How Arts College missed 'too Islamic' dome, minaret

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JULY 19. Why did a dome and a minaret that formed part of the original design of the imposing Arts College building of Osmania University removed in the subsequent plan? Was it discarded because it would have been `too Islamic' not in tune with the socio-cultural composition of the place? Or was it just a cost-cutting exercise?

Prof. Omar Khalidi, a Hyderabadi and a professor of Aga Khan Programme of Islamic Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology of the US, stumped the small but knowledgeable gathering by bringing out these little known facts. He was participating in a round table discussion on `Architecture and town planning in Hyderabad' organised by the Centre for Deccan Studies here on Thursday.

Prof. Khalidi, who has done a research study on the architecture of Osmania University buildings, said that a postal stamp, issued to mark the Silver Jubilee of the rule by the seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, had the dome and the minaret in the Arts College plan. It was inspired by the architecture style prevalent in Cairo.

Though he could not run into hard facts to corroborate, Prof. Khalidi said there were two views on why the plan having these two religious symbols was dropped. One was Sir Akbar Hydari -- holding an important post -- thought it was `too Islamic' not in harmony with the social composition and wanted such symbols, if they are to be there at all, to be in a subdued form. Another version was that it could be a fall-out of a resource crunch.

He recalled how the Nizam who had a vision of creating the best and the first university in the country in a vernacular medium, Urdu, made the two civil engineers -- Zain Yar Jung and Syed Ali Reza -- to travel round the world for about nine months to study typical campus architectural features. The choice of preparing the architectural plan fell on British architect, Ernest Jaspar, whom the two had met in Cairo.

After all the vision and meticulous planning that went into the original buildings of the campus, he said "it is a shame" to see a number of buildings coming up sticking out like sore thumbs, now. The only exception is the post office building, which is a replica of the Arts College.

Mr. Hameed Siddiqui of the JNTU School of Planning and Architecture said it was quite possible that a number of architects who worked on the Arts College project and who hailed from different regions of the erstwhile Hyderabad State influencing the decision not to have the dome and the minaret.

Mr. Dhirajlal Dangoria, an engineer whose father worked for the City Improvement Board, brought out the significant contribution made by the board in improving the city, beginning with the construction of Pathergatti arcade. Mr. Mohan Pershad spoke on the great Musi floods of 1908 and Sir Visvesrayya reports. Dr. V.K. Bawa, president of the CDS, spoke.

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