Restoration of the Garden Model of the former British Residency (Hyderabad, Telangana)

Information gleaned during the restoration of the model contributed to a better understanding of the Residency building.

According to popular legend, the architectural model of the former British Residency in Hyderabad (now the Telangana Mahila Vishwavidyalayam (Women’s University) University College for Women, Osmania University) was built by James Achilles Kirkpatrick, the British Resident at the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, for his wife, Begum Khair-un-Nissa, so that she could appreciate the nearby magnificent palace erected in 1803 by her husband, which was out of bounds for courtly women.

The model is fashioned of plaster and measures some 15 feet square and 4 feet high. It stands in the garden to the rear of the Residency, originally surrounded by an ornamental metal barricade. In 1978, the model was badly damaged by a collapsing tree and was almost totally destroyed and overgrown.

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) in collaboration with Osmania University and Telangana State Archaeology has prepared a Conservation Management Plan for the restoration of Cultural Resources at the University College of Women in a phased manner as per priority.

The American Friends of the Deccan Heritage Foundation funded the restoration of the Model and its protective shell. The information provided by the model contributed to a better understanding of the impressive Residency structure.

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Details

Project Status

Completed

Location

Hyderabad, Telengana

Partners

Telangana Mahila Vishwavidyalayam (Women's University)

Community

Educational Value: Given the location within a women’s university, the restoration of the Model has an educational role to play in helping students to understand and learn the importance of heritage conservation

Tourism Potential - Will bolster the reputation of the university campus and the city of Hyderabad itself, by attracting more visitors to the location

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