Today being Sankranthi the roads were empty and I took off on a long and leisurely walk to Sagar's house and after a coffee and a chat set on my return walk. Now just after the Vengal Rao Nagar bus stop adjacent to the TB Hospital (or Chest Hospital as it is called now) lies a beautiful structure that we have been seeing from our childhood but never knew what it was.
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| Lovely old structure - Tomb of Nawab Fakhrul Mulk Bahadur |
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| View from the main road |
Since I was walking I stopped and went close to the gate and found that it was a tomb of Nawab Fakhrul Mulk Bahadur. I googled and discovered that the Nawab was a prominent Hyderabadi nobleman who was Minister of Justice and General Departments. He was known for his lavish lifestyle such as hosting extravagant dinner parties, had a fondness for European food and clothes, his charitable works and his building of iconic buildings such as Erum Manzil (now the Chief Engineer's office) and Asad Bagh (now Nizam College) palaces. He originally lived in Asad Bagh palace which was later converted into Nizam College and then moved into Erum Manzil (1870) which ha a polo ground, a nine hold gold course, stables, a dairy farm etc. Apparently he was in competition with another nobleman to build the tallest building in Hyderabad. He passed away in 1934. His estate was contested by his heirs until recently.
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| Tomb of Nawab Fakhrul Mulk Bahadur |
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| From the other side |
I found that INTACH had put it down as a heritage site which is wonderful and also did some repair and maintenance work. The inside of the premises is not kept at its best but the structure looks beautiful. I clicked a few pics.
Wonder why I never stopped there in all the 40 years I spent here.
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