |
| Statue of Maharana Pratap |
Crossed the road across the iconic art deco Andhra Bank building (now Union Bank of India) and looked at the Turrehbaz Khan Memorial and this time, found the plaque dedicated to him.
 |
| Iconic Andhra Bank building |
 |
| Freedom Fighters Memorial or Turrehbaz Khan's Memorial |
 |
| Plaque remembering Turrehbaz Khan and his rebellion against the British |
Back on the Koti road towards Women's College and found this very impressive building - the Gandhi Gyan Mandir of the Sarvodaya Vichar Prachar Trust with a foundation laid by the Frontier Gandhi himself, Abdul Gaffar Khan in December 1969. There was a yoga session going on (the yoga kendra here has been active since 1974), I think there were bookstalls and such. Very interesting, very alive, very useful unlike so many institutions that are generally shut and dead.
 |
| Foundation laid by Abdul Gaffar Khan in December 1969 |
 |
| Gandhi Gyan Mandir |
Further up was the Women's College and the watchman allowed a short lookin. The British residency (1803 or so) was magnificent. Walked around it without a clue about what building was what - surely something was the zenana, somewhere was the Rang Mahal where Khairunnisa lived, somewhere was the model of the Residency and so on, and hoped to come back here for a guided tour at some point of time. It reeked of history and so much to see.
 |
| The British Residency - turned Women's College turned University |
 |
| View from behind |
Out of the college and a little further down trying to locate Hotel Haridwar which had a cute restaurant in those days, saw this cute board - 'Marathi Granth Sangrahalay' and a 'Bapu Sangeet Vidyalay', a small lane with a temple leading further down to interesting possibilities but it appeared to lead to more interesting and irresistible stuff, so back tracked, saw a few more interesting temples, a Shiva idol on a shop, a beautiful park next to the Gandhi Gyan Mandir. The crowd was picking up so decided against going into it.
 |
| Marathi Granth Sangrahalaya and Bapu Sangeet Vidyalay |
 |
| Another temple - Shiva temple? |
 |
| Nalla Pochamma temple on the Koti main road |
 |
| The Shiva idol |
 |
| Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple |
This road now led back to Sultan Bazar and straight up to the Maheswari and Parameshwari complex on the left which was where I saw 'Jaws' in school. Now it is a mall with a few screens surely but next to it standing proudly was Tarakarama owned by the NTR family and which I remembered played 'Don' for a long long time in its day (apparently 525 days, the theatre itself opened in 1978 with Akbar Salim Anarkali).
Some interesting old gates and stuff and one could see how the old was slowly engulfed by the new, everything was now functional and if things are standing, it is because people do not want to waste money pulling anything down unless it was in some way useful to them.
Hmm, so much in a recce trip. Can imagine what will show up in a proper walk. Hopefully soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment